Just finished my first batch!

It really depends on a lot of things. Like what style did you brew and what yeast did you use. I would just stop worrying walk away from it and check it again tomorrow morning.

 

yep

 

As stated above, it partly depends on what yeast was pitched and the OG of the wort. Yeast pitching rate (amount), health of the yeast, pitching temp, and levels of oxygen and other nutrients also play a role. As a general rule of thumb, the lag phase (time until fermentation begins) can be anywhere from 6 hrs to a day or more. One way or the other, you're probably going to be fine.

 

Fermentation question here. Brewed my 15th or so batch and my OG was on target at 1.058. It's a Oatmeal Stout which I am going to add MacNut and Coffee to it during the secondary for 7 days. I pitched the yeast after cool down on Thursday and threw inside my ferm chamber with Johnson temp control set at 70F. I've been playing with it between 68-70. So that Thursday night it was burping every second or quicker. Friday afternoon it slowed down a bit but still active. I have a blow off tube going to jug with water in it. Today it's barely making noise-burping. But can still smell it. This is the first time that it slowed down or almost done burping. Is this normal? Average is usually 4-6 days on my other brews. Do I let it sit for 7 days and take my FG reading?

 

Again...depends on yeast, but with an OG of 1.058, the yeast could be done with the main active stage of fermentation this quickly. I use Safale 05 a lot and that yeast has a tendency to give almost violent fermentation in the beginning and bubbling fades away fast. Especially compared to Wyeast 1056 or 1272. I did a Fresh Squeezed clone a few weeks ago with 1272 and then a week later did a single hop centennial IPA with 05 that both finished primary fermentation on the same day. Just make sure that you wait for everything the settle to the bottom and the beer clears up before you take an FG and move it on to a secondary, keg or bottle. I'm a big fan of cold crashing also to clear the beer up and giving it the lowest possible FG by dropping out as many suspended particles as possible.

 

After 36 hours you should see a head forming on the top of your beer. You can peak, so long as you turn the fan off and be quick about it. Just try to keep your beer cool as it ferments. Usually below 68F Ambient.

 

As long as you didn't pitch your yeast at extreme temps (above 90 or below 60) you should be okay. Be patient. If you are using a bucket to ferment, you can have a leak in your lid's seal so that you may not see bubble activity in the airlock. If you are using a carboy, look for tiny amounts of bubbles/foam to begin to collect on top of the wort. Then you'll be on your way. You just need to relax and be patient with this process.

 

At 70 degrees you probably speeded up your fermentation so that it's now on the decline and will finish up in a day or so. Wait until at least 10 days since the fermentation started and then take a gravity reading. Then another reading 2-3 days later to see if they match. If they match, you're done. Give the beer a few more days to allow the yeast to clean up a bit, then you can bottle/keg your beer.

 

If you're like me then you're hooked! I was instantly.

 

MutherGooser makes the salient observation.

 

NEVER TOUCH YOUR BEER FOR AT LEAST TWO WEEKS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.