Fermentation progression

[Biff]

Hi all,
So my brew has now been bubblin for almost 3 days now. I want to describe what I've observed, and would appreciate any commentary/explanations you can give. Perhaps there are no real patterns between one fermentation to the next... Thanks!

- I pitched yeast at about 4pm on Saturday - Temp ~70

- 8pm, I had a bit of foam (krausen?) forming on top, an occassional bubble - Temp ~76

- 6am (Sunday), I had about 1.5 - 2 inches of foam, more frequent bubbling - Temp ~64

- 11am, I had 2.5 - 3 inches of foam, near constant bubbling - Temp ~64

- 5:30pm, Foam @ 5 inches, constant bubbling - Temp ~64

- 10pm, Foam @ 5 inches, constant bubbling - Temp ~65

- 8am (Monday), Foam @ 5 - 5.5 inches, constant bubbling - Temp ~66

- 5pm, Foam @ 5 - 5.5 inches, constant bubbling - Temp ~66

- 10pm, Foam @4.5 - 5 inches, constant bubbling - Temp ~66

- 7am (Today, Tuesday), Foam @ 4 inches, near constant bubbling - Temp ~65

So overall, it appears fermentation might be slowing down. Any thoughts on this? Does fermentation have a "peak"? Does this mean anything?

I'm not really worried about it, I'm going out of town on Thursday until the following Wednesday and not planning on racking and bottling until April 15th, just curious and want to learn.

I also did not have a beer thief to take a sample for OG, and it looks like someone else couldn't get a decent reading from a partial boil either, so it may not have mattered.

Anyway, thanks for any and all input! Cheers

[BrotherhoodBrew]

Sounds normal to me.

[Speyedr]

For what it's worth this looks fine. Fermentation does have a peak. Just like it ramps up, it ramps back down as well. I have a couple of questions:

1 - What yeast strain did you use? Starter or from the package?
2 - How are you measuring temp and where is the fermenter located (closet, basement?) You had a 12 degree drop in temp in less than 8hrs and DURING build-up of fermentation. As I understand it fermentation GENERATES heat, so I am curious about such a big temp drop.

Rob

[Biff]

Thanks for the quick replies:

- I used WLP004 - Irish Ale Yeast

- I did *not* do a starter this time

- The big temperature drop, I'm sure, is the wort cooling down. When I dumped the cooled wort from "the boil" on the topoff water (that was not chilled) and it was at 80-something degrees. I racked to the carboy (from a bottling bucket I used to mix the topoff water and concentrated wort) then put the carboy in an ice bath. It took a long time for the wort to get to the low-70's at which time I pitched. THEN I stuck the carboy in the basement, which stays around the low - mid 60's all day.

So, I think that 64 is the "at rest" temperature, then it went to 66 during peak fermentation, now it's back down to the 64 arena.

[Biff]

whoops -- left some info out.

I'm measuring temp on a "fermometer" on the side of the carboy, at roughly the middle of the wort.

[Speyedr]

Sounds good to me man. Enjoy it!

[bub]

You are seeing a normal fermentation, with a slightly slow start.
Drink up and wait.
BUB