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I started my first homebrew beer (from a kit) three days ago, the fermentation seemed slow to non existent, there was a frothy head appear on the top of the brew but no major bubbling or anything, this has now stopped and settled already. I read somewhere that fermentation can get "stuck", does anybody have any ideas on what has happened and where I can go from here?

thanks

Rob

We had the same problem with our last kit. It was o.k. for a day,then went totally flat. Not really knowing what i was doing, i added a tsp. of yeast nutrient, & a tsp. citric acid, left it for a week, then bottled it as per the instructions. We had the first tasting,earlier this week,......I think it's the first time i've floated above the veggie patch. It may have been pure luck, but "tampering" with the original instructions,certainly worked in this case.

OH says 'rouse it' which apparently means gently stir it WITHOUT splashing to get the yeast off of the bottom of the bucket and back into suspension.

Failing that add 1tsp of Yeast Vit or Nutrient to wake the yeast up again.

BEFORE you do all that though, check it with a hydrometer to check it hasn't finished already :)

without getting too technical (cos I don't understand it ) fermentation goes through two phases, aerobic (with air) and anaerobic (without). The first bit is where it froths and bubbles away, this takes about 3-4 days (and can sometimes make a right mess of the floor if it bubbles over the top of the bin ) the second will have little visible effects. I would say that your beer will be OK, but one thing I've read that some people do is pour the beer from one vessel to another, this can kickstart a secondary fermentation. I've never done this tho, and all my beer has turned out fine (hic).

I've no experience with beer, but some of my wine has shown very little activity - but still turned out quite potent... So I've stopped worrying too much about it.

thanks everybody, I took a bit of everybodys advice, I took a sample and checked it with a hydrometer, the reading said it was ready, but I beleive you should get three days of constant levels before bottling, I gace it a stir - it fizzed and I added a tsp of yeats nutrient it fizzed some more!! so i'll leave it another couple of days and keep checking the hydrometer levels and fingers crossed, I'll be very drunk in a months time!!!!