Having an unusual fermentation.

[schergerdaddy]

Hey everybody, first post for me so bare with me. I'm attempting to make a wheat style beer, so far everything has been good up to this point. I transfered my wort at around 65 degrees to the carboy then pitched my yeast. The yeast I used was a German wheat yeast by WYEAST. Now I know theres different ways to airate but I've always just pitched my yeast and gave the carboy a vigorous shake for about a min and have had no issues. After pitching the yeast and shaking the first 20 or so hours I noticed a whole lot of nothing going on except everything seemed to be settling to the bottom and then around 24 or so hours the yeast went hog wild for about 12 hours or so, to the point where it looked as though the beer was being churned in the carboy and any or all of the sediment in the bottom was in the beer. The temp has been a steady 70 degrees. The co2 blowout was very consistant after the 12hours or so of doing this it just kinda died down and everything has appeared to settle to the bottom again. The blow out isn't anywhere near what it was and the foamy head seems to be getting smaller. I guess my question is, Is this normal? It hasn't even been 3 days yet and it seems as though the fermenting is about complete. I have never experienced this before and want to know if this could possibly be a stuck fermentation or somthing else or if its doing what it should be doing. Any information or advice would be great!

[ajdelange]

The weizen yeasts can be pretty wild. Take a gravity reading.

[schergerdaddy]

Hey thanks, I had givin that a thought but didn't want to open up the carboy without checking on this first. I have never used wiezen yeast before and am not real familiar with the starins behavior but Ill give the gravity reading a try. I know my 1st reading before pitching was 1.038 to 1.040. The blowout when it was going crazy was a bubble less than a second apart now its around 5 to six seconds apart and the head in the beer is almost nonexsistant thats what has confused me, just seemed to soon for that already. While I take my reading would rousing the yeast be a good idea or too risky?

[BenTheBrewer]

Giving it a nice easy swirl should rouse it back up. I would check the gravity and swirl it. Don't splash. I wouldnt keg or bottle it just yet either. I don't know much about that strain either but I do know that the yeast will do some cleanup after fermentation. Diacetyl etc... Swirl it and be patient. I usually ferment for 10-14 days then cold crash for a few days. But you may not want to cold crash a wheat. I wouldn't worry about stuck fermentation too much.

[siwelwerd]

I know my 1st reading before pitching was 1.038 to 1.040.

There ya go. As AJ said, wheat yeasts are known to go nuts like that, and it was a low gravity beer to start with, so it may well be finished. Gravity readings are the only way to be sure. I'd give it a few more days to a week after your gravity stabilizes, then package.

[schergerdaddy]

Well I think i'm good. I went ahead and did a second gravity reading and it was at 1.010 which is a good sign. From what i've read on wheat beers thats about an average drop, so thats good. I went ahead and roused the yeast anyway, I figured it probably wouldn't hurt. I'd have to say of all the beers i've done i've never had one ferment so quickly, but then again like I said before, this is my first attemp at a wheat beer and i've never dealt with wheat yeast. I'm mostly a porter and IPA type a guy. I'm gonna go ahead and let it sit for another 4 or 5 days and transfer to a seconday just to reasure myself. Thanks to all of you who responded, your information and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[ajdelange]

40 --> 10 means an ADF of 75% and that's pretty good though it may drop a bit more.

My first cylindroconical had a flat stainless lid perhaps 1/8" thick. The Weihenstephan 68 (Wyeast 3068) would just pick that thing up and slide it over a couple of inches in its attempts to get out of there. No other yeast I have ever used has come close to this kind of strength.