stopping fermentation

[neil smith]

hi all, my first brew is fermenting really well do i check gravity and when it is to required strength turn off heat and put cooler on to stop fermentation or just let it keep going until it stops on its own, the og was 140 and it should be a 4% beer.
cheers Neil

[Blackaddler]

I would expect a beer with an OG of 1.040 to reach a FG of about 1.010.

You could stop it a point or two early by chilling if that suits you best.

Personally, I leave it to reach FG before chilling. .

[chivelegs]

If you're bottling it then you must leave it to get to Final Gravity or you risk bottle bombs when the temperature gets back in to fermentation range.

[neil smith]

i will put in firkins straight from fv, so will check friday as that will be 7 days and if around 1010 will chill down and cask on sat.
cheers Neil

[Martin G]

Was recently told that the way the bigger boys know that you are 2 points away from final is to do a forced ferment of a sample.

I plan to give this a try, might buy a second trial jar if I cannot find anything else suitable, and put it in a warm place, maybe get or make something to add a bit of consistent warmth, this may double as a yeast starter cabinet, which also runs a bit warmer.

[neil smith]

probably running out of time whith this one but could look into it next time.
cheers Neil