My Fermentation Isn’t Working – Is My Beer Ruined?

Don’t Panic.

You’re staring at your fermenter with growing concern. Maybe your airlock stopped bubbling. Maybe it never bubbled in the first place. Maybe nothing seems to be happening at all. Whatever brought you here at 2am, you’re standing in your kitchen wondering if you’ve just created 20 litres of expensive disappointment.

Here’s the truth: in roughly 99% of cases, absolutely nothing is wrong. Your beer is fine. You are fine. The universe continues to function as expected.

But there’s that nagging 1% where something genuinely needs fixing. This guide will help you figure out which situation you’re in, quickly and without unnecessary panic.

Quick Triage – Start Here (30 Seconds) #

Answer these questions honestly:

Did your fermentation ever show any signs of activity?

• Yes, it bubbled vigorously for days then stopped → Read Section 1 (probably normal)
• No visible activity ever, haven’t taken gravity reading → Read Section 2 (check if anything happened)
• No visible activity, taken reading and gravity hasn’t changed at all → Read Section 3 (fermentation never started)

Have you taken gravity readings?

• No, I haven’t taken any readings yet → Read Section 1 or 2 depending on above
• Yes, gravity has dropped since I started → Read Section 1 (fermentation is working)
• Yes, readings 3 days apart are identical but different from OG → Read Section 4 (stuck fermentation)
• Yes, gravity is still at original gravity after 3+ days → Read Section 3 (fermentation never started)

How long has it been since you pitched yeast?

• Less than 24 hours → Way too early, give it time
• 1-3 days → If no activity at all, read Section 3
• 3-7 days → Normal timing for bubbling to slow, read Section 1
• 7-14 days with some activity → Probably finished, read Section 2
• More than 3 days with zero activity ever → Read Section 3

Still not sure where to start? Read Section 1. That’s where most of you belong.

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Section 1: Your Airlock Stopped Bubbling (You’re Probably Fine) #

What’s Actually Happening (Probably) #

Your fermentation hasn’t stopped. It’s just moved from the dramatic opening act – complete with vigorous bubbling, impressive foam, and the satisfying “gloop-gloop” of an active airlock – into a quieter, more contemplative second act.

Think of it like this: fermentation is having a party in your fermenter. For the first few days, everyone’s dancing enthusiastically, music’s loud, the neighbours are complaining. Then the party enters that late-night phase where people are still enjoying themselves, but they’re having quieter conversations, maybe sitting down, possibly eating all your chips. The party hasn’t ended – it’s just changed tempo.

Your yeast is still working. It’s just doing so in a less theatrical manner than before.

Why The Bubbling Stops (And Why That’s Normal) #

The simple version: Most of the easy sugars have already been converted to alcohol. Your yeast has moved from feast mode to methodical cleanup mode. CO2 is still being produced, just much more gradually. Your airlock, having had its moment of glory, now sits mostly quiet, occasionally producing a lazy bubble just to prove it’s still involved.

The slightly longer version:

• The majority of fermentation happens in the first 2-4 days
• After that, yeast is still working but at a fraction of the original pace
• Less CO2 production means less bubbling
• Your airlock might bubble once every few minutes instead of continuously
• This is completely, utterly, reassuringly normal

The Truth About Airlocks #

Airlocks are unreliable indicators of fermentation activity. They only measure CO2 pressure buildup, and since CO2 naturally finds the path of least resistance, even slight temperature changes or pressure variations can make your airlock go silent while fermentation continues normally.

A loose lid, a tiny crack in the fermenter, temperature changes, or simply physics can all cause airlocks to stop bubbling while fermentation carries on perfectly inside. This is why brewers say “trust the numbers, not the bubbles.”

Signs Your Beer Is Still Fermenting (Even Quietly) #

Look for these indicators:

• Tiny bubbles slowly rising to the surface when you look closely
• A thin layer of foam or krausen still clinging to the sides
• Your airlock produces an occasional bubble (even one every 5-10 minutes counts)
• The beer smells like beer and not like something died in there
• A film of yeast or sediment visible through the sides of a clear fermenter

Check Your Temperature #

If your fermenter has cooled below 18°C – which is entirely possible in Australian winters or if you’ve put it somewhere with aggressive air conditioning – your yeast may have simply slowed down rather than stopped. Yeast are living organisms who, like the rest of us, become sluggish when cold.

Grab a thermometer and stick it on your fermenter. If it reads below 18°C, move it somewhere warmer (18-22°C is ideal for most ale yeasts) and give it 24-48 hours. Your yeast will wake up and resume work.

What To Do Next #

Option 1: Wait and Trust (Recommended) Give it another 3-5 days at a stable temperature. Most fermentations finish within 7-14 days total. If you’re only at day 3-5, you’re right in the middle of normal fermentation timeframes. Your beer is almost certainly fine.

Option 2: Take a Gravity Reading (Definitive Answer) If you want to know exactly what’s happening, take a gravity reading. Not sure how? Read our gravity testing guide, which explains the process step-by-step. Make sure you’re sampling safely – see our safe sampling guide if you’re worried about contaminating your beer.

If your gravity has dropped since you started (say, from 1.050 to 1.020), fermentation is working. Job done. Stop worrying.

If your gravity hasn’t changed at all, proceed to Section 3.

If gravity changed initially but has now been stuck at the same reading for 3+ days, proceed to Section 4.

Most Likely Outcome #

Your beer is quietly finishing its fermentation. The dramatic bubbling phase is over, but work continues. In another few days, you’ll take a final gravity reading, discover everything is exactly as it should be, and wonder why you spent so much time staring anxiously at a silent airlock at 2am.

Remember: Good fermentation is often quiet fermentation. Vigorous bubbling looks impressive but tells you very little about beer quality. Some of the best beers ferment with barely a whisper.

Stop here if: Your airlock used to bubble and has now slowed or stopped. You’re probably in the normal fermentation finishing phase. Give it time, then take a gravity reading to confirm.

Keep reading if: You’ve taken gravity readings and something seems genuinely wrong.

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Section 2: How To Confirm Everything Is Fine #

The only way to truly know what’s happening in your fermenter is to take gravity readings. Airlocks lie. Appearances deceive. Numbers tell the truth.

Taking Your First Gravity Reading #

If you didn’t take an original gravity (OG) reading before fermentation started, you won’t know how far your beer has fermented. This makes troubleshooting harder, but not impossible.

For proper monitoring:

1. Read our gravity testing guide for complete instructions
2. Use safe sampling technique to avoid contaminating your beer
3. Take a reading now and write it down with the date
4. Wait 3 days
5. Take another reading

What The Numbers Mean #

If gravity is dropping: Fermentation is working. Even if your airlock is silent, your yeast are doing their job. Keep waiting until gravity stabilises.

If gravity is stable at expected final gravity: Fermentation is complete. Your beer is ready for bottling or kegging. The silent airlock was telling you the truth – fermentation had finished.

If gravity is stable but higher than expected: This might be a stuck fermentation. Before panicking, check your recipe’s expected final gravity. Different beer styles finish at different gravities. A stout might finish at 1.020, while a pale ale might hit 1.010. Being “stuck” at your expected FG isn’t stuck at all – it’s finished.

If gravity hasn’t changed at all: Fermentation never started in the first place. See Section 3 for causes and fixes.

If gravity is definitely stuck high: You have a stuck fermentation that started but then stopped. Proceed to Section 4.

When Your Airlock Never Bubbled At All #

This is usually a seal issue, not a fermentation issue. If your fermenter lid isn’t quite tight, or there’s a tiny crack somewhere, CO2 escapes without building pressure in the airlock. Your fermentation might be proceeding perfectly while your airlock sits there looking decorative and unhelpful.

Take a gravity reading. If gravity is dropping, fermentation is working fine and you just have a seal issue. Fix the seal if you want, or don’t – as long as the fermenter isn’t completely open to the air, fermentation will complete successfully. The purpose of the airlock is to let CO2 out while keeping oxygen and contamination out. A small leak does the same thing, just less elegantly.

If gravity hasn’t changed at all after 2-3 days, see Section 3 (fermentation never started).

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Section 3: My Fermentation Never Started At All #

This is genuinely concerning but usually fixable. You pitched yeast days ago, and there’s been absolutely no activity. No bubbling, no krausen, no foam, no visible signs of life whatsoever. You’ve taken a gravity reading and it’s exactly the same as your original gravity – nothing has happened.

First: How Long Has It Been? #

If it’s been less than 12 hours since you pitched yeast, you’re jumping the gun. Some fermentations take 12-24 hours to show visible activity, particularly if temperatures are cool or you’re using certain yeast strains. Go away, have a cup of tea, and check again in the morning.

If it’s been 24-48 hours with absolutely no signs of life, something is probably wrong.

If it’s been more than 3 days with zero activity and unchanged gravity, something is definitely wrong.

Why Fermentation Never Starts #

Dead Yeast: The most common culprit. If your yeast was old or past its use-by date, it might have been dead before you even pitched it. Dry yeast packets can look perfectly fine on the outside while containing nothing but yeast corpses inside.

Check: Look at the yeast packet. What was the use-by date? When did you buy it? How long has it been sitting around? Old yeast equals dead yeast.

Yeast Pitched Into Hot Wort: Did you pitch yeast when your wort was still above 30°C? Congratulations, you’ve just boiled your yeast alive. They need wort cooled to around 20-24°C for ale yeast, or 10-15°C for lager yeast. Anything above 30°C and you’re cooking them, not pitching them.

Check: Think back to when you pitched. Did you check the temperature first? Did the wort feel warm to the touch on the outside of the fermenter?

Temperature Too Cold From The Start: If your fermenter is sitting somewhere at 12°C, ale yeast won’t start working. They’re not dead, they’re hibernating, waiting for conditions to improve.

Check: Stick a thermometer on your fermenter right now. If it reads below 15°C, that’s your problem.

Temperature Too Hot: If your fermenter has been sitting in direct sunlight or somewhere above 30°C, your yeast may have been stressed or killed before they could establish a colony.

Check: Where’s your fermenter been sitting? Has it been exposed to heat?

You Forgot To Pitch Yeast: This sounds ridiculous, but it happens more often than you’d think. Distracted by other things, dealing with kids, answering the phone, having a beer – suddenly you’ve sealed up your fermenter and walked away without actually adding the yeast.

Check: Do you actually remember opening the yeast packet and pouring it in? Can you see the empty packet in the bin? If there’s even a sliver of doubt, check your fermenting area for an unopened yeast packet.

Severely Underpitched: If you used a tiny amount of yeast for a large batch or very high gravity wort, the few yeast cells present might not have enough numbers to establish a viable colony.

Check: Did you use the correct amount of yeast for your batch size? Standard rule is one 11g packet of dry yeast for up to 23 litres of normal-strength beer (OG up to 1.060). Bigger beers need more yeast.

No Oxygen In Wort: Yeast need oxygen at the very start to reproduce. If you very carefully and gently poured your wort into the fermenter avoiding all splashing, you may not have dissolved enough oxygen for yeast to reproduce.

Check: How did you transfer your wort? Gentle siphon? Or vigorous pouring with lots of splashing?

The Immediate Rescue Plan #

Step 1: Check Temperature If your fermenter is below 18°C, move it somewhere warmer immediately. If it’s above 28°C, move it somewhere cooler. Get it into the 18-24°C range and wait 24 hours. If your yeast are just cold and grumpy rather than dead, this might wake them up.

Step 2: Pitch Fresh Yeast If temperature is fine or you’ve fixed it and nothing happens after 24 hours, you need fresh yeast. Buy a new packet, check the use-by date, and make absolutely certain your wort has cooled to proper pitching temperature (20-24°C for ale yeast).

This time, rehydrate your yeast properly if using dry yeast. Follow the packet instructions – usually this means sprinkling the yeast into warm water (around 27°C), letting it sit for 15 minutes, then gently stirring before pitching. This gives your yeast the best possible start.

Pitch into your fermenter confidently. Within 12-24 hours you should see activity.

Step 3: Check For Actual Fermentation Sometimes fermentation is happening but shows no visible signs. Take a gravity reading 24-48 hours after pitching fresh yeast. If gravity has dropped even slightly (say from 1.050 to 1.048), fermentation has started and you just have a very quiet fermentation.

If gravity still hasn’t moved, proceed to Step 4.

Step 4: Aerate And Pitch Again If fresh yeast didn’t work, there might be insufficient oxygen in your wort. Open your fermenter, use a sanitised spoon to vigorously stir the wort for 30 seconds (you want to introduce oxygen), then pitch another packet of fresh, properly rehydrated yeast.

Close the fermenter and wait 24 hours. This aggressive approach usually works.

When Nothing Works #

If you’ve pitched fresh yeast twice, checked temperature, aerated, and still nothing happens after 48 hours, your wort might have a more serious problem:

• Sanitiser residue that’s toxic to yeast
• pH completely out of range
• Contaminated wort that’s inhibiting yeast

At this point, take a small sample and taste it. Does it smell and taste like unfermented wort (sweet, malty)? Or does it smell off, sour, or wrong? If it smells actively bad, contamination might have occurred and you may need to dump the batch and start fresh.

If it smells fine, you can try one last rescue: pitch a very robust, high-cell-count yeast starter or multiple packets of fresh yeast simultaneously. Sometimes overwhelming the problem with sheer yeast numbers works.

Prevention For Next Time #

• Always check yeast use-by dates before buying
• Buy from suppliers with high turnover
• Use yeast within a reasonable timeframe after purchase
• Always cool wort to proper temperature before pitching
• Aerate wort vigorously before adding yeast
• Pitch the correct amount of yeast for your batch size
• Keep fermenter at stable, appropriate temperature
• Actually remember to add the yeast (we’ve all been there)

Stop here if: Your fermentation never showed any signs of starting. Follow the rescue plan above.

Continue to Section 4 if: Fermentation started but then stopped partway through.

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Section 4: Genuinely Stuck Fermentation – Troubleshooting & Fixes #

Right, so fermentation definitely started – you saw bubbling, krausen formed, your airlock was active – but now you’ve taken gravity readings 3 days apart, the numbers haven’t budged an inch, and you’re sitting well above your expected final gravity. Your yeast worked for a while but have now downed tools and walked off the job.

This is the 1% situation. Your fermentation is genuinely stuck.

Don’t Panic. Yeast strikes are almost always negotiable. Your beer is probably salvageable. What you need is less panic and more detective work to figure out why your microscopic workforce has decided that enough is enough.

The Three-Step Rescue Plan (Try These First) #

About 95% of stuck fermentations are fixed by one of these three things, in this order. Try them before spending an hour reading about obscure yeast biochemistry.

Step 1: Check Your Temperature (Because It’s Almost Always This) #

Grab a thermometer and stick it on your fermenter. Temperature causes about 80% of stuck fermentations.

If it reads below 18°C: Your yeast are cold and grumpy. Move your fermenter somewhere consistently warmer – ideally 18-22°C. A spare room, the kitchen bench away from drafts, or wrap it in an old blanket in a warmer spot. If you have a heat pad designed for fermentation, now’s its moment to shine. Wait 24-48 hours. Your yeast will wake up, remember they have a job, and get back to work.

If it reads above 25°C: Your yeast are either stressed or cooked. Move your fermenter somewhere cooler – away from windows, out of direct sunlight, maybe near the air conditioning if you’re running it. If it’s been above 30°C at any point, your yeast might be dead. Skip to Step 3 (fresh yeast).

If temperature looks fine (18-24°C): Proceed to Step 2 with our compliments for your excellent temperature control.

Step 2: Give It A Gentle Stir (The Encouragement Approach) #

Sometimes yeast settle to the bottom and need a reminder that they’re supposed to be working, not resting.

Sanitise a long spoon thoroughly. Open your fermenter carefully. Give the beer a gentle stir – you’re resuspending yeast, not whipping cream. Reseal and wait 24-48 hours. Often this is enough to get things moving again.

Warning: This introduces a bit of oxygen, which beer normally dislikes. Only do this when actively fixing a stuck fermentation, not as casual routine maintenance.

Step 3: Call In Reinforcements (Fresh Yeast To The Rescue) #

If temperature is correct and stirring didn’t work, it’s time for fresh troops.

Buy fresh yeast appropriate for your beer and temperature. Now here’s the bit most people skip but shouldn’t: rehydrate it properly. Yes, you can just sprinkle dry yeast directly onto your wort like you’re seasoning a roast, and it’ll probably work. But rehydrating it first in warm water (follow the packet instructions) wakes the yeast up gently and dramatically improves viability. It’s the difference between being shaken awake by an alarm clock versus being gradually woken by the smell of coffee. The yeast that get the gentle wake-up call perform significantly better.

Pitch your rehydrated (or at least fresh) yeast into your fermenter. Wait 2-3 days. Fresh, healthy yeast almost always restart things.

That’s the rescue plan. Try those three steps before diving into the detailed troubleshooting below.

Roughly 80% of you will be fixed by Step 1. Another 10% by Step 2. Most of the remaining 10% by Step 3. If you’re in the tiny percentage who’ve tried all three and you’re still stuck, then work through the detailed causes below to understand what’s genuinely wrong.

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Detailed Troubleshooting (For The Determined Or The Unlucky) #

Still stuck after trying the three-step rescue? Right, let’s figure out exactly what went wrong.

Why Yeast Stop Working (The Usual Suspects) #

Yeast are simple organisms with simple needs: food, warmth, oxygen (at the start), and reasonable working conditions. Deny them any of these and they’ll stop converting your sugar into alcohol faster than you can say “fermentation halt.”

The Temperature Problem (Responsible For About 80% Of Strikes) #

Too Cold: Your yeast are Australian organisms. Well, sort of – they originated elsewhere but they’re working in Australian conditions now. Ale yeast typically want 18-24°C. Drop below 18°C and they slow to a crawl. Hit 15°C and they’re essentially hibernating. Below that and they might not wake up at all.

In Australian winters – which do exist, despite what the rest of the world believes – a fermenter in the garage or laundry can easily drop below 18°C overnight. Your yeast aren’t dead; they’re just cold, grumpy, and refusing to work until conditions improve.

How to check: Stick a thermometer on your fermenter. If it reads below 18°C, you’ve found your culprit.

The fix: Move your fermenter somewhere consistently warm. Not dramatically warm – don’t stick it next to a heater or in direct sunlight like you’re trying to cook it. Just somewhere that sits at 18-22°C. Your hot water cupboard works well if you have one. A heat pad designed for fermentation (placed under or wrapped around the fermenter) can maintain steady temperatures through Australian winters without cooking your yeast.

Give it time: Yeast can take 12-48 hours to wake up from their cold-induced nap. Be patient. They’re coming back, they’re just doing it slowly and resentfully.

Too Hot: Temperatures above 25°C stress yeast like working in an Australian summer without air conditioning stresses humans. Above 30°C and you’re not stressing them, you’re cooking them. Dead yeast are spectacularly bad at fermentation – they just float around looking regretful while your beer remains stubbornly sweet.

How to check: Thermometer on fermenter. If it reads above 25°C, or if it spiked higher at some point during fermentation, heat stress is likely.

The fix: Move your fermenter somewhere cooler. In Australian summers this might mean air conditioning, a cool corner away from windows, or even a bath of cold water that you change regularly. You can’t un-cook already-dead yeast, so if they’re gone, you’ll need to pitch fresh yeast once temperatures are reasonable.

Wrong Yeast For The Job #

Did you accidentally use lager yeast but ferment at room temperature? Or ale yeast while trying to lager? This is like hiring someone for an office job and then asking them to work in a mineshaft – technically they can do work, but not the work you’re expecting.

Lager yeast needs 10-15°C to function properly. At 20°C it behaves erratically, produces weird flavours, and sometimes just gives up entirely. Ale yeast at 12°C just goes to sleep and refuses to wake up.

How to check: Look at what yeast you pitched and what temperature you’re fermenting at. If there’s a mismatch, you’ve found the problem.

The fix: Either adjust temperature to suit your yeast, or pitch fresh yeast that actually matches your conditions. Most home brewers ferment at room temperature (18-24°C), which means ale yeast is your friend unless you’ve specifically set up temperature control for lagers.

Dead, Old, or Insufficient Yeast #

Yeast are living organisms with limited lifespans. Old yeast, insufficient quantities, or yeast that weren’t viable to begin with will fail to establish a proper colony. It’s like trying to staff a factory with three tired employees and expecting them to handle a full production run.

Common yeast problems:

• Always check the use-by date on the packet before buying
• Don’t let yeast packets sit around for months after purchase – use them within a reasonable timeframe
• Underpitching: not using enough yeast for your batch size or original gravity

The fix: Buy from suppliers with high stock turnover so you know the yeast is fresh. Check dates before you buy. Use yeast within a reasonable timeframe after purchase. For big beers (high original gravity), consider using multiple packets of yeast or make a yeast starter to build up cell count before pitching. If you suspect your current yeast are dead or insufficient, pitch fresh yeast.

Under-Aerated Wort #

Yeast need oxygen at the very start of fermentation to reproduce to viable numbers. No oxygen = no reproduction = insufficient yeast colony = stuck fermentation. This is particularly common when people carefully pour wort into their fermenter to avoid splashing, which is exactly the opposite of what you want at the beginning.

How to check: Think back to when you transferred wort to your fermenter. Did you splash it around vigorously? Stir it well? Or did you gently pour it in like you were handling a sleeping baby?

The fix for next time: At the start of fermentation (before pitching yeast), pour vigorously into your fermenter. Splash it around. Stir it thoroughly with a sanitised spoon. You want oxygen dissolved in that wort. This is the only time in brewing where splashing is good.

For current stuck fermentation: Don’t try to aerate now – that causes oxidation and off-flavours in partially fermented beer. Instead, pitch fresh yeast. The original fermentation should have had enough dissolved oxygen; the problem was likely insufficient yeast rather than insufficient oxygen.

High Gravity Beers Exceeding Yeast Tolerance #

Here’s the problem: yeast produce alcohol as they eat sugar. But alcohol is poisonous to yeast – they’re essentially creating their own toxic environment. Each yeast strain can only tolerate a certain alcohol percentage before they die.

Think of it like this: imagine working in a factory where the product you’re making gradually fills the room with toxic fumes. Eventually, the fumes get so concentrated that you can’t work anymore – or worse, you’re overcome entirely.

Most ale yeasts can handle about 8-12% alcohol before they give up. Some can push to 14%. If you’re brewing a massive beer – say a barleywine or imperial stout starting at 1.090 original gravity – you’re potentially heading toward 10-12% alcohol or higher. Your yeast might ferment it down to 1.030, reach their alcohol tolerance limit, and then simply die. You’re stuck at 1.030 with lots of sugar remaining, not because the yeast are lazy, but because they’re dead from alcohol poisoning.

How to check: Look at your original gravity and yeast packet. If you’re brewing something that will potentially create more alcohol than your yeast can tolerate, this might be your problem.

The fix: For very strong beers, choose yeast strains with high alcohol tolerance (check the packet – it should list the tolerance percentage). Alternatively, some brewers pitch multiple yeast strains in sequence – start with one strain, let it work to its limit, then pitch a more alcohol-tolerant strain to finish the job.

Lack of Yeast Nutrients #

Malt naturally contains nutrients yeast need. But if you’re brewing with lots of simple sugars (table sugar, honey, fruit), or making mead which has almost no nutrients, your yeast can run out of food before fermentation is complete. It’s like asking someone to run a marathon on nothing but lollies – they’ll get partway and then crash.

Common in: High-gravity beers with sugar additions, meads, fruit beers, ciders

The fix: Add yeast nutrient at the start of fermentation for these styles. If already stuck, you can add yeast energiser (different from nutrient – it’s designed to restart stuck fermentations) to give yeast a boost. Follow package directions carefully – too much can create off-flavours.

pH Problems #

Yeast like their environment slightly acidic, around pH 4-5. If pH drops too low (below 3.5) or goes too high (above 5.5), yeast activity is inhibited. This is rare in beer brewing but can happen with fruit additions or water chemistry issues.

How to check: You’d need pH testing strips or a pH meter, which most home brewers don’t have. If you’ve added lots of acidic fruit or have unusual water chemistry, consider this possibility.

The fix: Adjusting pH mid-fermentation is tricky. For future batches, manage pH through water chemistry and malt selection.

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The Complete Rescue Checklist #

Work through this systematically:

1. Confirm you’re actually stuck – gravity readings 3 days apart, both identical, and above expected final gravity
2. Check temperature – is it in the 18-24°C range for ale yeast?
3. Fix temperature – move fermenter to correct conditions
4. Wait 3-4 days – give yeast time to wake up and resume work
5. Try rousing – gentle stirring to resuspend settled yeast
6. Wait 2 more days – see if rousing helped
7. Pitch fresh yeast – buy fresh, rehydrate properly, pitch confidently
8. Add yeast energiser – if fresh yeast alone doesn’t restart things
9. Warm it up slightly – 2-3°C above normal once fermentation restarts
10. Take final gravity – when stable for 2-3 days, taste it
11. Accept “good enough” – not every beer hits target, and that’s genuinely fine

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Should You Throw It Away? #

Almost certainly not. Even stuck fermentations usually produce drinkable beer – it might be sweeter than intended, slightly lower in alcohol, or have some unexpected flavours, but it’s rarely undrinkable.

Throw it away only if:

• It smells like death, sewage, or vomit
• Visible mould is growing on the surface
• You’re absolutely certain it’s contaminated beyond any hope

Don’t throw it away if:

• Gravity is just higher than expected but it tastes fine
• It’s been stuck for ages but doesn’t smell awful
• You’re disappointed it’s not perfect (imperfect beer is still beer)

Remember: commercial breweries occasionally have batches that don’t hit targets. They adjust, bottle it anyway, sell it, and people drink it happily. Your “imperfect” homebrew is probably far better than you think.

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What You’ll Learn From This Experience #

Whether your fermentation was quietly finishing or genuinely stuck, you’ll learn more about yeast behaviour from this experience than from ten perfect batches. You’ll develop better temperature control instincts. You’ll stop trusting your airlock and start trusting your hydrometer. You’ll understand that brewing is part science, part patience, and part accepting that yeast have their own agenda.

Most importantly, you’ll discover that beer is remarkably difficult to completely ruin. Yeast have spent millions of years evolving to turn sugar into alcohol – it’s literally the only thing they’re good at. When they stop doing it, there’s usually an obvious reason, and fixing that reason usually fixes the beer.

Your currently problematic beer will almost certainly turn out drinkable. At worst, you’ve made something sweeter than intended. The Belgians have built an entire brewing tradition on that outcome and nobody complains.

Thousands of brewers before you have stood in exactly the same spot at exactly the same time of night, staring at exactly the same silent airlock, wondering exactly the same thing. They’re all drinking beer now. You will too.

“In the long history of brewing, thousands of batches have been declared ‘ruined’ and poured down the drain. Most of them were perfectly fine – they just had anxious brewers.”

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Written by Arthur Density, Head of Fermentation Rescue Operations at H&S Brew Supplies
“Reassuring worried brewers and getting yeast back to work for over two decades”