Just let it sit until it's done doing its thing. Fermenting it slowly
makes for a better beer, anyhow (which is why lager was invented).

I doubt if the fact that you used malt instead of sugar had anything to
do with it. I make all-malt brews exclusively, and have never had any
trouble. Of course, it doesn't bother me if it takes a long time to
ferment. I generally let it sit for six weeks, anyhow. Sometimes, I
only use one ferment, and sometimes I transfer the still-bubbling brew
into a glass carboy to finish off.


Ray Drouillard


"K Hinze" <rudie@sihope.com> wrote in message
news:pan.2003.07.22.22.24.20.709295@sihope.com...[color=blue]
> Hello all,
> I have made a few batches of homebrew in my life, but have always used
> corn sugar for fermenting.
>
> This time around I aquired three cans of pre-made malt syrup, and set[/color]
out[color=blue]
> looking for some sugar.
> Some guy at the local homebrew store suggested I use powdered malt[/color]
extract[color=blue]
> instead, indicating it would give the beer a richer, 'darker' flavor.[/color]
So,[color=blue]
> I did try that, and the result is that my beers have been actively
> fermenting now for 20 days. I sure would like to bottle and sample my
> beer, but when, oh when will they ever stop fermenting? I just used[/color]
the[color=blue]
> dry yeast packets that came with the cans.
>
> Also, of the three batches I started, two of them foamed up[/color]
substantially[color=blue]
> in the first few days, and even spilled out into the airlock and out,
> creating a fun mess. But the third, while actively fermenting like the
> rest, never bubbled up more than a few centimeters.
> What might this mean? The carbon dioxide escaping from the airlock[/color]
smells[color=blue]
> sweet, just like the other brews, just no foam. Aside from the obvious
> signs of fermenting, it looks 'flat', the bubbles pop the moment they
> break the surface of the beer, the other two have surface bubbles to[/color]
this[color=blue]
> day.
>
> Any ideas?
> Thanks,
> Amateur beermaker
> Kevin Hinze
> [email]rudie@sihope.com[/email][/color]