My first Fermantation (i have a few questions)

[narcolepticpug]

so i started my fermantation oct. 25 with 3 gal. of water 5lbs of sugar. and a little plastic film can of some kind of yeast i bought from a brew bakers(i donno what it was). at first it was bubbleing good and i could see alot of air coming out of my home made airlock..
now its still bubleing but i havent seen air coming out of the airlock. its been 8 days. the water is still cloudy. and i noticed some kind of residue on the bottom of the waterbotle.

how willl i know when its done?
what is that residue?
how long can the fermentation sit before it goes bad?

[Dnderhead]

1) if it stops bubbling it is done,those bubbles you see mite be c02 stuck in wash give it a shake to release them then See if it continues.
2) if wash taste like dry wine then it most likely done.
3) if you have a hydrometer take a reading in two consecutive days if it does not change it is finished.

[olddog]

Some of my washes take two weeks or more, I would be please if they would all finish in 8 days

[narcolepticpug]

turns out i just needed some more yeast.. its foaming and bubbleing like crazy now

[rad14701]

turns out i just needed some more yeast.. its foaming and bubbleing like crazy now

I doubt that yeast was the actual problem, just a temporary solution...

Your wash has a potential yield of 11.7% ABV... It can only get there if your yeast have enough nutrients to feed them as they work diligently at converting sugar to alcohol and CO2... You haven't listed any nutrients in your recipe... What most likely happened was that the yeast became stressed, perhaps reverted to autolysis (cannibalism), and died off in numbers...

Adding more yeast will repeat the cycle if you don't feed the colony... You need to add nutrients... They can be in the form of multivitamins and epsom salt, some boiled cereal, tomato paste, or any number of other ingredients... At this point you need to add whatever you can most easily fit into the fermentation vessel... I'd try 3 tbsp of tomato paste as it'll probably yield the most benefit by volume...

[narcolepticpug]

yea. you were right. i got home after work and it was almost stoped and no c02 production.. i chrushed a multivitamins into powder and tolded it in there and shook it up.. ill let you know tomorrow if it helps