# ginger beer, taking a long time to ferment?



## clintlee (14/11/13)

hey all,

I started a coopers Ginger Beer on 20/10. 
recipe
coopers ginger beer kit
1KG raw sugar
300g dex
kit yeast
made to 19L
starting gravity was around 1040 from memory

my question is; after nearly 4 weeks the sg is 1008 but it is still bubbling every 5 minutes or so.
is it safe to bottle or should I leave it a bit longer?
what SG should the coopers kit get down to???

Cheers


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## LiquidGold (14/11/13)

I'd recommend being patient and waiting until the SG is stable over a couple of days. My first GB went down to 1.000 over 3 or 4 weeks and I have another one on the go which went from 1.005 on sunday to 1.002 today after nearly 3 weeks. Both of mine have had fresh ginger added as well as some brown sugar and honey but overall not a whole lot more fermentables considering the dex you have chucked in. Hope that helps :icon_cheers:


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## clintlee (15/11/13)

Cheers,
ill just be a bit more patient and check again in a few days.


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## zeggie (15/11/13)

I did pretty similar recipe. Needed 4 weeks in the fermenter and took around 5-6 weeks to carb up. Don't bother opening one after 2 weeks like you might with a regular beer.


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## clintlee (25/11/13)

Ok, so i took another gravity ready yesterday and it dropped to 1004 might check again tonight or tomorrow and if its constant i'll bottle it.
Should i expect it to drop any lower? i dont wanna have ginger beer spread across my garage and all over thw wifes car .


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## bum (25/11/13)

It's not unheard of to get that kit down near 1000 but with your recipe I'd say 1004 wouldn't create bombs without infection.

Buuut...the GB will be better if you leave it for a bit after FG is reached (as with pretty much all beers). We tend to place a fair amount of stress on being patient in order to avoid bottle bombs (due to the potential for physical harm) but there's a bunch of good stuff the yeast keeps doing after it has chewed up all the sugars and it is worth letting the batch sit for a few days so this can occur.


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## clintlee (25/11/13)

cheers Bum, might leave it till the weekend I then bottle it will be 6 weeks in the FV by then.


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