Alcoholic Ginger Beer Fermentation Issues! Gone Too Far?

[lukemarsh]

I started a ginger beer using the Coopers Ginger Beer kit and 2kg of Dextrose with a final volume of 18L to aim for about 5% ABV.
I put down the brew on the 4th March and it started to shown definite signs of fermentation by the 6th March... the OG was 1.046.
By the 10th March it had only gone down to 1.035, as the fermenter was too cold (21 degrees), so I moved it to a warmer area (26 degrees) to speed up fermentation. I was also given a small sample of yeast neutraliser (or something of the like, I think that's what the guy told me it was) to boost the fermentation. And that it most definitely did! The airlock just about exploded and I had to actually refill it after about ten minutes of bubbling.

I left this for about a week and it got down to 1.011 on the 19th March... I was thinking I'd be bottling tonight if it stayed this way, because I am going away for 4 days tomorrow morning so wont be able to bottle! I checked tonight and it went down further to 1.001!

As the reading has not been consistent for 48 hours, I need to postpone bottling... so would leaving it until Thursday hurt? It's been fermenting for around 17 days now, so would leaving bottling for a few extra days affect the brew? Why has it suddenly gone down to 1.001 in a matter of days?

Another thing to add: I broke my hydrometer the other day after my second to last reading, and the reading I got for 1.001 was on my friend's hydrometer which is exactly the same as what mine was... I tested both hydrometers in water and they both read 1.000 as normal, so it shouldn't have affected my result should it?

 

[bum]

If the hydrometers read the same then you're golden.

17 days is nowhere near being too long in the fermenter. Definitely wait for the FG to level out. It might possibly even go lower still so I'd wait a while even if it does level out (this always helps the yeast to clean up after itself anyway). You've got at least a week or two before you need to worry about off-flavours from sitting on the yeast.

Also, 21C is nowhere near being too low a temperature. With the kit yeast 26C may not be the end of the world but is definitely a bit too high. Don't be too concerned, it'll still be a decent drop (assuming you're not sensitive to the artificial sweeteners like some people).

 

[lukemarsh]

On the kit can it said to ferment at between 21 and 27 degrees, and my cellar (where I usually brew) doesn't get any higher than 22 deg, and had been sitting on around 20-21 ish with the Ginger Beer. The guy at Brewcraft down the road said it may have slowed because of the lower temperature (he likened it to cooking: lower temp, slower cooking) so putting it somewhere that's around 25 should speed it up. It was actually more like 24 degrees in the new spot, but would've varied between 24 and 26ish during the day.

 

[bum]

Higher temps will definitely make it "cook" quicker. I'd never disagree with that. But higher temps can encourage your little yeasties to throw some nasty flavours - I'd be slightly less concerned about this in a GB than a regular beer though so I do think you'll still be okay if it does occasionally go up to 26C. But it isn't really ideal.

Actually, thinking about your LHBS dude's parable - what do you think might happen if you bang a chicken frame and some water in a microwave for 10 minutes? Yeah, it'll get hot quicker but it isn't gonna make a tasty stock, is it? This advice from your LHBS isn't the best - certainly not so bad it'll ruin your GB but it does seem a little...one sided?