Fermentation Advice

[adraine]

He guys I am currently fermenting my first BIAB, Dr Smurtos golden ale. So after 2 weeks of primary fermentation I plan to rack into a cube to crash chill and clear the beer for a couple of weeks before kegging.While racking I noticed little bubble still floating to the surface kind of "fizzing" which I took as fermentation being not complete. Now I know everyone will say what's your FG, but one of my kids knocked over my hydrometer and smashed it (little darling). So I don't know.Now I have the beer in a cube and don't know whether to leave it in the cube so it and yeast in the solution can keep working or just crash chill for a couple of weeks and just drink it.Advice please would highly valued?
Cheers Ad.

 

[manticle]

Buy another hydrometer.
Leave the beer at fermentation temp for a bit.


Then chill and condition.

If you remove the beer from the majority of the yeast too early, apart from bottle bombs (if you bottle), you run the risk of getting large amounts of acetaldehyde and/or diacetyl in your beer. I would consider krausening (basically adding a fresh active starter to the beer) but taste the beer at the end of your fermentation period and see if there is any acetaldehyde flavour there.

No real need to rack to secondary unless ageing for a long time. I rack to bulk prime which is enough to remove the majority of sediment. Racking to a keg would do a similar thing.

Bubbles could just be residual CO2 coming out of solution and if your temperatures were consistent, that's likely what it is but it's nice to be certain by measuring.

 

[Bats]

It all depends what temperature it was fermenting at.

After 2 weeks I'd say it would be pretty much finished but if it's been fermenting at a lower temp it may still have small amount of activity.

My advice, go buy another Hydrometer just be make sure. You'll need another one anyway.

 

[adraine]

I've got a new hydrometer & a refractometer on order.Fermentation temps were about 16-18deg (can find my heat pad)I've ordered a stc1000 to replace my current temp mate