Will I Bottle Or Wait?

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dickTed

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Kit brew with Safale 04.
Airlock bubbled for about 36hrs in primary, and I put it into secondary (with hops) after 1 week.
Two days later, without much variation in temp, it started bubbling again, about every 3-4 seconds.
Next day it had eased off, but still bubbling once a minute.
That was a week and a half ago.
It's still going. Perhaps every 2-3 mins.
I've had to give it the fan & wet towel treatment, when the temp got up to 25 on the weekend.

The SG readings were OG - 1.040
Readings since being in secondary -
Saturday - 1.015
Monday - 1.015
Wednesday - 1.014
Thursday - 1.014
Saturday - 1.013
Monday - 1.013
Tuesday - 1.013 (today)

Thought it had finished this morning when I saw the water levels in the airlock, and washed the bottles.
Went in to get the spare fermenter to wash it, and heard it bubble again.
Kinda feeling like enough's enough, and would like to bottle it anyway.
Hard to pull the pin when you've just washed 60 stubbies.
Any suggestions?
 
Hmmmm don't go by the airlock!

I would say it has 3 points to drop first b4 you bottle

Jovial Monk
 
JM, I don't understand your reasoning. Sure, don't go by the airlock. Therefore, what do you go by? The gravity readings. They have been constant for four days...so where do you get the anticipated three points drop in gravity from?

I'd say point one of JM's reply was correct, but I would then conclude the opposite. The airlock activity might be because of CO2 coming out of solution through temperature changes, not fermentation. And the gravity readings are your best guide. Go ahead and bottle. 1013 is a typical terminal gravity for S04 working on an extract in my experience.

Steve
 
I'd say bottle because the gravity has stopped, this is all I go by, airlocks mean nothing to me as some of my fermentors are not air tight.

My general rule is if the gravity is the same for 2-3 days straight, then brewing has stopped.
 
As stated in an earlier thread. Sometimes adding dry hops to the secondary can get the airlock going again. For what reasons I'm not 100% sure. Something to do with hops and nucleation sites or something similar.

Have to concur with Steve. I'd bottle it. No shift in FG in 4 days.

Warren -
 
Hmmm my American Amber, I got lazy and stoopid and relied onthe airlock (hate those @#$& things) put the fermenter somewhere cool for racking a week later. Now airlock, no action, about to rack, woops! SG 1029 (OG was 1052)

Sprinkled a packet of Nottingham over the surface of the beer, 3 days later down to 1019, 4 points to go.

Why I said 3 pints to go? My rule of thumb is that FG=1/4 of OG. 1/4 of 40 = 10 so FG will be 1010. Finished and stuck ferments both give the same reading over a number of days! If the kit was a stout, with unfermentables from the dark malts then yes it would probably be ready to bottle

JM
 
Dickted,

Dry hopping causes the airlock activity, it will go on for weeks.... If FG is steady, ignore the bubbles...
 
dickTed,
I would go ahead and bottle now. Use a bit less priming sugar. They may take a week or two longer to carbonate but they will be fine.

cheers
johnno
 
dickTed said:
Kit brew with Safale 04.
Airlock bubbled for about 36hrs in primary, and I put it into secondary (with hops) after 1 week.
Two days later, without much variation in temp, it started bubbling again, about every 3-4 seconds.
Next day it had eased off, but still bubbling once a minute.
That was a week and a half ago.
It's still going. Perhaps every 2-3 mins.
I've had to give it the fan & wet towel treatment, when the temp got up to 25 on the weekend.

[post="54114"][/post]​

The S-04 gets thru the bulk of it's work pretty quickly.
Starts quick too - bubbling 4-6 hrs if pitched on the warm side.
However it seems to take a while to finish off the last point or 2 of FG.

I rack to 2ndry after 2-3 days (4 at most) when the airlock starts to slow and the krausen drops. This ensures a quick purge of the airspace.

Usually leave it in the 2ndry for 2 wks and take readings every couple of days just to be sure. No drop in FG over the 2nd wk but airlock still goes every 5-10 mins.

Back when I was anal about fermenter seals, I experimented and left a brew for 4 wks in the primary and still got a bubble every hr or 2. :huh:
Still tasted ok compared to the other things I fermented as experiments at the time.
Coopers stout kit with 5kg white sugar and some wine yeast from a neighbour. Mixed 50-50 with a mate's home stilled vodka.
Young, stupid and very very sick. :party:
 
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