loska

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Hi all,

I have been homebrewing for a few years now. I have always just kept to the basic kits. I am doing a Morgans Blue Mountain kit at the moment. It has been kept at a constant 22 degrees for the fermentation. The thing is after 2 weeks the airlock is still bubbling ... not crazy but gradually enough to show it is still fermenting. And it did not start to ferment until after a week. And a hydrometer reading tells me it has not finished fermenting.

I think it best to keep it there until fermented fully but just wondering if anyone else has run into a similar thing? Also how long can you keep it in the fermenter before bottling until the beer starts to go bad?

The due date on the kit was due to expire in a month but I do not think that would make a difference.

Thanks,
Carl.

Revvy

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What was your gravity reading and what is the estimated final? You say it's not there yet, but what are the numbers? How far away are you?

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HoppyMaltPoet

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Let it finish out until you hit your target FG. I have left an ale in my primary for over 2 weeks, as I believe many people here have. You shouldn't have any issues.

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Revvy

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Many of us leave our beers a minimum of 4 weeks in primary, there's a ton of info on here discussing it, so no need to re-invent the wheel. I leave mine a min of 4 weeks. Though I just bottled a batch theat was 5.5 months in primary. If you've practiced sanitization then your beer won't go bad, and may actually improve by leaving it alone.

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Revvy's one of the cool reverends. He has a Harley and a t-shirt that says on the back "If you can read this, the bitch was Raptured. - Madman

I gotta tell ya, just between us girls, that Revvy is HOT. Very tall, gorgeous grey hair and a terrific smile. He's very good looking in person, with a charismatic personality... he drives like a ****ing maniac! - YooperBrew

loska

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Thanks for the replies guys! I will just leave it there as suggested. I always sanitize well so should be alright. The target FG is 1005 or lower and when I took the reading it was 1015. So almost there I guess.

JBZSTL

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My airlock is showing signs of activity every 10-12 seconds after 4 weeks in the primary. The activity was not as frequent after 1 week in the primary. Two days ago I opened the primary to take a sample for a gravity reading. Did the increase in oxygen from opening the primary cause this?

Just curious as to what's going on. It should be stated that gravity was off from the target gravity. I plan on taking another reading in 3 days.

Revvy

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This is why it is important to realize that airlock bubbling and fermentation are not the same thing. You have to separate that from your mindset. Airlock bubbling can be a sign of fermentation, but not a good one, because the airlock will often blip or not blip for various other reasons...so it is a tenuous connection at best.

If your airlock was bubbling and stopped---It doesn't mean fermentation has stopped.

If you airlock isn't bubbling, it doesn't mean your fermentation hasn't started....

If your airlock starts bubbling, it really doesn't matter.

If your airlock NEVER bubbles, it doesn't mean anything is wrong or right.

Your airlock is not a fermentation gauge, it is a VALVE to release excess co2. If it bubbles it is because it needs to, if it doesn't, it just means it doesn't need to...

Often an airlock will bubble if the fermenter has been disturbed in some way, like a change in temperature, change in atmospheric pressure, the cat brushing against it, or opening it up to take a hydro reading.

The co2 has sat in stasis for a period of time, then it was disturbed so it is not longer at equilibrium with everything else now. And therefore it is blipping in your airlock...nothing else.

Think about this, when you lowered the lid back onto the bucket (or stopper on the carboy), you were pushing AIR ahead of it, right into the bucket, so now you have air and co2 in a space where there was JUST a fixed amount of co2...SO now what was in stasis, is now co2 + a volume of air...so now the co2 is going to push the o2 back out...where???? The airlock of course...Blip Blip Blip anyone?????

Again, if you separate the idea of airlock bubbling from fermentation, you worry less about crap like this.

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Like my snazzy new avatar? Get Sons of Zymurgy swag, here, and brew with the best.

Revvy's one of the cool reverends. He has a Harley and a t-shirt that says on the back "If you can read this, the bitch was Raptured. - Madman

I gotta tell ya, just between us girls, that Revvy is HOT. Very tall, gorgeous grey hair and a terrific smile. He's very good looking in person, with a charismatic personality... he drives like a ****ing maniac! - YooperBrew

david58

Recipes 

Revvy, you are getting thru to this noob.

Measuring Gravity and using bubbles for entertainment...
Retiring my secondary...
Becoming more patient and letting it age...

Heading off to buy another fermenter tomorrow so I can get another 5 gal in the pipeline.

JBZSTL

Recipes 

Consider it separated!!! Thanks for your insight.