Scotish Heavy Ale - almost ready?

BADS197 · 11-17-2008, 06:25 PM

I've been working on this Scotish heavy ale for a while now.

It's been in the fermenter for almost 2 months.

Initially I had it chilled down to almost 60 degrees till the krausen subsided and sank. Then after I moved, we were so busy I left it sitting in a spare bathroom alone not paying it any attention and yesterday checked the temp and it's sitting at 70 degrees and I tossed in one frozen jug of water.

It's pretty much been at a constant 70 for almost a month of that time.

I've kept the airlock full of vodka.

Does anyone think I hurt it by letting the temps ride up to 70 after the krausen sank? I got lazy but figured the more I left it sit the better it would get.

I'm thinking of either putting it in the secondary or just letting it sit.. then again bottling it seemed like something I should do.

wait?
bottle?
secondary?

I'm in no hurry if waiting is the best option.

Estimated alcohol % should be around 10-11% according to the recipe I used.

ifishsum · 11-17-2008, 07:05 PM

I don't think temperature is as critical once the bulk of fermentation is over, so you should be fine there.

If it's been in primary for 2 months I would probably get it off the yeast, either secondary or bottle. You should be safe to do either. What is the gravity reading?

BADS197 · 11-17-2008, 07:56 PM

I haven't done a gravity reading yet as I'm still sorting out boxes from our move to another apartment.

I forgot to do an OG reading which is probably the stupidest thing I've done so far. I considered it pretty important and on my list during the creation but to actaully forget it.. downright dumb.

I had an approximate FG but I had modified the recipe and added a couple lbs of extract to the already huge amount for the recipe.

I'll probably get it into secondary and taste it.. if it's good then bottle it this weekend.

I really hope it turns out good as it was expensive and the waiting time horrible.. LOL

MoRoToRiUm · 11-17-2008, 08:48 PM

Sounds like a good idea- If you're kegging I almost wouldn't bother with a secondary. It should be ok at this point to cold break it and rack it into a keg (or cold break and use a thief or or something sanitary to get a quick sample). Bottling I'd do the same, just sample before you put it in your bottling bucket. Let us know how it turns out!

BADS197 · 11-17-2008, 10:26 PM

I think tonight I'll get a sample pulled and test it and taste it.. i'm hoping it's every bit as strong as it's suppose to be.

BADS197 · 11-18-2008, 01:40 AM

PULLED A SAMPLE....

eeeeeeeeehhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Smells very strong and tastes pretty damn good. Leaves a little burn going down the ole throat.

We are going to bottle it.

Once I find my original estimated numbers I'll calculate the alcohol.

FG is at 1.031 approximately.. so lemme find that estimated in one of my posts.

MoRoToRiUm · 11-18-2008, 08:44 AM

Sweet- Let me know when you need my address to ship me a six pack ;-) Just imagine after it's carbed and conditioned. d@mn. Cheers!

BADS197 · 11-18-2008, 02:28 PM

I looked at the recipe that I used as a guide/pattern and their OG I assume was close to to mine as I only added a couple extra pounds of extract to it and a little more hops here and there.. and my FG is almost spot on theirs.

Alcohol content is at least 9.6 (based off the original recipe that I modified) but I don't imagine more than 11.