slow steady bubble stil after 2 weeks. Normal?

scottmotron · 08-18-2007, 04:57 PM

Hey everybody. I'm a new brewer and just found this forum and I'm stoked! Looks like a wealth of information. I can't wait to participate more here in the future. So I'm on my second batch ever (first one turned out great!) and need your help.

For this batch I decided to do a wheat beer, using a hefe yeast (the recipe was given to me by an employee at my local brew shop). Unlike the last batch (English pale) which stopped after 5 days this one's been bubbling steadily in the bucket for 2 weeks straight. Bubbling has been tapering off steadily from vigorous at the start (every 3 seconds) and now 2 weeks later it's bubbling every minute or so.

I read on another post that one user said his hef's never take more then a week, but this one's still going. Think it's infected, or just the nature of the beast (or should I say yeast)? Anybody think this is normal?

I'm using a 60-40 wheat extract btw. I was planning on bottling this weekend but now I'm thinking maybe I'll leave it in the primary for another week.

I'll be taking hydro readings today to try to figure this out (once I figure out how) but in the meantime any opinions?
Thanks much for your collective forum wisdom, --scott

homebrewer_99 · 08-18-2007, 07:41 PM

Weizens usually take about 3-10 days. A lot depends on the fermenting temperature.

Taking a gravity reading will tell you more. If the OG has dropped 75% then I'd say it's done.

Welcome.

butler1850 · 08-20-2007, 07:57 PM

My American wheat ales, 1 w/ 9# DME, the other with 6# DME are still bubbling away at about the same rate, and about the same time frame (2 weeks).

As I'm heading on vacation Wednesday, they'll be in the fermentors for another week, and bottled on 8/29. (Took the day off, so bottling is as good a use as any).

I've found that my wheat ales all start off strong, and take longer to finish than my pale ales. YMMV.