bottle it or wait it out
 

I have a Irish red ale fermenting had rapid fermentation first 12 hrs blew up all over the place but then died down to a stand still for the last 3 weeks in the last three weeks it went from 1.022 to 1.020
original was 1.052 can i bottle this without much worries and have a slightly less alcohol content or is there a chance it could still drop down to the recipe's goal of 1.012 approximately a 1% drop in alcohol. 4.2 instead of 5.2
this was my first all grain and my first BIAB. so i am sure i F'ed something up somewhere down the line.
i took a taste today and it seems ok a little bitter but not bad.
seems like it would be a good beer if i bottled it now.
Just do not want to have any explode on me.

now if i do bottle now would i still use the same amount of sugar for priming as i would have if it was at 1.012 or should i use less/ more?


p.s the beer is not 100% still it is still making small bubbles at the top of the beer almost like it wants to form a head but not quite. this is after3 weeks started this beer on Oct 8th

also i upped the room temp up to 18-20*C for the last week and a half to try and wake it up.

If you have any doubt, then rouse up the yeast, warm it up to about 72 degrees, and wait one more week. If it does not drop, then bottle. You would PROBABLY be OK bottling now, but I would wait one more week to be sure.

I have heard that you can use a sanitized paddle to slowly stir and "wake up" the yeast. This would be after bringing up the temperature a bit...but not too much more than 70 degrees or so. Disclaimer: I have not tried this method myself.

I've had plenty of extract beers stop at 1.020. It's just due to the fermentability of the extract. if the FG isn't changing, it's fine to bottle. don't stir it or anything like that- you'll risk oxidation and the beer isn't going any lower anyway.

I have had this happen and a gentle swirl of the fermenter and increasing the temperature slightly woke the yeast up and dropped my beer another 5 points. Maybe worth a try.

Chances are at this point it is what it is.

After bottling it, might be a good idea to sacrifice one every few days to make sure you don't get into in bottle bombs.

Since it's your first AG/BIAB attempt it may have been that your mash temp was a bit on the low side and you ended up with more unfermentable sugars in your wort. This would lead to a higher FG. Would also make the beer sweeter, fuller bodied.

The bubbles you are seeing could also be just CO2 coming out of solution and rising to the surface due to the present elevated temperature.

Do another gravity test to see if you've come down any from 1.020 and, if no change, just bottle away.:mug:

That's a tough call, but it MIGHT just be enough to convince your spouse that it is time to invest in a kegging system. :ban:

Now that I think about it, I kinda wish I had your problem....

My first batch stopped at 1.020 as well. First I waited, then I moved it slightly warmer, then I swirled the bucket, but all for naught; 1.020 was the final number.

Tastes OK, just a bit light in the loafers for %. If I want to get hammered on low drink volume I have liquor...

It's actually the reverse- higher temperature create more dextrins, and hence a higher ending FG. Lower temperatures favor a thinner, more fermentable wort.