Fermentation nerves (like all rookies)

Hey all,

Brewed a kit of Belgian IPA, first batch overall, made with a Brewers Best kit.

Boil went fine, put in the primary fermenter. Airlock started bubbling within a day, went for about three days, then mostly stopped.

Racked in the secondary fermenter (glass carboy) after about a week in the primary and then dry hopped.

My question is, it's been in the carboy for about three weeks now, getting close to a month. It has a three piece airlock, and the middle piece of the airlock is pushed up against the cap as though there's CO2 that's stuck. That just kind of confuses me since I thought it would be done fermenting by now.

I'm not in a huge rush (besides wanting to see how my batch turned out!) and I really don't want to bottle too early after hearing horror stories of bottling too early and caps exploding off.

I'm just curious what's going on fermenting-wise and whether it would be safe to bottle soon.

Thanks in advance for your help, cheers!

Did you use dry yeast? It should definitely be done after 3 weeks... If you want to be positive take a gravity reading a few days in a row.. If it's consistant, you're good to go. That's the best way to be sure.

That's called off-gassing. co2 will continue to escape after fermentation is complete. The airlock is not what tells you if your beer is fermenting. Temp change can cause the same thing. If you don't already have one, get a hydrometer. A hydrometer will tell you whether your beer is done fermenting, as the reading will hold steady over a few days.

With all that said, it should be safe to say your beer is good to go and you definitely want to get it off the dry hops.

+1 on the SG reading. Read the fermentation Stickies above, also check out the All Grain threads' stickies for information about attenuation and yeasts. Don't trust your airlock.

Has the ambient temp changed since you racked to secondary? Perhaps an increase in room temp has roused the yeast.

It was dry yeast. Didn't prime it like I should have because I was lazy, and have paid for it worrying about the batch. But it seemed to ferment just fine.

I'll check the gravity over the next two days so hopefully I can bottle before it gets too hoppy (of course, when is that ever a bad thing??)

Cheers guys, thanks.

rjgbrew said:

It was dry yeast. Didn't prime it like I should have because I was lazy, and have paid for it worrying about the batch. But it seemed to ferment just fine.

I'll check the gravity over the next two days so hopefully I can bottle before it gets too hoppy (of course, when is that ever a bad thing??)

Cheers guys, thanks.

Click to expand...

It can't get more hoppy while sitting in a fermenter. Actually, just the reverse. Even the hoppiest beers will lose hops flavor and aroma with aging.

If the gravity is stable (and it should have been, before being racked), and it's starting to clear, it's fine to bottle.

MaxStout said:

Has the ambient temp changed since you racked to secondary? Perhaps an increase in room temp has roused the yeast.

Click to expand...

And no, the temp hasn't changed.

Thanks for all the help.

OG - 1.056
Gravity measured about five days later - 1.012

For this batch, OG Range: 1.052 - 1.056, FG: 1.011 - 1.014

Feeling pretty good.

Today (again, like three/four weeks later) measured the gravity at 1.004.

I'm still probably not the best at taking gravity readings, but I have no idea what this is meaning. I want to pull it from the carboy since obviously it's getting below the range I think, but I also don't want to bottle it too early and have some bombs waiting for me.

Prime, bottle and start waiting again.