No Bubbling and Unreliable O.G. Reading... When Should I Bottle? PLEASE HELP!!!

In effort to conserve money and drink better beer I have made an attempt at brewing my own beer. For the most part I think I've done everything right but I have a couple issue that worry me.

I put the lid on my beer around midnight Thursday, April 23rd and starting late Friday I observed bubbles in the airlock about every 45 seconds so I left the house for the weekend. Fast forward 3 days to Monday morning. I return home and check my beer. Expecting to see tons of bubbles I was shocked to see NONE! The little plastic cap that releases air into the airlock seems to be suspended helplessly in the air. Reading through some threads I have learned however that these airlocks aren't reliable and I shouldn't be worried. Is that correct?

So now I'm hearing that I should take my lid off and get a new reading with the hydrometer. Before I do that I want to make sure that I'm not disrupting the fermentation process my opening my bucket? Assuming all is okay there, I have problem number 2. My O.G. was supposed to be from 1.042-1.045 but I measured it at 1.036. Either my O.G. was way off or I've somehow deluted too much, but I don't think so. According to my recipe I should expect a F.G. of 1.010-1.014. I'm so lost, what should I do? When should I bottle? The recipe says to expect to bottle after 3-7 days and I've fullfilled the 3 days but will I hurt anything by waiting 7?

Appreciate the feedback!

1: Don't worry about the airlock.

2: Opening the bucket once to take a hydrometer reading isn't a concern. Opening it frequently will release some of the CO2, which protects your beer from contamination. As for your OG reading, assuming this is an extract recipe from a kit, it's pretty hard to screw that up. You probably did what most of us have done at least once, and didn't mix the wort and the top off water well enough to get a valid reading. Don't sweat it.

3: If you pitched the yeast only 4 days ago, it's way to early for you to be worried about anything. I know the kit instructions say to bottle after 3-7 days, but those directions are written for people who want beer now, dammit! And to hell with the flavor! Leave it alone in the fermenter for 4 weeks (yes, I said it. 1 full month) and then take a hydrometer reading and bottle. Your beer will thank you for it.

Firstly... relax.....

second....relax more.. you're still too tense....

Fermentation will take anywhere from 7-10 days.. and after that you should still wait even yet another week or so......

my advice is this... wait until at least 7 days has gone by.. then take a hydro reading...
then wait another 2 days and take another reading.... then wait another 2 days and take another.... when you get the same reading 3 times in a row following this procedure then you are ready to bottle....

Burn those directions telling you how long it should be in primary. Let it sit for as long as you want. Staying in primary longer will only do good things for you beer. Your gravity readings could be off if not corrected for temperature. If you sanitize everything you use to collect your sample for the FG reading, you don't have to worry about harming your beer. Relax man, it's just beer....sweet, precious, delicious, wonderful beer.

NewBrewsNAtl said:

I put the lid on my beer around midnight Thursday, April 23rd and starting late Friday I observed bubbles in the airlock about every 45 seconds so I left the house for the weekend. Fast forward 3 days to Monday morning. I return home and check my beer. Expecting to see tons of bubbles I was shocked to see NONE! The little plastic cap that releases air into the airlock seems to be suspended helplessly in the air. Reading through some threads I have learned however that these airlocks aren't reliable and I shouldn't be worried. Is that correct?

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A) Using an airlock to measure how done your beer is is like checking how much gas is in your car by peering down the filler tube. Gravity checking is the only reliable way.

B) It's entirely possible, and quite likely, that your beer fermented out while you were gone. It is routine to have a beer finish fermentation in 2-3 days.

So now I'm hearing that I should take my lid off and get a new reading with the hydrometer. Before I do that I want to make sure that I'm not disrupting the fermentation process my opening my bucket?

Click to expand...

You aren't disrupting anything. You need to take a reading. Use a SANITIZED thief or turkey baster to pull your hydrometer sample.

Assuming all is okay there, I have problem number 2. My O.G. was supposed to be from 1.042-1.045 but I measured it at 1.036. Either my O.G. was way off or I've somehow deluted too much, but I don't think so.

Click to expand...

What was the temperature of your sample? That can affect your reading if it's too far from 60f. Also, if you added top-off water but didn't stir it well enough, that could account for a low gravity. Are you brewing with extract?

According to my recipe I should expect a F.G. of 1.010-1.014. I'm so lost, what should I do? When should I bottle? The recipe says to expect to bottle after 3-7 days and I've fullfilled the 3 days but will I hurt anything by waiting 7?

Click to expand...

LEAVE IT ALONE! That whole "bottle after X days" advice is nonsense. First off, never judge how done fermentation is by how many days it's been sitting. You need to take a hydrometer reading. Actually, you need to take multiple readings spaced a day or two apart. If it's below 1.016 or so, and stays there, you can assume that it's pretty much fermented correctly.

HOWEVER, that having been said, you really don't want to touch it for another 10 days at least. The yeast need time to clean up their byproducts, etc. You can leave beer on the primary yeast cake for several months and see no ill effects, but taking it off too early can really eff it up. Let it be, dude...just let it be.