Question about final gravity and/or stuck fermentation

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dan123

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I have a question about final gravity and/or stuck fermentation. For my second stab at brewing, I attempted a Brewer’s Best Holiday Ale extract kit. The recipe suggests a starting gravity of 1.070 – 1.078 (my actual reading was 1.075); and suggests a final gravity of 1.010 – 1.016 (my current reading, 31 days after brewing, is 1.024). Below are the details:

I had very rapid airlock activity for the first 3 days, followed by a very rapid decline on Day 4. The gravity on Days 7 and 9 was 1.030. On Day 9, I racked to the secondary, repitched with US-05, and moved the secondary to a 74-degree room (previous temperature was 66-70 degrees). On Days 10 - 13, I observed no airlock activity. However, a few clusters of something formed on the surface (looked like tightly formed bubbles). Gravity reading on Days 12, 14, and 15 was 1.026.

On Day 16, I repitched again with new US-05 (as per the recommendation of my LHBS). Again, no airlock activity…and two weeks later (Days 29 and 31) gravity reading is 1.024.

Should I continue to wait?

Is it reasonably safe to bottle so much higher than the recommend terminal gravity? (If only marginally so, should I reduce the priming sugar to minimize the potential of bottle-bombs?)

Thanks for any advice. I’m very new to this endeavor and am not sure what I should do next.
 
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