Specific Gravity at .020 after 2 weeks?

Hi guys...I'm a new brewer. My brothers got me a basic kit for Christmas, including a True Brew Porter ingredient kit.

I think I followed the instructions for the kit pretty closely...I didn't proof the yeast, but I did have quite a bit of bubbling in the airlock shortly after I brewed. So I got ready to bottle after 7 days, like the kit said, and after sanitizing my stuff and getting all ready to go, I checked the specific gravity. It was at .022.

So I waited another week. There was no bubbling from the airlock at all, except for one time in the morning when I happened to noticed some bubbles coming out. I checked the brew again after a total of 14 days and found it was only at .020.

The temp of my fermenter was at about 75-78 degrees pretty much the whole time. Any ideas what could have happened? Should I add another packet of yeast? What could have gone wrong?

Thanks much...I am anxious to bottle! But don't worry...I'm drinking some non-homebrew to make it through the hard times.

i don't see a problem with this gravity (assuming you actually mean 1.020)... what does the kit say the final gravity should be? i'm guessing this is where you're getting the idea that you should be anxious....?

Porters tend to have a lot of unfermentables, caramels, MD, etc. They'll have higher FG's than pales. I'd go light on the priming sugar and bottle. Give it at least a month in the bottle.

What they said.

Also, 75-78 is pretty warm fermentation temp. 68-72 is a more common target for most ales.

Keep in mind that during the initial active days of fermentation, the wort will be a few degrees warmer than the ambient temp, due to the intense yeast activity.

Yeah, I need to figure out a way to get the temperature down a bit...my apartment is quite warm during the winter months. That said, it was definitely fermenting...it just seems to have stopped a bit early.

The kit says FG should be 1.012 - 1.014. I guess that leads me to a question: is FG the number I get before or after bottling? The kit suggested that I take the FG reading just before bottling.

So yeah, that's what has me worried, that it's not as low as the kit says it should be before bottling. The comment about a porter having a lot of non-fermentables in it makes me less concerned though.