Noob Bottling Question

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tipsy

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Hi Everyone,

I just would like a point of clarification about when to bottle your brew. We have our first ale, it has been fermenting for 12 days. Almost all of the activity has died, it bubbles about every minute and ten now. The sheet that came with the starter kit said to bottle after 7 days, but we are still about 3-4 points away from the final gravity listed on the sheet. Should we wait until there is no more bubbling activity or should we go by the gravity? Is there a way that we should be determine what the final gravity should be aside from looking at what our sheet says?

Thanks very much!
 
Don't bottle yet. For one thing, if you bottle before terminal gravity is reached, you'll likely get bottle bombs. For another, I have no idea why all those kit directions say that. If I were you, I'd bottle after about 2 weeks so long as fermentation is completely over.
 
Yeah, dont bottle till you reach your FG. They do the math for you on those kits but you can get a rough FG by dividing the last 2 numbers of your OG by 4. Ex. 1.042= 42/4 = .10 = 1.01. Dont worry about your fermentation time. I just had one take 17 days.
Here is a good thread for ya. It is in the bottling section-Revvy's tips for the bottler, first time.
 
If you use a hydrometer and meassure consecutive readings that are the same day after day then you should be ready to bottle. I have found with some kits that their FG is a best guess and I can't always hit them especially with all of the variables that come with brewing your own.
 
If you read around here you will find that most of us recommend you wait a minimum three to four weeks before you bottle...you will find that your beer is crisp and clear, and much better than if you jump the gun a rack too soon...

Pretty much the only ones who will tell you to bottle so soon are new brewers.

I leave all my beers in primary for a month...

I know you are excited and impatient, but do yourself and your beer a favor, and let the yeasts clean up after themselves after they finish fermenting...rather that rush it, brew another batch of beer...(fermenters are cheap) and drink some more micros for a couple more weeks, to build up your bottles and let the beer be nice and happy...

If you search "long primary" and "No secondary" you will see a ton of threads on here, we talk about it every day.
 
To answer one of your questions (Should we wait until there is no more bubbling activity or should we go by the gravity?) - trust your hydrometer readings over the airlock activity. Airlocks are not a good indicator of fermentation. Your hydrometer is the best gauge.
 

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