Noob needs help

Hello everyone, have started my first brew and need some advice. The beer has been in the fermenting vat for 3 weeks now and I'm sure fermentation has stopped as the hydrometer reading has been the same for the last 5 days but it has stopped at 1014 but it is supposed to be 1009. It is also still producing alot of co2 in the vat and I am wondering is this normal and am I ok to bottle the beer and should I prime the bottles with less sugar. Thanks in advance!

If it has been in the primary for 3 weeks and the gravity is stable, I would say that it is ok to bottle.

If the hydrometer reading is stable your are ok to bottle. Go ahead and bottle with same amount of sugar. Check to see that your hydrometer is calibrated correctly. It should read 1.00 in plain distiller water. Also are you compensating for temperature. There should be a chart that came with you hydrometer telling ou to add or subtract to the reading depending on the temp of the sample.

This is one reason why I don't clone beers. Why try to make someone elses beer? I would much rather enjoy my own. If the gravity has stopped dropping, it is ready. Bottle it, wait, and enjoy.

Wow, thanks for the speedy reply!!! Better get bottling the hydrometer is good and was giving me a reading of 1.000 @ 20c and the beer is also at 20c now but has been up and down a bit over the 3 weeks as I've tried to find a happy balance. As for cloning beers, this is the very first time I've tried to brew beer, so maybe after a few batches I might try my own recipe

kallen said:

This is one reason why I don't clone beers. Why try to make someone elses beer? I would much rather enjoy my own. If the gravity has stopped dropping, it is ready. Bottle it, wait, and enjoy.

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Did you make a gourmet meal from scratch your first time cooking or did you follow somebody else's recipe?

Nice thought Steveski, not sure this'll be a gourmet brew even using a recipe lol!! Only time will tell, it's thirsty work all this waiting!!!

STEVESKI said:

Did you make a gourmet meal from scratch your first time cooking or did you follow somebody else's recipe?

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Yes, I used a recipe. But by the time I started brewing myself I was unsatisfied with the kits at the LHBS. I wanted my own beer, I didn't want to make something I could buy at a store.

I did look up some reference information on ratios of base malts to other malts and typical hopping schedules. But other then that, I formulated my own recipes based on reading descriptions of the ingredients.

I always recommend beginners to start with kits, it takes the pressure off so they don't have to worry about recipe formulation. But trying to replicate someone elses results is a fools errand. Brewing is more about the brewer and the art than the ingredients.

Good luck OP, and enjoy your beer. DWRDAHB!

Well, just had a sample bottle and all is good!!! Thanks for the help, think I better sample another one