Too soon to Bottle?

I brewed an Irish Stout from an extract kit on 12-7-12. It began fementing the next morning, and was a very short "bubbling" time. Haven't seen any action for 16 days. I was gonna go with a 3 week primary fermentation time, then straight to bottle, but I'm kinda anxious to bottle tomorrow 12-25-12, because I wont get another chance for a while. Would 18 days from pitching yeast be too soon? Thanks for input.

Airlock activity is not a good indication of fermentation. You really need to take a hydrometer sample and compare it with a sample a few days later. Any change let it sit. If there the same your good to go. If they change check again in a few days. That being said your probably done fermentation. But I'd want to be sure. Better safe than have bottle bombs.

I too am worried that you haven't posted any hydrometer readings. Have you taken any? Otherwise there's no real way to tell when your brew has finished fermenting.

I can tell you that 16 days for an extract stout would normally be much more than enough time to ferment fully, and it's very likely your beer is ready to bottle. But without knowing what gravity your brew is at, and if it's staying the same for a few days in a row, there's risks involved. What if most of your yeast was dead at pitching? What if your fermentation temps were too low and the yeast has been sleeping this whole time?

If for example your yeast was dead or asleep, then you've just got non-alcoholic wort sitting in your fermenter, and you don't want to bottle that!

Merry xmas...

gilswillbasementbrews said:

airlock activity is not a good indication of fermentation. You really need to take a hydrometer sample and compare it with a sample a few days later. Any change let it sit. If there the same your good to go. If they change check again in a few days. That being said your probably done fermentation. But i'd want to be sure. Better safe than have bottle bombs.

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