13 Days and Still Fermenting??

Ok, my brew has been in the closet at 68 degrees for 13 days and it is still putting off gas. It begin 36 hours after the yeast was pitched and has continued to ferment. The recipe i was using called for a 13 day ferment and then bottle. My question is, do i go ahead and bottle after 13 days or should i wait until the fermentation stops producing gases?

Thanks for your help!

Bubbles mean nothing. Tons of active bubbles indicate activate fermentation, but lack of bubbles does not equal no fermentation... and occasional bubbles can just be offgassing (temp changes, pressure changes, carboy got bumped, etc).

The ONLY way to know if your beer is ready is to take a hydrometer reading. Wait two days, then take another. If they match, fermentation is done.

Note that you may want to give it another week or so to age and mature - lots of the vets here do three week fermentations as a minimum.

Never rush to bottle - if gravity is not stable, you can end up with bottle bombs.

Just because the airlock is bubbling does NOT mean that fermentation is taking place. The airlock is nothing more than a valve. It is not a measuring device. Check the gravity of the beer. If you are at or near the target FG then you are good to go. Typically, I leave a beer in primary for 28 days before bottling/kegging/racking to secondary.

What's your gravity? "Putting off gas" doesn't necessarily mean it's still fermenting or done, just that co2 is coming out of your airlock. An airlock is NOT a fermentation gauge, it's a vent. It could just as easily at this point be offgassing because of atmospheric conditions like a temp change or barometric pressure, as it could be because it is still fermentation.

The only way to know what is REALLY going on is with a gravity reading.

I always wait till fermentation stops by checking with a hydrometer for a couple days. You don't want to make bombs with your glass bottles.
I've never had one ferment for that long. Mine usually slow way down in 5 days

I would always let my beers ferment for 3 if not 4 weeks. The bubbles could be residual carbonation being released or still some prolonged fermentation. Either way it is not bad and I would not worry. Just let it sit for the minimal 3 weeks but try to do 4 weeks if you can wait that long. By that time I guarantee your fermentation is done at the temperature.

A couple things on this. Actual fermentation typically only takes up to 72 hours (depending). The rest of the time can be looked at as conditioning or aging. This does vary though. The only real way to determine that it's completely done fermenting is when it has a stable gravity reading for 3 days (test today, and then test on Monday. If it has the same reading, you're good to go). The bubbling in the airlock isnt necessarily an indication that it's still fermenting, as gases can still be in the brew and released when sediment drops, or the fermentor gets bumped, etc. After 13 days you're probably good, but better to be safe so you dont have exploding bottles.

What kind of brew is it?

Guess I should have hit Refresh before I posted; lots of good advice here

Ok, thanks guys! It is a recipe i found here on this website for Dog Days of Summer Ale. I'm still new to this and i thought if it was still producing gas, it was still fermenting. I havent checked the gravity yet because i was afraid to open it and possibly contaminate the wort. I will check the gravity today and then again in a few days. Thanks guys!

Like i said, i am new to this. It is amazing to me how helpful this website and all of the members are! I've learned a lot thru you guys since i've started this hobby/obsession!