Bubbles in secondary on top. Ok to bottle?

I have a layer of bubbles on the top of the secondary. Is it ok to bottle?

Yes it's normal if it looks like this:



...not this:

what the hell....nobody owns a hydrometer any more?

crash1292 said:

what the hell....nobody owns a hydrometer any more?

Click to expand...

You mean that glass rectal thermometer that came in my starter kit?
It didn't work. And it broke the first time I used it. Still can't sit down.

These bubbles are still on top of the secondary after three weeks ( looks like the first pic) ok to bottle or wait until they disappear?

branding-iron316 said:

These bubbles are still on top of the secondary after three weeks ( looks like the first pic) ok to bottle or wait until they disappear?

Click to expand...

Stare very hard at your secondary for at least 15 minutes. Do not close your eyes or blink. Be one with the yeast. Go with the first final gravity number that pops into your head.

That's essentially what you're asking us to do. If you think it isn't ready then go buy a hydrometer. We cannot do this for you.

Maybe I need to say it simpler. Is there anyone out there that has bottled the beer with bubbles still in the secondary (like spittle) and had the bottles explode cause they were not done fermenting?

Maybe WE need to say it simpler. If you want to avoid bottles exploding because they were not done fermenting, you NEED to take a gravity reading to let you know if it's at or near the terminal gravity. Your bubbles could be because it's still fermenting, or not, but looking at the bubbles or for an example an airlock bubbling or not bubbling, will not actually TELL you what the yeast are doing, nor can we, we're not brewing psychics.

Not knowing the situation of when you racked and if the beer was truly done fermenting when you put it in secondary, we don't know if it was stuck, and the racking started it up again, or if it's just yeast rafts and bubbles on the surface.

If you really want to know, then taking a hydro reading is the answer to knowing if you should bottle or not.

The answer to that is yes, but you still need to check your gravity to make sure it's done. I've got a Belgian that looks like the top picture that's still going and a hefe that looks closer to the bottom one that's done. You really can't tell by appearance.

I dig it! Thanks all!