Long time in the carboy?

My IPA kit has been bubbling away in the carboy for 2 weeks now. This is almost double the time it has taken for my other kits. Any thoughts as to why?

might be the yeast still munching away, might be just getting rid of excess co2 now. don't know without knowing the yeast type, and preferably the recipe. if it's still bubbling, kick back and watch it doing it's thing.

Jacktar said:

My IPA kit has been bubbling away in the carboy for 2 weeks now. This is almost double the time it has taken for my other kits. Any thoughts as to why?

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Because it's still fermenting?

thats funny to run into a post like this.
I too have an IPA thats 2 weeks into primary and still bubbling away.
Im not worried, Ive had a few other beers that had airlock activity at around 3 weeks!

My personal rule of thumb is (and everyone might not agree with me) I wait 1 week after airlock activity stops and then bottle or keg...it just depends...sometimes airlock activity stops at 1 week, sometimes 3 weeks...but a little extra time on the yeast doesnt hurt a thing
although I'm not using a kit, its all grain and recipes that I've come up with.

are you planning on using a secondary?

Give it 4 weeks and check your gravity, that's the telling sign!

iparks81 said:

My personal rule of thumb is (and everyone might not agree with me) I wait 1 week after airlock activity stops and then bottle or keg...it just depends...sometimes airlock activity stops at 1 week, sometimes 3 weeks...but a little extra time on the yeast doesnt hurt a thing

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that's how i do it

iparks81 said:

thats funny to run into a post like this.
I too have an IPA thats 2 weeks into primary and still bubbling away.
Im not worried, Ive had a few other beers that had airlock activity at around 3 weeks!

My personal rule of thumb is (and everyone might not agree with me) I wait 1 week after airlock activity stops and then bottle or keg...it just depends...sometimes airlock activity stops at 1 week, sometimes 3 weeks...but a little extra time on the yeast doesnt hurt a thing
although I'm not using a kit, its all grain and recipes that I've come up with.

are you planning on using a secondary?

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no gravity readings?

rycov said:

no gravity readings?

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What do you mean by that?

If you take a couple of readings a couple days apart and they are the same, its done fermenting?

Jacktar said:

My IPA kit has been bubbling away in the carboy for 2 weeks now. This is almost double the time it has taken for my other kits. Any thoughts as to why?

Click to expand...

IPA's usually have a higher alcohol & higher hop (traditionally to ship from india from england both are preservatives) however in your case yeast is still eating sugars & farting CO2... let it ride... more sugars (malt extract) more time needed for yeastys to do their job. let it ride another two weeks at least... your fine! sounds like you have a "good" batch of yeast

hey post the recipe! may help other newb brewers!

Generally accepted current wisdom is to 'plan' a 2-4 week fermentation time frame for lighter brews (under ~1.070 OG)... BUT, check with a hydrometer, don't use human time when judging when yeast has done all it's going to do. Take at least a couple of hydrometer/SG readings a few days apart before thinking about bottling/kegging. It's not a bad idea to give a brew 3-4 weeks from start of fermentation until you bottle/keg it... Higher OG brews will need more time for the yeast to do all it's going to do.

Yeast does more than just turn sugar into magic juice... Once fermentation has finished, the yeast will then go back and 'clean up' after itself. This will make for an even better brew. The best way for you to see what this is about is to simply take the hydrometer sample (once you've taken the reading) and taste/drink it... You will have some brews that taste ready sooner than others, even with the OG was close, or identical.

Leaving the brew on the yeast cake (in primary) won't do any harm for the amount of time we're talking about. IF you were to leave it on there for months (several) then you could get some negative effects. It really depends on the yeast, the brew, and the environment (temperatures especially) that it's in. Temperatures will have less impact on the brew, provided you keep it within a reasonable range, once active fermentation is complete.

nice job Golddiggie!

starrfish said:

nice job Golddiggie!

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Thanks Hoss...

I made the error of using primary/secondary carboy's for my first two brews... That was before I knew any better, and found this site.

Now, it seems almost criminal to give a brew only a week, or two, on the yeast cake and to rack to secondary to 'clarify' a brew... Once you've left a brew in primary for an extra week, or two (or more) you learn that it will clear up just wonderfully in primary. Now, I ONLY go to secondary when I've added flavor elements and need to get the wort off of them in order to add more. Things such as a real vanilla bean, or other strong flavor element that will continue to work if you don't get the wort off of it.

I have an old ale that I started back just before xmas (12/20/10) that was in primary for about a month. I tested it, and sampled it, before going to secondary on that one. I'm using secondary to age it on some oak chips (using a carboy for this)... I also wanted to harvest/wash the yeast that it was using, which is the main reason I racked it. I could have put some oak chips right into primary if I hadn't wanted to wash and re-use the yeast cake. I expect to be bottling that one up within a few more weeks... I need to sample it this weekend to see how it is. This Friday it will be on the oak for a full month (put it onto the oak on 1/14/11)... Chances are I won't get to bottling it up before the 19th... Hell, I might even add more oak chips and let it ride for another full month... With an OG of almost 1.090, and an ABV of 8.3-8.8%, it's going to be a nice one... Smooth as all hell, so it's going to have a nice 'left hook' to it... Smooth enough that you won't realize how strong it really is until you're getting the full impact from it... This was my first (and only) partial mash brew... Went all grain after that... Really enjoying that on several levels.

Moral of the story... Let your brew finish when it's finished... It will be ready for bottles/keg when it's good and ready. If you have a time frame where you need a brew to be ready by, plan far enough ahead. Project on the longer end of the scale, just in case it needs more time... I'm at the point, where I tend to have 6-7 weeks from grain to glass. So, I plan to brew for an event at least a full two months ahead. Gives me an extra week in case I need it...

bmock79 said:

What do you mean by that?

If you take a couple of readings a couple days apart and they are the same, its done fermenting?

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it said you waited a week after it stopped bubbling. i was wondering if you took readings or if you just relied on the bubbles

Instructions with beer kits are not all good (although some are) - BUT - they're in the business of selling you beer kits. The sooner you rack and bottle, the sooner you buy another.

Quality usually takes time

I haven't taken any readings since I put it in the carboy. I figure I'll wait until bubbling stops to do that. I'm in no hurry, but u am curious as to why this batch is taking longer.

yeah. not being in a hurry is best. beer always tastes better if you let it take its time. that was hard for me to learn (sometimes i still struggle with it)

Just let it go until it's ready for the next step... After a few batches you'll learn (hopefully) that yeast marches to the beat of it's own drum... Sometimes I wonder if the drummer is drunk, high, on acid, or just otherwise F'd up... :rockin: But, when you've given it enough time, you'll be sure to get something wonderful from it (can almost hear "Something wonderful" from 2010 [the movie])...

Just think, another benefit of home brewing is learning to be patient...

Get some more primaries and brew more... I have three solid primaries right now (two are empty, so brewing on Sunday)... Planning on getting more very soon...