Should I bottle or wait a week?

Hello there,

I am about ready to bottle my first brew. It's a Nut Brown Ale from NorthernBrewer. I was made it 2 saturdays ago (15 days). It has been fermenting in a 5 gallon glass carboy the entire time, no secondary transfer. It has an airlock bubbler on it, and it is bubbling once every 14-21 seconds.

Should I bottle now as the recipe calls for 2 weeks, or should I wait until next weekend?

Recipe is here: http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/NutBrown.pdf

Thanks,
Lorne

If it is still bubbling then let it go until it stops. You don't want bottle bombs. Way to go on your first brew but it is hard to wait for it to be done.

Sounds good thanks Chattan.

Yea I'm eager to bottle and eager to brew my next batch. I will just have to do it next weekend before the super bowl.

Thanks,
Lorne

Sounds like waiting would be in the beer's best interest.

Do you have a hydrometer? Taking a gravity reading is really the only way to see how the fermentation is going. All the bubbling means is that a gas is coming out of the fermenter.

Don't just go by the bubbles. Take a hydrometer reading. If it is within a point or two of what the recipe says and/or is stable for a couple of days it is done.

Yes I have a Hydrometer. How do i tell if it's done with it? The recipe says this: O.G: 1.044 READY: 4 WEEKS What does that mean? sorry for the rookie questions.

Since it's in a 5 gallon glass carboy with foam stuck to the sides of the fermentor, what do you suggest I do for the readings? I can't see through the glass to read it?

If I need to take a bit out, what's the best way to do so without adding bacteria and contaminating the brew?

Thanks,
Lorne

lorne17 said:

Yes I have a Hydrometer. How do i tell if it's done with it? The recipe says this: O.G: 1.044 READY: 4 WEEKS What does that mean? sorry for the rookie questions.

If I need to take a bit out, what's the best way to do so without adding bacteria and contaminating the brew?

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I use a cleaned and sanitized wine thief to draw samples and put them into a hydrometer sample tube. I then drink the sample (don't return it to the carboy to avoid contamination) just to acquire a taste for beer as it goes through the fermentation process.

If you get the same reading three days apart, then you can confirm that the fermentation part is done. Do not go by the airlock...you want to be safe to avoid bottle bombs.

This is a wine thief
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermtech-wine-thief.html

I use a cleaned and sanitized wine thief to draw samples and put them into a hydrometer sample tube.

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Thanks twalte,

I will try to find something I can use to pull out of my carboy and test with my hydrometer. I don't think we even have a turkey baster! I just put a wine thief and hydrometer test kit on my wishlist!

Lorne

So i just tried to pull a sample out with my 1/4" hard tube. It was taking forever, so like a smart logical guy, I was like, oh I'll just pull it out by sucking on the tube, then putting my thumb over the tube to stop it and pull it out. Well I didn't really have more of a plan than that and it came up, and dropped right back into my carboy. VERY little went in my mouth and back down the straw. I tried to pull it out quickly, but I don't know if I got bacteria in it. So I decided to go to the hardware store tomorrow and get an actual tube I can use as a wine thief and test with hydrometer.

Any thoughts as to if my beer is ruined now?!?! I really hope it's not. I did have a little I tasted (not enough for my hydrometer), and it was quite delicious, just flat. I hope it's ok.

Always hard to say whether the beer will go bad. If bacteria got in and it is able to spread, you may have some off flavors in your beer. Not to worry, you can still drink it!

You can use a racking tube or auto siphon if you have one. For the cane just dip it as much as possible without hitting the bottom, plug the end with your finger and pull it out, draining to the hydrometer tube or a cup. Repeat this until you have enough for a sample. Or you could use an auto siphon with the center cane removed, it will fill with beer when you submerge it, and close when you pull it up out of the water, no need to plug it with you thumb, it's the same as a wine thief but it won't hold your hydrometer inside like the thief.

Just a quick update...I bottled my beer and had my first this weekend. It wasn't contaminated from my stupidity. So that's good news! It was tasty, but I know it'll get even better over time.

lorne17 said:

Just a quick update...I bottled my beer and had my first this weekend. It wasn't contaminated from my stupidity. So that's good news! It was tasty, but I know it'll get even better over time.

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:rockin:

good job. and I see you have another one in primary. more :rockin:

it gets easier to wait. especially when you have a pipeline and you're not jonesing for one to finish

glad it turned out OK & welcome to the obsession

Ha, thanks GrogNerd.

Yea I'm excited to get a bunch rolling. I have about 200 bottles right now, so I think I'll just keep doing 3 batches and when 50 bottles appear, I'll do another batch and keep rolling through them. I don't know if I can store 4 batches of bottles at a time. I'm already having a hard time with 200. So I'll be giving the extras to my friends who homebrew.

I am however trying to save up enough red stripes for a full 5 gallon batch. It'll take awhile though. Gonna see if our local bar recycles today.