I really want to bottle

I have a stout that has been sitting in secondary for 2 weeks. There are still many tiny bubble clusters on the top and the gravity hasn't dropped at all since I racked it is at 1.02. I know I should wait but I am running low on bottled beer and I am getting pretty freaked about that. I don't know what I will do if I run out - I don't want to think about it. I do plan to brew this weekend. Can I throw beano in or I don't know what but is there anything I can do to get my beer in a bottle quicker?

whats the target FG?

are the bubbles just floating on top or are they moving up like it's still fermenting?

I'm not too clear on this so don't take my word 100% but the gravity shouldn't change in the clearing tank should it? unless you racked too early...

I may have racked too early. Gravity was stable but it still had these little bubbles when I racked.

I'd say just bottle it. Gravities are really only there to stress you out. I take them as general guidelines as opposed to strict rules. If its at 1.020, and has been for 2 weeks, I'd say its not going anywhere anyway. So maybe it won't have quite the alcohol you wanted, but you'll have plenty of malty goodness. Just my 2 cents.

yeah it tastes good and I am pretty sure it wont drop I just don't know about the bubbles. It was also my first attempt at a mini mash. With smoked grains and a pound or oats.

If the gravity's been the same for more than a few days you're ready to bottle. Don't wory bout the little bubbles. Probably just some CO2 in solution. Whenever I'm getting close to bottling time I take a couple of gravity readings a few days apart and then bottle if it's stable. Say check on weds and fri and bottle on saturday.

What was the OG? I have a stout in the secondary for the third week now, it started at 1.062 and it finished at 1.017. You may have alot of unfermentables.

Pol

The Pol said:

You may have alot of unfermentables.

Pol

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I think I may. It started at 1.054 something like that - dont have the sheet in front of me. Is there anything I can still do or should I just bottle it?

Mine has another 3 weeks of aging left (total of 8 weeks old then) before I bottle it up. Hope it tastes good!

Pol

The Pol said:

Mine has another 3 weeks of aging left (total of 8 weeks old then) before I bottle it up. Hope it tastes good!

Pol

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I guess that is the other option it may taste better if it sits longer. But then again I may end up without beer for a while.

That is poor planning... I realized that I need to be botting and brewing at about the same time to keep the flow going. Stouts will surely improve with age...

Pol

Actually, you need (2) brews bottled... when you have 24 bottles empty again, brew another beer... that way you should never run out....

Oh I have 2 bottled and I am just at the point of having 20 free bottles so I am getting antsy. What I need is another set of bottles, I was going to use summer for getting some more bottles as it may be hard to brew here in the summer with the heat but I should just buy another set so I can have 3 sets.

I made a Fat Tire clone in January that is going FAST... the stout will last a while since my wife wont be into it, but I have to wait to brew my Heffe because my 10 gallon system is awaiting a false bottom and sparger...

Pol

Man the heffe I made didn't last 2 weeks. I don't think I could make another we drank it too quick. And it it had an awsome head on it in only 4 days.

The beer is tasting great but it has a tang to it. Its not in the flavor but a little weird sparkle in the mouth. Doesn't exactly seem "good" like tasting a little bit of carbonation in OJ that shouldn't have any. I don't want to throw it out as it tastes so good but I am a little worried.

Is there a name for that fizzyness (that shouldn't be there?)

Buy yourself a couple of sixers to ease your pain and let the stout sit and do its thing.

I got sort of jammed up like you are a few weeks ago, but I saw ahead enough to brew a batch of 1.047 OG scottish ale. On the down side, it's a little low in alcohol and a little thin. On the up side, it was done fermenting in 6 days and just about done clearing after 3 more. I had that puppy bottled in considerably less than two weeks and with a FG of 1.010, it wasn't nearly as weak as I'd feared. Lower gravity brews tend to ferment down lower anyway so you're not always giving up as much as you think when you start low....

Thanks Toot - But what about that little tang? Is that something to note or will it fade? Or will it become null by the carbonation?

I've got a bunch of thoughts to throw atcha, Fishy:

• Don't listen to the crackpots (jus kidding!) who tell you that gravity readings are only there to make you worry. If you do bottle too early, you'll end up with gushers or (gasp) bottle bombs. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but the specter of both of those beer-ruining circumstances warrants a good amount of concern.
• Just take a gravity reading, then take another one 2 or 3 days later. If there is no change, you'll be fine. Even if the FG is high, that's okay, especially in a stout. I've had stouts finish out in the upper 30's, and they were brilliant brews. Chances are, if the yeast in your carboy can't ferment the existing sugars, then they won't ferment them in the bottle either.
• You need to brew more. Lots more. This is what cellar 603 looked like about a month ago...and all but 2 of those cases are full of bottled homebrew:

I'm not bragging, just telling you where your comfort level should be...

• Never rush beer. It operates on its own damned schedule, and like a crotchety old lady in a supermarket checkout, if you try to rush it, things will probably turn out bad for you.
• If you run out of homebrew, it's not time for suicide-watch. Just go get some craft brew from the store. It wouldn't be the end of the world.
• As for stouts and that weird taste---in all likelihood, the beer is just green. Lay off it for another few weeks (make sure it's in a cool place) and try again. Stout is one of those beers that, when it's green, it's REALLY green. Trust me. The other possibility is that you are witnessing the start of a nasty lactobacillus infection, but let's not go there just yet, as it's not very probable.
• Go brew. Now. Giddyup-go, daddy.

Fish said:

Thanks Toot - But what about that little tang? Is that something to note or will it fade? Or will it become null by the carbonation?

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Again, RDWHAHB. That "tang" is just green (young) beer. Let it be.

You mentioned Beano.

Don't do it or you won't be bottling that brew until Halloween. The beano will dry out that nice stout too. You want to hold some body.

FWIW, my stout got bottled after 7 days primary and 9 days secondary. It was ready to drink in about 2 weeks and tasted great. (I wasn't interested in an overcarbed stout).

The lessen learned here is, brew more.

Always have something in the pipeline. If I don't have at least two primaries and one secondary and 2-3 batches conditioning, I begin to panic.

That said, I did plow through a **** load of Sam Adams and the like until my brewery started pumping out finished product. (Good thing I had those Sam Adams bottles at that point.)

Now I keg and my turnaround time with force carbing is much shorter.

Evan! said:

This is what cellar 603 looked like about a month ago...and all but 2 of those cases are full of bottled homebrew:

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Evan, we are not worthy... :rockin:

BierMuncher said:

Evan, we are not worthy... :rockin:

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And I am not sane.

To be honest, it really is nice having so much backstock, because I can be as patient as I need to be with my aging brews. Early on, I was way too eager to bottle...I wasn't prepared for the waiting that this hobby requires. But now, well, I have the opposite problem of not having enough space to store it all, so it stays in carboy for longer than I want sometimes. At least it's cold in my basement.

Now I just gotta figure out how to drink all of it.

Well I have definatly learned the lesson about brewing more. I am also glad I didn't touch the beano I didn't realise that it would take that long. I am fine with the gravity of the beer. It tastes so good I am willing to sit with it a bit.

And I do have a b-day in a few weeks and I hope to get another 2 cases of bottles and a better bottle.
And it has also help me drink a bit less which helps a lot.

Why not use your empty primary to brew a quick, all-extract beer that goes straight into bottles to tide you over?

Lynne_L said:

Why not use your empty primary to brew a quick, all-extract beer that goes straight into bottles to tide you over?

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HMMMM... I like the sound of that I haven't heard about those. Last weekend I did brew an Amber and I imagine it will be in the bottle before the stout.

Do you mean straight into the bottle?

Fish said:

HMMMM... I like the sound of that I haven't heard about those. Last weekend I did brew an Amber and I imagine it will be in the bottle before the stout.

Do you mean straight into the bottle?

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Most brews, extract or no, require some kind of secondary. Even if you do bottle when fermentation is done, the brews will require weeks of bottle aging.

The exception: unfiltered wheat beer (hefeweizen). You can bottle it pretty much as soon as you're certain that fermentation is done, and it'll be ready almost as soon as the brew is carb'd.

Plus it's getting towards springtime...and hefe's are perfect when the weather warms up.

Just tasted the stout and let me say I am glad I have waited. The other brews I did didn't taste as green as this one did but now this is wonderful! I have seen a huge flavor sift over the time it has been in the secondary. At times I was worried the strong flavor meant it was a goner but it has passed and this is a great beer!