Am I Done Fermenting?

I'm currently working on a Belgian Wit...it's my second brew. It's been in the fermenter for two weeks. It never seemed to do a ton of bubbling, but I removed the airlock at one point and peeked in and there seemed to be krausen forming. While I was home for Thanksgiving (four days) the temperature dropped to about 56-58 degrees. I've been checking periodically this week and it's not bubbling, BUT when I push down on the lid bubbles come out. Is it safe to bottle this beer? I should probably take a hydrometer reading, but I'm slightly terrified.

I'd be more terrified of opening and closing the bucket.

Take a hydrometer reading. It's the only way to really know if it's done.

Bubbles are not an adequate indicator for fermantation. The only way to know is to use your hydrometer. 3 consecutive days at the same reading then you are done fermenting.

Of course it bubbles when you push on the lid. Put water in a plastic fermenter, put an airlock on it and push on the lid and the airlock would bubble. Like they said before me, the only way to tell is to take hydrometer readings. Personally I would never bottle after only two weeks but a lot of other people do, so it pretty much just depends on how you feel about ageing you beer and what the hydrometer says.

So when I opened up the bucket, it looked like what I thought previously to be krausen was simply what looked like a layer of yeast and orange peel. But...I'm not entirely sure. I took a hydrometer reading which was 1.14...seems high. Safe to say it hasn't fermented at all? I even went ahead and tasted it...tastes like wort, not sure if that means anything at this point. I've read a few things about this problem...what do I do now? Shake it up? Add more yeast? Any help would be appreciated...I'm about to head into panic mode! haha

i seriously doubt it's at 1.14, that is a huge SG. are you sure it isn't 1.014? if so, that's not all bad, a lot of beers finish around there...

Ding! I think that the reading was actually 1.014 as well, which should be close to your FG. If you're not sure if it's done fermenting yet, take a hydro reading for the next 3-4 days. If you do not see the gravity falling any further, you're safe to bottle!

Thanks guys...talk about an amateur, right? I didn't take an OG reading, but the ingredient kit I used says the OG should be around 1.044...so I'm definitely good to bottle at 1.014 if it stays constant the next couple days?

ueberdc4 said:

Thanks guys...talk about an amateur, right? I didn't take an OG reading, but the ingredient kit I used says the OG should be around 1.044...so I'm definitely good to bottle at 1.014 if it stays constant the next couple days?

Click to expand...

Can't really tell without knowing the recipe. Depending on what sort of sugars are in there, there can be more fermentables left. Best course of action is to take a hydrometer measurement, put the lid back on and gently swirl the fermenter to suspend the yeast in case they went dormant prematurely. Then take a hydrometer measurement in a couple days. If the measurement fel, swirl again and wait another couple days.

Do that until the measurement doesn't change. Then bottle.

Thanks to all...this forum is so much more helpful than looking all over the internet just to find a bunch of different answers. The recipe is as follows if this helps at all...
6 pounds of wheat liquid malt extract
12 ounces of specialty grains
1 ounces of hop pellets (kent goldings)
Wyeast liquid yeast
http://www.homebrewers.com/product/ALP1055/Belgian_Wit_Beer_Kit.html