Slow fermentation...

Let me give you the vitals...

- Started with fresh pressed juice with gravity of 1.042
- Added enough pure cane sugar to get me to 1.059
- Tossed in S-04 and the bubbles began
- After 1 week the gravity was down to 1.038
- After 2 weeks the gravity is now down to 1.026

I'm still getting a bubble every 7-8 secs in the airlock and there is clear activity in the bottle but this seems to be going awfully slow...my friend started about 3 days after me with store bought clear juice, brown sugar, and montrachet red star and was down to about 1.000 after a week...

Any need for concern here?? I'm sort of worried that I may not have stirred the sugar in well enough at the start and there was actually more sugar in the fermenter than the hydrometer said...

It also tastes a tad funky...but that could be a result of it still fermenting, having a bunch of residual sugars yet and minimal alcohol content...

I imagine I have no need to worry but wanted some expert feedback here...

thanks

sorry im no expert, but sounds like you just need to relax and wait it out a bit. if it was fresh pressed did you add pectic enzyem to clear things up a bit, or campden, and did you add any nutrients to the mix as well. did you use a starter or just a straight pitch. also what is the temp at where you have your primary.

Added campden right off the bat...added pectic 12 hours later...and then pitched the yeast 12 hours all by itself...

the temp stays steady at 68 degrees

Well those conditions are are pretty amazing for any brew. That temperature is fine for pretty much all yeasts, so no worries there. Also, well done on the campden, pectic enzyme and yeast, you did quite well.

Now just no worrying. Sometimes it just needs to take its time. It is brewing, so I see no reason to worry at all