Using a kit- need waiting times. Please help

So I have been using a kit to brew my first batch. I have added the wort to the secondary. Primary fermentation seems to be complete. My gravity was higher than the kit said it should be, but readings have remained consistent. Now, I am waiting for the beer to settle in the secondary before I prime and bottle. I have it steady at 55 degrees to aid in settling, and haven't moved the carboy in a week. It has sat there and what little sediment there was when I transferred it appears to be on the bottom. How long should I let it settle before bottling? I know cold temps aid in clarification, and this kit seemed to have very fine barley, malt, hops, etc... With these beginner kits, do I need to wait two full weeks of clarifying or can I bottle today? It looks pretty clear for a brown ale...

The stuff you moved to your secondary was beer - no longer wort after fermentation.

How long was it in the primary?

How far off from the FG were you? A small amount is perfectly fine, but a larger amount may indicate a stuck fermentation. if it's stuck, then sitting at 55 will probably keep it stuck (check your yeast to be sure you were fermenting at a temp appropriate for your yeast).

The time depends a a few things but primarily, if your fermentation was complete in the primary and most the suspended matter landed as trub in there, you may not get much more sediment in the secondary. Personally, I would go ahead and bottle in that case. But I am also very impatient. Another week or two will probably be the consensus from others.

The beer was in the primary for 1 week. It measured a bit high right before pitching... well, here are my measurements...
Before pitching and temperature adjusted: Kit says 1.043- 1.045. Actual: 1.052
After 1 week in Primary: Kit says final should be 1.010- 1.012
Mine was 1.024 at 61 degrees .
If the kit says the beginning and final is approximately a differential of .033, I know I am close to that with my differential being .028. More will add in bottle fermentation. Hope this clarifies my previous statement. Should I take another gravity reading, although my goal here is not to disturb it, and only really need to know if more time is necessary to further clarify the beer?

1.024 sounds really high. That's only 56% attenuation. I suspect that you may need to warm up your fermenter and try to get your yeast back to work.

I would absolutely not bottle at 1.024.

If you have it at 55 it probably won't want to ferment anymore at that temp if it's an ale.

Do you have any reason to believe the OG was so high? Such as less water?

I'd be tempted to warm it back up and let it sit, see if the gravity drops again.

it sat for a week at 64 degrees. gravity did not change between day 4 and 7... when taking gravity readings, should it matter where in the pail the sample came from? I took both readings through the spigot.

briandf21 said:

it sat for a week at 64 degrees. gravity did not change between day 4 and 7... when taking gravity readings, should it matter where in the pail the sample came from? I took both readings through the spigot.

Click to expand...

Most people do not ferment in a bottling bucket (one with a spigot) probably because there is just a risk of infection from spigot parts, leaks, etc.

I don't think it would make a huge difference, but it might not hurt to siphon a sample.

FG seems high with an OG of only 1.052. In general, I would expect you'd be below 1.020. My guess is that since your ferm temp was low (btw 61F & 64F), it fermented slowly, and possibly got stuck. This explains your high FG. Then you transferred the beer off of the yeast cake before it was finished and dropped the temp below the active range for the yeast (55F). You might try warming the beer up to 68-70F, pitch a fresh packet of yeast in there, and let it sit another week. Then take another hydro reading before bottling.

What was the recipe? I have had beer finish high a few times. Usually when I use dark LME or lactose.

Which yeast did you use?