airlock bubbling noob question

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bigskygreg

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Okay, I know that we are supposed to ignore airlock bubbling and pay attention to SG. However, i have a scottish ale (extract recipe) OG= 1.66. I fermented at 65 degrees. I used a simple starter with Wyeast 1728 (scottish ale).

10 days = SG = 1.012, tastes great, , however, still bubbling at once per minute in airlock
13 days = SG = 1.012, tastes great, however, still bubbling at once per minute in airlock
Racked to secondary at day 13, continued to bubble at once per minute.
day 20 in secondary, SG os 1.012, still bubbling at once per minute

Temperature has been a steady 65-67 degrees since being racked.
So thats my story. I'm afraid to bottle if this bubbling continues. Any recommendations? It still tastes great. However, I don't want any bottle bombs.
 
Would love to explain the "once per min" phenomena, but I've yet to hear an answer I would agree with. With that said, bottle it! Don't fully ignore your airlock, just don't let it be your end all guide. You did the right thing taking multiple gravity readings and showing some patients (rare in the beginning).

[EDIT] BTW - Welcome to the site, and to the obsession (hobby?)!
 
1.012 FG is about right for a Scottish. Having sat that long and still at 1.012 means you're ready to bottle. Airlock activity is fun, but that's about all it is. If the beer tastes fine and you don't have anything alarming floating on the surface then it's not an infection releasing gasses. Most likely it's residual CO2 being released that's dissolved in the beer which is very common. You should be fine to bottle at this point.
 
Agreed. Reading your post, you've been at 1.012 for 10 days. General consensus is 3 days straight and fermentation is over and you are safe to bottle.
 
Thanks for the feedback so quick. I'll probably let it go a week or two longer in the secondary. Hopefully the bubbling will slow just to ease my mind. I feel I may be addicted to the passion, I mean hobby!
 
An extra week or two is great for a "biggish" beer like that. It's got nothing to do with your bubbles tho, that may continue for weeks. Your stable gravity is the only evidence you need to be sure fermentation is complete. The extra time aging will benefit the brew however...
 
1. RDWHAH, 2. Airlocks lie. I forget who it was who said it, but I don't think "hydrometer" is spelled "airlock". Bottle it up, wait a few weeks, chill, and enjoy. Or bulk age for a bit (which is what I would do with a big malty brew), but the decision is yours as to how patient you want to be.
 
It's just dissolved co2 off-gassing. As the temp of the beer cools down when FG is reached,dissolved co2 starts coming out of solution. You wait for that to stop,& the beer could go bad eventually. Or hop aroma & flavor will begin degrading after a few weeks. bottle it up.
 
Okay, I can't explain what is causing the airlock activity but at those gravities and that amount of time, we can be certain it *isn't* caused by fermentation.

I'd chalk up once per minute bubbling as random air fluctuations and dismiss it in the same way I dismiss random creaking floorboards in an old house.
 
TeamGotOil said:
What does RDWHAH mean? And, where can I find a list of common abbreviations?

Relax
Don't
Worry
Have
A
Homebrew

Google search helps and brings you right back to the site
 
What does RDWHAH mean? And, where can I find a list of common abbreviations?

Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew.

list of abbreviations... It's in a sticky but I keep forgetting in which forum.
 
woozy said:
Okay, I can't explain what is causing the airlock activity but at those gravities and that amount of time, we can be certain it *isn't* caused by fermentation.

I'd chalk up once per minute bubbling as random air fluctuations and dismiss it in the same way I dismiss random creaking floorboards in an old house.

I am also baffled by the airlock activity. I agree it's not fermentation. I also do not believe it is temp fluctuations. I have 3 other batches right beside it with little airlock activity.

My concern is bottle bombs. Even if the bubbles are not fermentation, it is gas of some sort, which could cause pressure when bottled. I'll give it a week and check back in.

Thanks for all the feedback.
 
Bottle bombs are a legit concern. They are not however caused by a few stray bubbles in an airlock. They are caused by adding too much priming sugar, wild infections, or bottling beer that is still fermenting. I think we've established that the definition of "done fermenting" has little to do with airlock activity...

As a side note I just got a chuckle picturing you guys staring at an airlock for ten minutes obsessing over what's going on! LOL
 
unionrdr said:
It's just dissolved co2 off-gassing. As the temp of the beer cools down when FG is reached,dissolved co2 starts coming out of solution. You wait for that to stop,& the beer could go bad eventually. Or hop aroma & flavor will begin degrading after a few weeks. bottle it up.

Actually it's just the opposite. Co2 dissolves more readily in cooler environments.
 
In the bottles,yes. But in primary,We're talking about coming down closer to ambient air temperature,not the kind of temps in the fridge when cold conditioning them.
 
Regardless of all the opinions, I have really appreciated the number of replies from everyone.

Bubbling has slowed and I will bottle in a week or 2 and see what happens.

Thanks for all of the discussion
 
Okay, I can't explain what is causing the airlock activity but at those gravities and that amount of time, we can be certain it *isn't* caused by fermentation.

I'd chalk up once per minute bubbling as random air fluctuations and dismiss it in the same way I dismiss random creaking floorboards in an old house.

I don't claim to know for sure, but I've always been amazed at how much carbonation is actually in beer coming from the fermenter. Obviously I'm nto talking about it actually being carbed up by any stretch, but it is noticeable to me, especially when tasting, that there is CO2 in solution. I've also noticed it when we go from a nice high pressure system in the atmosphere, to a low pressure system, my airlocks will actually kick back on for a day or so. My observations tell me that air pressure has as much to do with airlock activity as fermentation does.
 
Like a pilot, trust your instruments. If your hydrometer is telling you that the SG has not changed in 10 days and it is not stuck, then the fermentation is complete. The airlock can be bubbling or not bubbling for any number of reasons (and there are a lot)... but your hydrometer is telling you an unfinished fermentation is not one of those reasons.
 
Hi guys,

I've been drinking this batch and I've noticed that it is starting to become quite carbonated. Should I be worried?

Just to recap:
Brewed 6/26
gravity stable7/16, 7/21, and 7/27 at 1.012
bottled 7/27

I've drank a few here and there. Over the last few weeks, they have seemed more carbonated. I have stored them around 68. I figured they would be fully carbed in 3 weeks. I wasn't expected an increase in carbonation at week 6 or 7. This was my second batch (I have since done 9 more).

Thoughts?
 
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