2weeks fermentation

[Capitalman]

Hello everyone,
I’m new to beer brewing and would like some help. I have my primary fermentation going for 14days and it’s still active. My airlock is still going. Is it safe to keg or wait more days?

 

[FloppyKnockers]

The airlock is not a reliable indication of fermentation. The only way you know you're done is to take s gravity reading.

What's your target FG vs what's it at now?

 

[Capitalman]

Thank you Floppyknockers for responding. I have not taken the gravity measure yet since I started fermentation. I’m brewing a Belgian Wheat beer.

What's your target FG vs what's it at now?

 

[DBhomebrew]

A quiet airlock is not a good indication that fermentation is complete, but a bubbling airlock is a fairly good indicator that fermentation is ongoing.

 

[Capitalman]

A quiet airlock is not a good indication that fermentation is complete, but a bubbling airlock is a fairly good indicator that fermentation is ongoing.

Any issues with taking a gravity measure while fermentation is still going? Oxygen etc?

 

[redrocker652002]

Just will reinforce what has already been said. Take a gravity reading, wait a day or two and take another. If they are the same, or withing say .001 I would say you are done and it is ready to keg or bottle. Remember, once in the keg or bottle you will have to wait another week or two for the crud to settle and the carbonation to do it's thing. The biggest takeaway I have learned from this hobby so far is patience. Of which I don't have much. LOL. My last batch I left in the fermenter for about two weeks, had to time it right for the dry hops and the transfer to the keg. Once in the keg, it took about another week or so to carb up and be ready to serve. I have noticed after about another week or so, the flavors are much better and the beer, to me, has a much better balance. But that might just be me being me. LOL. Either way, gravity readings are the only way you will tell if the beer is done fermenting. Rock On!!!!!

 

[redrocker652002]

Any issues with taking a gravity measure while fermentation is still going? Oxygen etc?

I am guessing it depends on how you get the beer out of the fermenter. I just move my bucket to a counter, wait about an hour or so for the crud to settle. Open the spigot, grab enough in my hydrometer tube, I have the tube marked to show where I stop so that I don't have a lot of waste, and let that sit on the counter to settle. Take the reading, take a sip or two just to see how it tastes and then the bucket goes back into the fermenting fridge.

 

[Capitalman]

Just will reinforce what has already been said. Take a gravity reading, wait a day or two and take another. If they are the same, or withing say .001 I would say you are done and it is ready to keg or bottle. Remember, once in the keg or bottle you will have to wait another week or two for the crud to settle and the carbonation to do it's thing. The biggest takeaway I have learned from this hobby so far is patience. Of which I don't have much. LOL. My last batch I left in the fermenter for about two weeks, had to time it right for the dry hops and the transfer to the keg. Once in the keg, it took about another week or so to carb up and be ready to serve. I have noticed after about another week or so, the flavors are much better and the beer, to me, has a much better balance. But that might just be me being me. LOL. Either way, gravity readings are the only way you will tell if the beer is done fermenting. Rock On!!!!!

Thank you all for the responses. Much appreciated!!! Can’t wait to taste the beer!

 

[Steveruch]

Hello everyone,
I’m new to beer brewing and would like some help. I have my primary fermentation going for 14days and it’s still active. My airlock is still going. Is it safe to keg or wait more days?

How frequently is the airlock bubbling?

 

[Capitalman]

How frequently is the airlock bubbling?

I’d say every 25seconds

 

[hotbeer]

With the kits I use to use that had a packet just marked with the word "YEAST" on it, I would have ferments that would bubble and stop and then bubble and stop for weeks. Once for six weeks. It is one of the beers I liked the most. Clean, clear and sparkling when held up to the light. It had a FG of 1.012. So I don't know what all the times of activity and inactivity were about.

Once I started using yeast that I knew what strain and variety it was, I stopped having ferments like that. Even when I used the same kits for ingredients and tossed their yeast in the trash bin.

I don't think you should go for a SG reading at the moment. Just wait till everything has settled down and the beer is clear in the FV and all the suspended stuff gone to the bottom with perhaps some floating on top.

If that takes six weeks or more, so be it. Drink something else.

 

[camonick]

I’d say every 25seconds

Airlocks are only a barrier to outside air and brewer entertainment. Once a beer is finished fermenting, it continues to off-gas CO2, which is probably what you’re seeing now. 25 seconds between bubbles is a fairly long time. Like said above, the only sure way to know is to take at least 2 gravity readings over the period of about 3 days. Equal readings mean fermentation is complete and it’s ready to package.

Any issues with taking a gravity measure while fermentation is still going? Oxygen etc?

It’s best to wait at least 2-3 weeks to take a sample, but it sounds like you’re probably close enough to try if you’d like. Waiting longer won’t hurt. Be as quick as possible and just try to limit the time your beer is exposed to the outside air. If your fermenter has a spigot at the bottom, that’s even better. Just be careful so you don’t suck the airlock liquid into the fermenter when you open the spigot. If you have to sample from the top, just be sure everything that contacts the beer has been sanitized!!! Don’t return the sample back to the fermenter… taste it to see if it’s on track. Drink it all or dump the rest in the drain.

 

[Bramling Cross]

Thank you Floppyknockers for responding. I have not taken the gravity measure yet since I started fermentation. I’m brewing a Belgian Wheat beer.

Wit yeast? Ugh. Yeah, it may still be actively nibbling at the loose ends.

Which strain are you using? They're all slow finishers unless you pitched big and active--as a newer brewer, you likely didn't do that. The Wyeast strain is especially slow to shut things down, that strain will happily maintain full krausen for a month or more while still slowly plugging away.

Since it's a Wit yeast, I would leave it alone and give it a minimum of three weeks, better yet a month. You're not going to do any harm to the beer that way and you'll minimize the chance of bottle bombs.

As others have said, trusting your airlock is not a good way of judging TG. Your beer will hit TG, but it will continue outgassing CO2. The only way to know if your beer is really finished to to check your gravity...but doing that without adding O2 is a bit tricky. I think it's best to just leave it alone and let the Wit yeast be slow.