Bottling a big beer

[CanaltownBrewer]

My first batch was a maple stout. I'm pretty sure the OG was around 1.117. After 2 weeks in a primary, and so far 1 week in a secondary, it loks like the fermentation has slowed to a crawl, if not ended. I intend to leave it in the secondary for another week.

My question: Testing the gravity I find that it is approximately 1.047, still pretty high it seems. But it has fermented out a lot of the sugars already. Do I have to worry about using less sugar in the bottling process to make sure I don't get bottle bombs?

I notice in Palmer's book, he cuts down on the conditioning sugar for big beers like barleywines. That's why I ask.

Thanks for any advice!

Pat

(PS - I may have a similar issue with my second batch. Though it is ostensibly an IPA, the recipe was a bit "robust" and the OG was about 1.081.)

 

[s3n8]

You should not have racked to secondary until terminal gravity had been reached. Once you take away a majority of the yeast, it pretty much stops fermentation. I carbonate big beers just like normal, but have noticed some of the older ones (1 - 2 yrs old) are very carbonated. No bottle bombs though. I have never bottled a beer over 1.022 though. I would wait a LONG time to bottle a 1.117 OG beer, like 6 mos.

 

[RedGlass]

I would wait a LONG time to bottle a 1.117 OG beer, like 6 mos.

+1. Let it sit in that secondary for a long while. It's hard to have the patience, but it'll pay off.