Done fermenting, or should I wait (o.g=1.077)?

[Homer]

I made a Christmas Ale from an Imperial brown ale extract kit with some spices and honey. The O.G. was 1.077 when I brewed it on sept 17th (at night). I used two dry packets of safale s-04. It fermented a little high (like 72 degrees) for the first 6 hours, but then put it in a tray of water, and its been at 68 ever since. I'm using a blowoff tube, so I don't see any bubbling anymore.
Do you think it is still fermenting or should I transfer it to the secondary to start conditioning?

Thanks

 

[Bonch]

Take a sample and check your gravity. Check it again in a couple of days. If no significant change it is done. My guess is it would be done by now and you will likely get a small amount of fermentation in the secondary but you can verify it by checking the specific gravity.

 

[Revvy]

You need to take a gravity reading to know how your fermentation is going, NOT go by airlocks. The most important tool you can use is a hydrometer. It's the only way you will truly know when your beer is ready...airlock bubbles and other things are faulty.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

Thinking about "doing anything" like repitching, or bottling, or racking, without first taking a hydrometer reading is tantamount to the doctor deciding to cut you open without running any diagnostic tests....Taking one look at you and saying, "Yeah I'm going in." You would really want the doctor to use all means to properly diagnose what's going on?

Fermentation is thought to have finished when the gravity has not changed for 2 readings over three consequitive days. So take a reading and you'll know where the beer is at.

 

[demonrichie]

even if it stays steady...or if you dont have a hydrometer you can wait it may even result in a better product. you should go by the hydrometer readings though.

 

[Revvy]

And just because it is done "fermenting" doesn't mean that the yeast is done doing their job. They are very fastiduous creatures who like to clean up the mess they make during fermentation...the stuff that if you rack too soon can lead to off flavors. That's why a lot of us don't secondary and instead leave our beers alone for 3-4 weeks, then bottle...and only secondary if we are dry hopping, adding fruit, or oak. And even then we usually wait 10-14 days before moving our beer.

People are getting out of using secondaries for all but the rarest of things, And opting instead for long primaries. So order something useful as your second vessel, get another primary bucket of a 6 gallon carboy or better bottle, with the headspace to actually be able to ferment another batch of beer in, so you can get your pipeline going.

Before you ask a million inevetible questions about no secondary/long primary, ALL of them have been answered a million times on here already, and just about everyone is answered by me in this thread here. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/secondary-not-john-palmer-jamil-zainasheff-weigh-176837/

You'll find that more and more recipes these days do not advocate moving to a secondary at all, but mention primary for a month, which is starting to reflect the shift in brewing culture that has occurred in the last 4 years, MOSTLY because of many of us on here, skipping secondary, opting for longer primaries, and writing about it. Recipes in BYO have begun stating that in their magazine. I remember the "scandal" it caused i the letters to the editor's section a month later, it was just like how it was here when we began discussing it, except a lot more civil than it was here. But after the Byo/Basic brewing experiment, they started reflecting it in their recipes.

 

[Homer]

-Revvy, that thread you posted, that is a lot of good info! I need this beer done by probably late november maybe early december. With it having spices in it, I would think it needs some mellowing time, so let me know what you think of this plan.

leave it in the primary for 4 weeks total, then into the keg, but keep it in the closet for two weeks, then into the fridge to carb.

One more question, since I don't think I did a very good job of keeping the spices out of the fermenter (i tried) including whole clove, which can be bitter, is this any reason to rush out of the primary?