Is my batch infected!?

[Brew_Meister_General]

Its bottling day today.

My brew has been in the fermenter for 3 1/2 weeks, the airlock was still bubbling every few minutes so I put this down to degassing.

I open the fermenter to take a sample, I see lots of small bubbles appearing on the surface, I seal it again and now the airlock bubbling a few times a minute

What the what??

The sample taste fine but it probably means I can't bottle yet.

 

[mhurst111]

Hard to tell from that description, can you post a photo?

Of course, the best route would be to test final gravity with a hydrometer and test it again in a couple of days and see if it is changing. 3.5 weeks should be done with almost any yeast (depending on temperature), but hydrometer is only way to be sure.

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

My reading was 1.010, down from 1.011 6 days ago (although they may be a bit off)

I don't have a camera but I think I know what may be causing it, I put some coconut shreds (home toasted) in a straining bag in there 2.5 weeks ago. i removed them a week ago but some escaped, I look in the fermenter and I see what looks like dissolved shreds floating on the surface. I scooped some out and it taste fine (just bitter).

That doesn't seem to explain the airlock activity though, I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

 

[ncbrewer]

I'll bet it's finished, but if you're bottling, you need two identical gravity readings since it's acting suspicious. Too late for this batch, but I recommend a bottling hydrometer - lower gravity range with hash marks every half point instead of the usual two points. It gives you much more accurate readings.

 

[RM-MN]

Bubbles in the airlock mean that there is an exchange of gases, nothing more. Your hydrometer is the device to use to see if the beer is ready to bottle. If your fermenter is well sealed except for the airlock, your beer will be outgasing some of the dissolved CO2 and it can do that for quite some time after it is ready to bottle.

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

Bubbles in the airlock mean that there is an exchange of gases, nothing more. Your hydrometer is the device to use to see if the beer is ready to bottle. If your fermenter is well sealed except for the airlock, your beer will be outgasing some of the dissolved CO2 and it can do that for quite some time after it is ready to bottle.

Could this lead to overcarbonation? As it seems like that theres a lot of CO2 still in there, much more than usual at least

 

[RM-MN]

Could this lead to overcarbonation? As it seems like that theres a lot of CO2 still in there, much more than usual at least

Sure it could. Use a carbonation calculator and use the highest temperature your beer reached. I use this one. http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html