Ready to bottle?

[GearZ]

So this is my first brew and unfortunately I do not own a hydrometer nor do I have any way to get one any time soon. Any way my beer has been fermenting a week today the recipe said it would take one to two weeks. Today when I woke up I noticed that the airlock activity had gone from very active (several tomes a second) to non existing. Is it ready or should I give it a few more days?

 

[BayAreaBrew]

If you have no way of checking the gravity, then I would let it sit for another week just to be on the safe side. Airlock activity does not determine if fermentation is complete. Better to keep it in the primary an extra week, than to bottle it before fermatation is done.

 

[unionrdr]

When the rapid airlock bubbling slows or stops,it means only initial fermentation is done. It'll then slowly,uneventfully creep down to FG from there. Then give it 3-7 days to clean up & setle out clear or slightly misty before bottling.

 

[kh54s10]

Order a hydrometer online and let the yeast finish doing their job while awaiting it's arrival. You really want to know that fermentation is totally finished or you risk it continuing in the bottles and it can increase the pressure inside enough to explode the bottles. I usually do a primary for 3 weeks then bottle.

 

[LowNotes]

Yeah, a hydrometer is the only way to be sure...but also if you are patient and just let it sit 3 weeks in primary, that pretty much ensures fermentation is compelte as well, plus the aging will typically help the final beer flavor.

I have actually never checked my FG in teh fermentation bucket to see if it is done...I prefer to simply wait rather than mess with pulling out a sample for the hydrometer, adding a potential point of infection, multiple times over a few days. I just wait 3 weeks, and it is always good.

I had one weird brew, that for whatever reason continued to spit out airlock bubbles every couple minutes even after 3 weeks. I knew it was done, and went ahead with bottling it. Turned out great. I also had one batch that I never saw a single bubble come out...but, I waited 3 weeks, and when you opened the lid you could smell that something had happened, so I bottled it up. Turned out great. Airlock bubbles can be deceiving, both the lack of bubbles or extra bubbles. People swear by their FG readings, and there is nothing wrong with that, but time has worked for me so far through 19 batches.

I should mention, I always take a FG from my bottling bucket so I can figure out my ABV and fine-tune my process/recipe creation, but if I want to know my fermentation is done, all I do is look at the brew-date I have written on the bucket and add 3 weeks.