Long fermentation

I recently made NB Dead Ringer IPA extract kit and it has been fermenting for three weeks. I am still getting bubbles in the airlock....is this time normal? I know the sure way to check if it's finished is to measure SG....but I am not sure how to do that without opening up my fermenter?(I thought it was bad to do this) Any help is appreciated!!

 

Pop it open and grab a sample to check the gravity. It's the only sure fire way to know that it's done, plus you get to taste it!

Just make sure you sanitize anything and everything before you pop it open...

 

Bubbles in the airlock do not indicate fermentation activity. Your beer is just degassing. It usually takes less than a week to finish fermenting (depending on the yeast). For the dead ringer, mine finished after 3 or 4 days. If you dont have a spout on your fermenter, the only way to take a gravity reading is to take the lid off to pull your sample. I would probably take a sample and also throw the dry hops in since you have to take the lid off for that anyways.

 

You open up your fermenter and take a grav reading...it's that simple...just do what every book, every website, every brewer who advocated taking gravity readings does, and open the buck, take a sample, close the bucket, and repeat as necessary. Don't be afraid of doing that. It's what everyone does and won't ruin your beer that way...

Racking the beer when you don't need to, THAT's more apt to ruin your beer... Following crappy instructions will ruin your beer... panicking and trying to fix something that is probably fine will ruin your beer. Rushing the process, that will make for less than stellar beer.

But practicing the correct diagnostic process (i.e. Taking a gravity reading) will not ruin your beer. You can open your fermenter a couple of times and you WON'T hurt your beer...just don't spit in it, or splash it around. Just open, grab your sample, and close it... 10 seconds? 20? No big deal.

At this point you beer has long since stopped fermenting (fermentation takes about 7-10 days) all that is happening is your airlock is bubbling.... that's not the same thing.

Remember an airlock is nothing by a vent to release EXCESS co2, not a fermentation gauge. It just is a way to prevent the buildup of co2 from blowing the top off the fermenter. Often the co2 gets out elsewhere, or fermentation is simply not producing EXCESS co2.

Airlocks bubble or they don't for various reasons...airlock really aren't important.... they're meant to release built up gasses while at the same time making it hard for insects to easily work their way into the fermenter. People put too much emphasis on them, especially new brewers thinking it's an accurate measure of fermentation.

It gas is getting out, but it doesn't tell you if it's co2, or oxygen, or why it's degassing (maybe from a change in barometric/temp pressure or a truck driving past your house, or your cat trying to have sex with your fermenter ) and it doesn't measure what exactly the yeast is doing to the beer.


This should give you an idea why they're useless indicators of fermentation.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jzT_KTTZ0Q[/ame]

 

thanks guys! I'll pop it open up today and test it, and I do have to put the hops in as well anyway. I've read a lot that said skip the secondary and dry hop right into the primary so I'm going to try that!

 

That's what I do... you can either dump them in, or use a hop sack. I used to drop them in, but lately I've been using a hopsack for them. I have a Randall in my keezer now, and like to fresh hop the beer so I don't want to have a lot of particles in the keg.