Advice on premature bottling

[Beau815]

Okay, I brewed my 8th batch which was my first turkey fryer full boil, but it was extract. Its a weak cream ale 1.040 SG. I brewed 6 days ago. Its bubbling once every 5-6 seconds... its gravity is 1.018 and I know its not done quite yet. So my question is, my fathers birthday is on the 29th. He will try my IPA's and drink them but hes sadly a BMC drinker as are my 3 bros. So i wanted to brew something to get them interested in brewing. I brewed this one with my dad and he was interested and impressed by the whole thing. I know that some people primary a week and then bottle for another week (minimum). I KNOW this is not the best way, id leave it for 3 weeks if I had the time. So my question is, if this stops bubbling and I have a FG of 1.008-1.012 which sticks there after 2 consecutive days... could I bottle and have it done bottle carbing in another week in order to bring them for his birthday? I know it wont taste the best but im pretty sure they would be carbed up just like the weak mr beer american ales that call for a week primary and then a week of bottling. Also, they are BMC drinkers... they will still like it, they liked mr beer.

 

[Boodlemania]

FWIW, as long as your hydrometer tells you that the brew is at the FG, you're safe to bottle. However, if your plan is to convert others into the homebrew fold, rushing a brew for them to taste may not be the best approach.

 

[RICLARK]

I suggest you wait, And next time brew it with enough time for it to be ready.

 

[Revvy]

firstly there is no gaurentee that the beer will be carbed, let alone conditioned in a week...when we say 3 weeks at 70 that is usually a minimum for normal grav beers...and carbed isn't necessarily the same as conditioned...they could be nice and fizzy, and still taste like a$$ for a couple more weeks..


And Boodle's right...If you are serving green beer to people who have never tasted homebrew then they won't understand..they will think that EITHER you suck as a brewer, ALL HOMEBREW SUCKS (and you'll prolly go blind anyway) or those BMC commercials were right, anything other than fizzy yellow beer, especially homebrew taste like a$$, and we should stick to bud light...

You won't be a great ambassador to the world of homebrewing presenting week old beer....

Serioulsy, do yourself a favor, swallow the dissapointment of your beer not being ready, buy some beer you know is done...and give your beer the time it needs.

And share the homebrew with them, when you know it is at it's best.

 

[Beau815]

Thanks Revvy i guess I could just buy some or bring my double IPA's up, even tho I LOVE them and they probably wont.

 

[Yooper]

The beer will be wonderful at Father's Day, though! You could let it finish, bottle it in mid-April, let it carb up until mid-May, then cold condition them in the bottle until Father's Day. That will ensure the beer is finished, properly conditioned, and then the lagering in the bottle will help rid the beer of any chill haze and smooth the flavors nicely. Also, it'll help compact the yeast cake nice and tight so the non-homebrew guys won't be grossed out by any yeast in suspension.

Especially if you used a yeast like nottingham, you can pour it without disturbing the sediment layer after some long-ish cold conditioning in the bottle.

 

[Beau815]

yeah i did use nottingham... ok i like your idea yooper. I was thinking it would be too long to wait 3-4 months but i guess it could last up to a 8mo-1yr. We are camping in June as a family so maybe then will be best. My dad wanted me to brew up a higher abv one for that trip though. I was gonna do something middle of the road. Not a blonde or cream ale, and not the other end like an ipa (which i love) Maybe an oktoberfest type of beer? I want an abv of at least 7-8% Higher if possible. I guess i could make em another cream ale and add 3 lbs of corn sugar? or maybe dme? In your experience what would you make if you had a bud drinker who wants to have a decent buzz after 2-3 drinks and not a 6 pack of bud? Im still trying to explain that FLAVOR is the main thing for me... but he would sacrifice flavor for less beer and better buzz... what can I say hes a 66 year old bud drinker. Ill have him appreciating flavor soon but first to show him home brewing is superior and flavor and buzz can be married into a wonderful cheaper yet better beer.

 

[Yooper]

What's the OG on the current cream ale? 1.040? That will give you a bit less than 4% ABV.

The problem with boosting the ABV with corn sugar and not looking at the rest of the recipe is that you may have the beer out of balance and either too thin and dry or too "hot" or not enough bittering.

I'd suggest taking a look at the recipe database and see what kind of style suits your fancy. If you're into kits, I saw a kit at a homebrew store called something like "American micro", which is basically a better tasting Bud. Take a look at all of the beer kits austinhomebrew.com offers- they have all kinds of styles and clone kits. If you want to make something that you know would be good, that's what I'd suggest.

 

[Beau815]

Yeah it was 1.040 because i made sure my brew 30 qt brew kettle was full to about an inch from the top... everyone said 30 qt is always brimming so i trusted that and it turns out only a gallon evaporated and i have about 6.3 gallons now... so the abv was lowered. I added one pound of corn sugar to it, not much. So im scared it will be watery anyway. Next time ill fill my fermenting bucket to 6 gallons and pour THAT into the kettle. I would have alot more room, maybe another inch.