Airlock still bubbling on secondary, buttle?

[FatDragon]

I brewed a slightly-modified Left Hand Milk Stout clone three and a half weeks ago and put it into secondary about two weeks in, with SG just a couple points north of expected FG, after a week and a half of bubbling once every 12-15 seconds. Well, a week and a half into secondary (with an inch or more of yeast cake) it's still bubbling at pretty much the same rate. My plans were to bottle tomorrow morning. I know, the correct answer is, "check the SG, then check it a couple days later," but I'm impatient and a bit paranoid about infecting my beer.

So, am I safe to bottle tomorrow or do I need to accept reality and do some SG readings before I can safely bottle? The main thing I'm asking is: is it possible for the airlock to continue bubbling consistently like this after fermentation has completed? Is that what "gassing off" means? And if so, couldn't someone have come up with a better term that doesn't sound like a top-five most-disgusting sex act?

 

[unionrdr]

My Traditional Stout kit got done in 2 weeks. Waited till the 3rd day to test it again. Gravity stable,I put my bourbon soaked oak chips in secondary BB & racked the stout onto them. With airlock in place,a couple minutes later it peged the airlock center piece to the cap & bubbled once. For two days,it off gassed occasinally like that. Adding the sacks of chips & bourbon created nucleation points for the dissolved co2. In your case,it could be this combined with not being at FG just yet. Use a hydrometer 3 days apart to be sure. I checked the FG on mine when 1 week of secondary on the oak/bourbon was done. FG was about 1.013,maybe a tiny hair lower due to the priming solution at that point. When it carbonates,it''l go back down to about 1.012. Finally remembered to do that lil experiment. So it seems oaking with liquor doesn't really add to ABV% significantly. Of course,this also is true if you don't go hog wild using a half bottle of liquor. I used about 2.5ozs or so.
Just enough to soak the chips if you flip'em over every now & then till primary is done. Man,was the flavor from the American white oak good. Very well defined without being overpowering so far. I can't wait for the roasty flavors to come through.
So,anyway,it should be at a stable FG before bottling,unless bottle bombs are something you enjoy. I did the third FG check after secondary just to see if it changed significantly to be sure it was safe to bottle,or dropped further to to the slight alcohol addition. The answer is-not enough to cause concern.

 

[FatDragon]

Just did a gravity check at around 75 degrees (I'm chilling in the fridge to get one at 60 for assurance, since my hydrometer kung fu is really weak thus far), and the gravity looks like it's about 0.008 lower than anticipated FG.

I probably mashed lower than I thought - I'm finding it hard to get a proper temp reading while I mash since it seems that the temperature varies pretty significantly throughout the kettle.

Beyond that, secondary has been at ambient temps in the mid seventies, so the higher temps have probably encouraged the yeasties to keep active. I guess I'll have a drier stout than I intended, but I'm down with that. I'll take another reading in a couple days and see if it's ready to bottle; so much for tomorrow morning.

 

[Setesh]

I feel for you on the patience problem. That was my single largest hurdle to overcome in brewing as it is in most of my life. Brewing is great therapy for impatient people like us In this case I would definitely wait and take another reading. As mentioned, bottle bombs are such a huge PITA you do not want to go there. You will be kicking yourself so much if that happens.

You mention being paranoid about getting an infection. If that is the case why did you secondary at all? This is and bottling are two of the largest danger windows in your beers life:

1 Chilling time
2 Transfer to primary
3 Aeration (depending on method)
4 Transfer to secondary
5 Packaging

IMO you can eliminate the secondary for most beers and eliminate a potential infection opportunity at the same time. There are other benefits as well:
1 MUCH less oxygen exposure
2 Less hassle
3 Less equipment to clean
4 More yeast to 'clean up' your beer and finish faster

For the most part secondaries have fallen out of style as yeast practices have improved. There is no longer a need to get your beer off the cake as quickly as possible since healthy yeast aren't going to die quickly and give you autolysis problems. You might try skipping secondary and see what you think. I have a LHMS clone in the keezer that just hit 1 month old and I'm really enjoying it. Let us know how yours turns out

 

[Setesh]

...I'm finding it hard to get a proper temp reading while I mash since it seems that the temperature varies pretty significantly throughout the kettle.

Unless you recirculate this will always be a problem. The key here is consistency in your process. Always take your readings at the same area. Determine which place is the best and stick with it. This way you will be able to make adjustments based on the final result. If you find your beer finishing too low with too little mouthfeel you can mash a little higher and see what that gets you. Once you get the feel of your system you will know "this recipe says 152 but that really means 156 on my system" or maybe it means 150, but you get the idea. Consistency is key to being able to tweak your process to get better results.

 

[FatDragon]

I would love to skip secondary and just keep the beer on the cake, but my goal is to get the beer out of my single-occupancy ferm chamber after a week or two so I can make room for a new batch, so I thought racking to secondary would be good in this case, so it's off the trub when it encounters higher temperatures (like I said, ambient's around the mid seventies lately, so about ten degrees higher than the ferm chamber). Does that make sense?

 

[Setesh]

I would love to skip secondary and just keep the beer on the cake, but my goal is to get the beer out of my single-occupancy ferm chamber after a week or two so I can make room for a new batch, so I thought racking to secondary would be good in this case, so it's off the trub when it encounters higher temperatures (like I said, ambient's around the mid seventies lately, so about ten degrees higher than the ferm chamber). Does that make sense?

Yup, wanting to make room for more beer makes perfect sense, what I would suggest though is just getting another fermenter. Pick up a second better bottle or whatever it is and move the first one out and move the next one in. Just my 2c.

 

[FatDragon]

Yup, wanting to make room for more beer makes perfect sense, what I would suggest though is just getting another fermenter. Pick up a second better bottle or whatever it is and move the first one out and move the next one in. Just my 2c.

I've got enough fermenters, not enough temperature-controlled fermentation space. So you're suggesting I just take the primary out of the ferm chamber after a week or two without racking to secondary?

 

[unionrdr]

Once it's at FG in primary,many of us just leave it another 3-7 days to clean up any fermentation by products & settle out clear or slightly misty. Then rack to bottling bucket & bulk prime or keg.

 

[beergolf]

I've got enough fermenters, not enough temperature-controlled fermentation space. So you're suggesting I just take the primary out of the ferm chamber after a week or two without racking to secondary?

Sure that works just fine. In fact at a little warmer temp will help.

I usually keep my brew in the ferm chamber until I need the space and then pull them, out and let them sit at room temp until I bottle or keg.

I almost never do a secondary. They only time I use one is for extended aging. Right now I have a brew in a secondary that is sitting on some brett that has been there for about 4 months.

 

[Setesh]

So you're suggesting I just take the primary out of the ferm chamber after a week or two without racking to secondary?

Exactly! You aren't talking about really long times on the yeast cake and this way you don't deal with any of the risk factors of transferring to secondary. AND it's easier! Win + Win IMHO

 

[beefysal]

I'm trying to understand the issues. With regards to bottling, what does the SG have to do with anything? The gravity must remain stable for bottle bombs to not be an issue. Noob. Just trying to figure if I'm missing domething.

 

[unionrdr]

You must get a stable Final Gravity to prevent bottle bombs of course. But you want the beer to be done fermenting,& have had 3-7 days to clean up by products of fermentation & settle out clear or slightly misty before bottling. You get clearer,better tasting beer this way.

 

[Transamguy77]

I'm trying to understand the issues. With regards to bottling, what does the SG have to do with anything? The gravity must remain stable for bottle bombs to not be an issue. Noob. Just trying to figure if I'm missing domething.

Yes your gravity should be stable before bottling but if you are shooting for a 1.020 and you are at 1.030 I would not bottle that even if it was stable for 3 days that is too high and might be a stuck fermentation and can lead to bottle bombs after disturbing and warming the yeast.

 

[beefysal]

Yes your gravity should be stable before bottling but if you are shooting for a 1.020 and you are at 1.030 I would not bottle that even if it was stable for 3 days that is too high and might be a stuck fermentation and can lead to bottle bombs after disturbing and warming the yeast.

I see. What is happening while you wait that lower the FG?

 

[unionrdr]

If you successfully roused the yeast,they're finishing eating the sugars to slowly,uneventfully get down to the FG for the recipe. Most have a range of Fg numbers that signal it's being done.