Bottle or wait

[sterling214]

I brewed an extract pale ale, OG was 1.056, the calculators have the fg between 1.017 and 1.014. Vigorous fermentation lasted 2 days, it stayed in the primary for a week, and now has been in the secondary for 3 weeks. (I was busy last week so couldn't bottle then.) 2 days ago the airlock started bubbling again at 3 per minuit. The yeast seems to have roused itself and is actually creating another small foamy krausen. I checked the SG and it is at 1.018. Am I safe to go ahead and bottle this like I had planed this weekend, or should I wait? I have a party in 3 weeks and would really like to get this and the stout I brewed conditioning in the bottle. The yeast was safbrew s-33 if that matters.

 

[Orfy]

I'd go for it. A point or two is not that important.

 

[jcarson83]

I would wait until it quits bubbling.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

Take another gravity reading in about 2-3 more days. If it stays the same, go ahead and package. If not, let it sit some more.

 

[Orfy]

I'd go for it. A point or two is not that important.

Bad advice.

That must have been after my second bottle of wine.

If it's bubbling let it settle, check in a few days.

 

[sterling214]

Thanks for the advice, I wish to hell I would have taken it. I bottled Saturday, decided to look at a bottle Monday night. When my SWMBO caps my bottles, she sometimes puts a little round dent in the caps with my wing capper. the dent was actually pushed up a little on the bottle I checked. I decided to open that bottle on Tuesday, it of coarse gushed and expelled half the bottle into my sink. The rest of the batch got chilled and burped with only some minor gushing. I think I am going to have to open another test bottle in another week. *best South Park voice* I learned a lesson tonight, if your yeast is telling you it needs some more time to complete its job, leave it the hell alone. I also learned not to run here and ask someone to tell you to do what you want to do, instead of just doing what you were pretty damn sure you should do.

 

[WheeledGoat]

*best South Park voice* I learned a lesson tonight, .....

LMAO!!

Seriously, though, thanks for posting this! I've got a batch, OG 1.056 with S-33, that started off great but quit bubbling in the primary after 36hrs. I was gonna wait a week anyway, but it's comforting to know the S-33 likes to take a break and rerouse...

 

[IrregularPulse]

Bad advice.

That must have been after my second bottle of wine.

If it's bubbling let it settle, check in a few days.

Seriously! I read this and thought....Orfy? Who hijacked your PC?

 

[Omalleys]

Yes , the yeast strain makes a difference. I've used the s-33 strain a couple of times commercially. It does finish at a higher gravity. 1.018 Seems to be normal for a final SG. You may have autolysis, ( yeast feeding on itself). I'd bottle it, and store it cold once it's carbonated. The best fermentis strains in my opinion are US-05, S-23(LAGER), and S-04, in that order. Cheers

 

[Omalleys]

Sorry, I just saw the date on your thread, my bad. Hope it turned out well !

 

[sterling214]

After I burped the bottles everything turned out great. If I wouldn't have burped the bottles, I would have a lot of shrapnal in my basement. The party was last weekend, and the beer turned out great. The stout that I bottled along with it was more of a hit than the pale, but I had no complaints with either.