Can I bottle it now?

[meanbean]

So I'm a newbie.
Made my first 5gal. Muntons premium lager. OG-1.040 a week later FG- 1.012-is in the attached picture.
I racked to secondary. And it's been in my fridge at 38-45F for a week.
It taste good. It's clear. But can I bottle it? Or will it break the bottles?

 

[passedpawn]

[moved to Beginner's forum]

 

[CJ-3]

You may want to wait 2-3 days and test again. If the reading does not change in that period your fermentation should be done. You will be looking to have a span of 3 days without a change.

 

[number40fan]

You should have checked it for a couple of days before you cold crashed it. So, it is kind of a toss up to whether you will have bottle rockets.

 

[meanbean]

Oh. Guess I didn't explain that. Before I did cold crash it. I did measure FG. Was the same ish about 1.012. The hydrometer that came with the brewers best kit. Was leaning while floating. Didn't think it was accurate. So I picked up another one. And y'all know the rest.
At least it looks yello! Ha!

 

[meanbean]

Here is a pict of end of first week. Before cold crashing. When the hyd. Was leaning.

 

[unionrdr]

As long as the readings were steady you should be OK. Just good to be sure.

 

[rlmiller10]

Just for future reference the general consensus is to leave it on they yeast for a min of two weeks (most go three). During primary fermentation the yeast is going fast and will release some byproducts. But after primary when all their favorite foods are gone (sugars) they will go back and use up most of these byproducts. This will clean up some off flavors and make a better beer.

Also if you are making a lager what temp did you ferment? And after fermentation it is customary to lager a lager, i.e. to get the temp down around 34 and leave it to sit for 4 to 6 weeks before bottling.

 

[JimRausch]

Those kits, even if they call them 'lager', typically use Munton ale yeast which attenuates about 70%. So, I say you're done. The 1st pic looks to be at 1.014, but I'd guess it was at fridge temp, so 1.012 is probably correct(most hydrometers are set to 60*. It will say what temp. down at the bottom of the scale).
You might take another reading in a day or so, just to be absolute, but I think you are ready to bottle.

 

[meanbean]

@rlmiller
I fermented at 60f. I know I didn't follow lager customs. But my buddy got this for me as a bday gift. An requested a lager. Silly- I bought a lager without educating myself. Haha.
Sink or swim right?

 

[meanbean]

@rausch
I found an article last night. About muntons final OG is always higher than it claims. There was an abundance of replies confirming it.

 

[meanbean]

I will take another reading later today and try bottling if FG is the same.

 

[rlmiller10]

@rlmiller
I fermented at 60f. I know I didn't follow lager customs. But my buddy got this for me as a bday gift. An requested a lager. Silly- I bought a lager without educating myself. Haha.
Sink or swim right?

Well if it uses ale yeast as Rausch suggested then you are fine as far as temp.

And you made beer! Life is better with beer so you just made your life better.

 

[meanbean]

Agreed!

 

[meanbean]

Thanks all!
Next time I will listen to what my dad used to say. "Patience is a virtue". Now I know what he meant. Hahaah!

 

[JimRausch]

@rausch
I found an article last night. About muntons final OG is always higher than it claims. There was an abundance of replies confirming it.

If you check around you see a lot of posts about the '1.020 extract curse' where a lot of extract batches tend to stop at around 1.020. So, I'd say that 1.012-1.014 for your 1st batch is pretty good!
Beer- goooood.

 

[meanbean]

A curse huh?
Why is that. Is that like a plateau of the yeast feeding ?
I'm thinking about starting another batch. Something easier than this lager. Just don't want to run into this plateau.

 

[rlmiller10]

A curse huh?
Why is that. Is that like a plateau of the yeast feeding ?
I'm thinking about starting another batch. Something easier than this lager. Just don't want to run into this plateau.

Try a porter or a black IPA and your target will be 1.018 or so. They you don't have to worry about the plateau.

 

[JimRausch]

A curse huh?
Why is that. Is that like a plateau of the yeast feeding ?
I'm thinking about starting another batch. Something easier than this lager. Just don't want to run into this plateau.

There's a lot of speculation as to the cause. It tends to happen more with LME, so it might be something in the way it's produced. Or possibly a 60 minute boil of a product that's already been boiled might yield more unfermentable sugars. Or it might be simply that more new brewers start with extract versions and haven't learned about proper yeast pitching rates and wort oxygenation. Yeast health is critical. Brewers produce wort, the yeast make the beer. So our job is to give the yeast the best possible environment possible.
Those Truebrew/Munton kits are not bad and pretty easy to use. My very 1st batch was the 'Oktoberfest' version(ale yeast). To my mind it turned out great and hooked me into this obsession well and proper.
So, brew whatever you like to drink. Practice makes perfect!

 

[meanbean]

Well said. And I'm doin my homework.
But I did not boil the muntons lme for 60min.