Uh oh. I brewed this about 3 weeks ago. I had higher efficiency than I planned, so it was 1.060. It bubbled for 1 or 2 days and I just let it sit in primary for 3 weeks. I didn't check gravity at all and I was ready to bottle and got everything set up including adding the priming sugar and the chocolate extract in the bottling bucket (to ensure thorough mixing). Then I cracked the lid and checked the gravity and it was only down to 1.020. I did use dry yeast and no starter, but in general, I'm usually getting down in the low 1.010's. I was thinking the lactose made the FG higher, so I bottled it. According to Beer Smith, the lactose only adds about 0.001 point, so that might not be the reason for the high FG and I see the OP has the FG a lot lower, but I see people are getting higher FG's. I was actually hoping for a higher FG for a sweeter beer. I sure hope it was done. The bottles are now sitting in a sealed plastic Rubbermaid tub. Hopefully I'll have no issues.Well I checked this one week later and it's down to 1.020. Was kind of hoping it stayed at 1.026. Was surprised it dropped 6 gravity pts from week 3 to week 4. After 3 weeks in primary I thought it was done. Good thing I waited before bottling. Not on purpose though. Just lazy!! Lol.
I also noticed a couple spots on the surface that looked like mold. I ended up just skimming them off the surface. Never had that happen before. The only thing I can think is I never topped off the air lock and when I picked up the bucket the morning of bottling, the water level was low and it actually sucked some of the 3 week old water into the bucket (I like to move it to the table where I bottle before bottling so it can gets a chance to settle after moving it). And who know how long the water level was low, so it could have been sitting there for a week or more with no barrier to air getting in.
Hopefully everything turns out okay. It was only a 3.5 gal batch, so no big deal if it doesn't (would be first bad batch I've ever had though). But I've learned a few things on this one - always check gravity at least a few days before bottling to make sure it's really done so you don't get all set up to bottle when it may not be done. And to check the air lock to make sure it's topped off at all times. I really had high hopes for this one. Crossing fingers that it turns out okay.