Don't know if first stage has finished

[Brucebanner]

OK so I just wanna say this is my first time brewing beer. I have a 23litre bucket and bought the yeast+malt extract from wilko. I followed the instructions and mixed everything together 2.5weeks ago. However after I had done so I then discovered the airlock on my bucket was not securely attached, so I glued it but its not airtight. I left it under my stairs for a week and then took a hydrometer reading. The bucket had some pressure to it and a fair few bubbles but the hydrometer basically said not much had happened. I then moved the bucket to a warmer location as I assumed the cold environment under the stairs was why the fermentation was running slowly. I took another reading a few days ago which suggested the first stage fermentation was almost done, but another reading today seems to show it having not progressed, in fact being less fermented? (this could just be my poor measurement taking). The liquid looks fairly clear atm, and there are very few resting bubbles(I'm ok with this as I assume most of the bubbles are leaking out) my question is, should I add sugar and go for second stage fermentation now? What are peoples thoughts? The kit I had suggested it would only take 4_6days for first stage but obviously I've been brewing for 2.5weeks. I really just want some advice as I don't wanna ruin my homebrew...

 

[Kirkwooder]

Go ahead and ad your remaining fermentables. Can't hurt it at this point. Take another gravity reading after adding the sugar.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

What do you mean by 'first stage' and 'second stage'?
If the instructions say to rack to secondary, ignore them.
If you just mean adding extra sugar, you can put it in at the start (no need to wait).
Or is the extra sugar for bottling?
What is the gravity at the moment? What was the starting gravity?
If one reading said it was nearly done, but another said it hasn't progressed, you must have a faulty hydrometer. Check it for cracks/leaks.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I am confused as well. Most kits that I know of don't have you add extra sugar during fermentation (though I have seen some odd kit instructions). How much sugar does the instructions call for you to add? Could you post info or a link to the specific kit you purchased? Or maybe a picture of the instructions?

I suspect your beer has finished fermenting and would be ready to bottle. Adding more sugar would push that back a week or two.

 

[Brucebanner]

So it says add 85g per pressure barrel for conditioning and then leaving it about two weeks. I don't have any bottles as the instructions say I can leave it in the barrel. I don't have a gas bottle though so I feel I should add the sugar?

 

[McKnuckle]

That's a bizarre set of instructions and it seems to be translated to English from another language. A "pressure barrel" is almost certainly a keg. But it doesn't mention a size, yet it gives sugar measurement specification, which is thus totally unreliable, because the amount of sugar depends on the beer volume. And it says that sugar will "condition" the beer. How bizarre. Sugar does not do that at all - it carbonates the beer.

The part you just posted is explaining (very poorly) how to package the beer. Unless you have a keg and know how to use it, you will need bottles. Bottles are not optional.

A photo of what your experiment currently looks like might be useful.

 

[Soulshine2]

welcome to the forum. at 2.5 weeks you should be almost drinking it by now. The sugar the kit tells you to add is priming sugar and I'm assuming it is a 5 gallon kit the amount of sugar provided is around 3/4 cup or 6 oz...You would need to rack the beer from the fermenter to a sanitized bottling bucket keeping the trub in the fermenter . So, try to not slosh it around while you transfer. The priming sugar would need to be dissolved in 2 cups boiling water and chilled to room temp before adding it to the bucket. I add 1/2 to the bucket before I start racking the beer and the other half once I have my beer almost done racking so I know how much volume I have (so the priming sugar proportion is correct, You dont want it under-carbed or bottle bombs either for that matter) , stirred gently but thoroughly and then hosed to your sanitized bottles with a bottling wand to 1 1/2 inches from the top , and capped .
Conditioning refers to the period of time the beer is bottled and the added sugar is again fermenting and causes the carbonation of the finished beer. It usually takes 2 weeks for beer to condition to a carbonated beer that holds a head of foam once poured. Don't sweat it for now.
Without your actual brewing procedure ,its hard to tell what happened and why its taken so long.
I have to ask you - did you calibrate your hydrometer in distilled water at 60*F before taking a reading? Do you know how to properly read it?

 

[Calder]

I'm concerned that your yeast may have been dead and nothing happened. This would be extremely rare, and very unfortunate for a first time brewer.

Can you tell us what the Original Gravity was supposed to be of the beer (what the kit called for, not your measurement). What your OG measurement was, and what the gravity measurements were that you took the last couple of readings.

A list of ingredients including yeast type would also be useful.

At 2.5 weeks you should be done, and I would be surprised if you aren't. It is highly unlikely that the yeast didn't do it's job. Please supply the gravity readings and kit OG, and we should be able to tell you if you had fermentation and confirm that there is no reason to worry.

There is no need to rack the beer off the trub for 'secondary' fermentation, you can keep in in the same bucket. If you have additional fermentables to add, now would be the right time. Just make sure this extra sugar is not the bottling sugar that is often provided in kits over here in the States ...... because that is added at bottling.

Minor leaks are not a concern in fermenters. Fermenting, beer gives off CO2, which will prevent O2 getting back in. Long-term storage (a couple of months) might give some concern. The biggest problem with leaks is that the airlock doesn't bubble, so new brewers worry that the beer is not fermenting.

 

[Brucebanner]

OK so I took another reading and my hydrometer says it's ready to bottle. I have a pressurised plastic keg that I'm going to transfer the liquid to. Is it still OK to add the extra sugar for carbonation even though its been three weeks? I don't want to add sugar and then nothing happens and in two weeks I just have sugary what I have now

 

[Kirkwooder]

OK so I took another reading and my hydrometer says it's ready to bottle. I have a pressurised plastic keg that I'm going to transfer the liquid to. Is it still OK to add the extra sugar for carbonation even though its been three weeks? I don't want to add sugar and then nothing happens and in two weeks I just have sugary what I have now

You can go months and still bottle condition with no issue. I have no idea what you are refering to when you say plastic keg, but if it has it's own Co2 source then you wont need to use the priming sugar at all.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Is it still OK to add the extra sugar for carbonation even though its been three weeks?

My vote is Yes. There should still be plenty of active yeast to consume the sugar and create CO2.

I am not at all familiar with using a "pressure barrel" but they seem to be something like a cask made of plastic. I would just see if you can double check the recommended amount of sugar, but 85g/3oz seems reasonable.

 

[Soulshine2]

OK so I took another reading and my hydrometer says it's ready to bottle. I have a pressurised plastic keg that I'm going to transfer the liquid to. Is it still OK to add the extra sugar for carbonation even though its been three weeks? I don't want to add sugar and then nothing happens and in two weeks I just have sugary what I have now

it would be helpful if you can post your actual readings instead of saying you took a reading and its ready to bottle.
What was the actual OG and FG that makes you say its done?
Are you bottling, keg priming or force carbonating?

 

[kh54s10]

Pressure barrels are something I have seen in reference to equipment kits in Europe. You prime them, condition and serve from them.

There is plenty of yeast still in the beer. You seem to be ready to transfer to the pressure barrel, prime and then wait for about 3 weeks conditioning. Keep the temperature during conditioning at about 70 degrees F.

To be sure you are truly at final gravity it would be helpful if you posted the numbers of all your gravity readings.

 

[Brucebanner]

Hey so I transferred the beer to the pressurised keg. However I added the sugar to the beer whilst it was in the fermenter before transferring it to the keg. When I did this a thick head formed on the beer, however I had to leave the fermenter open for about ten minutes whilst transferring the beer and the head disappeared. Should I have transferred the beer first before adding the sugar? If yes, should I add some more sugar to the beer now its in the keg?

 

[RM-MN]

Hey so I transferred the beer to the pressurised keg. However I added the sugar to the beer whilst it was in the fermenter before transferring it to the keg. When I did this a thick head formed on the beer, however I had to leave the fermenter open for about ten minutes whilst transferring the beer and the head disappeared. Should I have transferred the beer first before adding the sugar? If yes, should I add some more sugar to the beer now its in the keg?

Your fermented beer has a lot of CO2 dissolved in it. When you added sugar it made places for the CO2 to come out of solution (nucleation points) so the beer bubbled but beer has the proteins in it that help it form lasting bubbles so your beer formed a head for a bit. As soon as you add the sugar the yeast start eating it but that does take some time, much more than the 10 minutes. There will be plenty of sugars left to make the CO2 for pressurizing the beer and to make a head on it when served.

 

[Brucebanner]

Awesome, I didn't think about the fact the sugar was just releasing trapped co2. Thanks so much for the halp and advice, hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll have some decent beer to drink