I started a batch of Northern Brewer Ferocious IPA on April 27th. It fermented ferociously for about a week, but kept on working appreciably for almost a month. On May 27th it had slowed down to approximately one bubble per minute in the airlock, so I added the dry hops, thinking I'd bottle in a five days, as they suggest in the directions. But the fermentation increased perceptibly again, and not wanting to chance bottle bombs, I waited to bottle. It is only today, 6/23, that it has slowed down to one bubble per minute. I assume that the 3 ounces of hops I dry-hopped with already are going to have an affect on flavor and bitterness. But should I add another round of dry hops before bottling? Or is this batch a lost cause?
Dry hopped too early, should I dry hop again?
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The only way to know if your beer was done is by checking the gravity via hydrometer. I dont know what kind of set up you have but 2 months in the fv I'm hoping you dont have an oxidation issue.
Have you sampled the beer ? That will be your answer on what you should do.
Have you sampled the beer ? That will be your answer on what you should do.
I'm using a six-gallon carboy, no secondary. It is because I'm trying to avoid oxidation that I haven't used a hydrometer yet. I have to use a wine thief to get out the sample, and then do it again a day later to check to see if the ABV is the same (that's correct, isn't it?) I was hoping to avoid having to check twice by waiting long enough to be sure that fermentation was done. The dozen or so beers I've done before all stopped fermenting completely after a month to a month and a half. This one must have some everready battery juice in it.
Yeah check your gravity one day then 2 days later if you get the same its good to package. You should look at getting some spigots on your fv . Will make things easier.
My gut says you should not add any more dry hops, though I would expect your hop character to be a bit muted.
I am curious what caused a 1.065 OG beer to take 2 months to ferment? What yeast did you pitch? Dry? Liquid? With Starter? Was there a long lag time? Fermented too cold? I would generally expect a beer like this, fermented with a typical American Ale yeast to be at final gravity in 7 to 14 days, and ready to package 7 to 10 days after that (depending on your dry hopping process).
Note that bubbles in the airlock are not a great way to judge the state of fermentation.
I am curious what caused a 1.065 OG beer to take 2 months to ferment? What yeast did you pitch? Dry? Liquid? With Starter? Was there a long lag time? Fermented too cold? I would generally expect a beer like this, fermented with a typical American Ale yeast to be at final gravity in 7 to 14 days, and ready to package 7 to 10 days after that (depending on your dry hopping process).
Note that bubbles in the airlock are not a great way to judge the state of fermentation.
I used dry yeast, Safale S-04, and fermented at about 64 degrees, no starter. It took off immediately, much more quickly than any beer I've made before. After I added the dry hops, it took off again, and got very, very cloudy. After a week, I (probably not intelligently) attempted to cold crash it by putting the carboy in a large container filled with icewater. It slowed down, but did not stop, and when, after three days, I took it out of the ice water, it took off again. I guess I'll have to check the ABV to see what's going on, but I'm wondering if I should dry hop again to get the IPA nose, or should I bottle and hope I get something drinkable without messing with it any more?
all you are doing with those massive temperature changes is causing the beer to absorb co2 and then release it again and causing the carboy to suck air in when cooling it and then releasing it when you warm it again.
Your beer likely was done weeks ago, better to check with a winethief after 3 weeks, the risk of oxidation would have been much less.
Your beer likely was done weeks ago, better to check with a winethief after 3 weeks, the risk of oxidation would have been much less.
toothandnailbrew
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The surface area of the hops is a lot of nucleation points. It will cause even terminal beers to bubble and foam when the addition is added. Agreed with above, learn to check gravity, monitor a couple days then package. Please note homebrew hydrometers need to be read at a certain temperature.
04 finishes moderate and ferments aggressively. Often thermal reactions and changes in vessel pressure (weight of airlock resistance) can cause bubbling, not just fermentation activity.
04 finishes moderate and ferments aggressively. Often thermal reactions and changes in vessel pressure (weight of airlock resistance) can cause bubbling, not just fermentation activity.
And in addition to that, the hops also have a diastetic effect, they turn longer sugars into shorter ones, that process is called hop creep. So it's normal that fermentation might start a bit again if hops are added. That's why, for example Scott Janish recommends to dry up short and cold, to keep the enzymatic activity of the hops to a minimum.
Long story short, your beer was done one and a half months ago, just bottle it.
Long story short, your beer was done one and a half months ago, just bottle it.
Thanks, all, for your kind replies. Live and (hopefully) learn!
