Fermentation Does not stop

[mshell]

I'm brewing the Unearthly IPA clone out of the Clone Brews book. (extract). Followed the recipe exactly, OG came in on target.
The recipe called for racking to secondary, then dry-hopping. It also had me add a second dose of yeast (White Labs Super High Gravity) "3 days before bottling". That was about 2 and a half weeks ago. There's still a thin kreusen and the airlock is bubbling about once a minute.

Should I bottle?

 

[fuelish]

I wouldn't bottle a fermenting beer.....just sayin'

 

[hunter_le five]

Have you taken any gravity readings lately?

 

[mshell]

Took a reading a few days ago. It was just a hair above target FG. I would think by now it's probably a bit below.

 

[Yooper]

Took a reading a few days ago. It was just a hair above target FG. I would think by now it's probably a bit below.

Maybe. Or not. After over two weeks, the beer should be long done. A healthy fermentation generally lasts 3-5 days for most ales. Adding more yeast means that it may be a bit more attenuative so fermentation might have started up again, though.

I don't have that book, but why add more yeast right before bottling? That doesn't make sense for a beer that hasn't been lagered or aged for a long time.

 

[mshell]

It's very high gravity. Started at 1.110. Just followed the recipe

 

[Yooper]

It's very high gravity. Started at 1.110. Just followed the recipe

It's odd then to add the proper yeast at the end, instead of at the beginning.

I'm guessing that enough yeast wasn't used at the beginning, as an OG of 1.110 would need about 5 packages of yeast, or an enormous starter of about 11 liters. If enough yeast wasn't used at the beginning, with a beer with such a high OG, it's entirely possible that it's still struggling to finish up.

Weird instructions, for sure.

 

[mshell]

Same yeast, White Labs Super High Gravity at start and end. Question still is when to bottle.

 

[Bobby_M]

When the krausen falls and the beer has cleared, however long that takes.

 

[Elijah]

11 liters of starter (!!) how large is the batch again?

 

[mshell]

OK -- I will wait a bit longer. Hoping this will clear in a couple of days. As for the starter, I don't think it was needed. Gravity dropped steadily over the first week from 1.110 down to about 1.036 (target FG is 1.026), when I pitched the second dose of WLP099. Maybe a starter would have worked faster.

 

[helibrewer]

Using a starter helps to optimize the fermentation curve and provides a period of time for the yeast to build all of the components for a healthy fermentation. A single colony forming unit can be added to a batch of beer and it will eventually ferment the entire batch, but it is going to take an awful long time.

So the fact that the beer is fermenting is not a sign that a starter was not needed. The wort probably could have used at least 2 doses of O2 and a proper pitch rate, alleviating the need to pitch a second time.

 

[mshell]

Batch is standard 5 gallons. Original yeast (no starter) seemed to be doing OK. Was down from 1.110 to about 1.038 before I pitched the second vial. Target FG is 1.026. Took a reading last night. It's down to 1.012 and still going! Not sure what this means.