Looking for some advice about when to bottle

[Palazar]

Hi all, last week I brewed a mini mash Porter from AHS using WLP005 yeast.The instructions included with the kit say that once a week is up to move to secondary. Now I know that moving to secondary does not really have any advantage for me unless I am adding something in (which I am not). I've checked my gravity and I've hit my target of 1.013 but I've read that it is usually a good idea to leave the beer on top of the yeast cake as it will "clean up" some of the by products that it produced during fermentation

So my question is this, now that I've hit my target should I leave it for another week or two? Or should I just bottle now? And if I should bottle, is it a good idea to stir the beer a little to get some yeast suspended into the beer again since I am using WLP005, which I have read has a huge tendency to settle?

 

[dickproenneke]

So my question is this, now that I've hit my target should I leave it for another week or two? Or should I just bottle now? And if I should bottle, is it a good idea to stir the beer a little to get some yeast suspended into the beer again since I am using WLP005, which I have read has a huge tendency to settle?

No need to rush your beer into bottles. Give it time. You should leave it for at least another week. Two would be even better. AND PLEASE DON'T STIR! Just leave it alone; it sounds like your beer is doing just fine without any intervention. Be certain that your beer is completely done fermenting before bottling by checking your gravity 48-72 hours apart.

 

[Palazar]

Ok thank you. I had a feeling that was the way to go after reading some of the posts on this forum.

One more question though, when bottling do I want to stir it a bit? Is it again better to just leave it alone and bottle with minimal disturbance of the trub?

 

[fartinmartin]

Leave it be for a while yet, no stirring ! At least another week, then if you can't wait and you are sure that the SG isn't coming down anymore put it in the cold for a day or so, then rack onto your priming solution, with a gentle swirl to mix it in , then bottle, keep the bottles warm about 68 for a week, then somewhere cool. Wait as long as you can , then try one.

 

[billl]

There are only 2 real "rules"

1) Take gravity readings at least 3 days apart to confirm your gravity is stable. It is VERY common for a batch to finish a couple points above of below the recipe, so you can't just go by that.

2) Give it a taste before you bottle. If it tastes good and the gravity is stable, you are good to go. If not, wait a week and retest.

Do NOT stir the yeast back into the beer. There will be plenty left to carb nicely without it. Stirring would just leave an unnecessary mess in your bottles.

 

[dickproenneke]

One more question though, when bottling do I want to stir it a bit? Is it again better to just leave it alone and bottle with minimal disturbance of the trub?

No. Do not stir. Rack your beer off of the trub, in the manner that the previous poster suggested, being careful not to splash the beer around in the process.

 

[Palazar]

Ok I understand - no sloshing lol

One more thing, my house is kept at about 78 degrees and I have no way to control temps besides putting the bottles into water while they carbonate. Will this hurt the beer? I want to say no but I thought I'd check with you guys.

 

[billl]

78 if fine for bottle carbing. I hope you figured out a way to control temps in the fermenter though. If not, start looking into that for the next batch. Just search for Swamp Cooler here for some idea.

 

[Palazar]

Yea I'm looking into it. I got lucky this time since we had that pretty intense cold front in Texas, it brought my house down to 68 for this week which I know is a pretty good temp to ferment at, even if it is a *tad* warm.

 

[fartinmartin]

Unless you have under floor heating it's normaly a few degrees down the lower you go.

 

[Palazar]

Thank you all for the advice btw