OG 1.07....now at 1.02

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sheldogiu

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First time brewer here..well my third batch.
I currently have a American Honey Ale that I had an OG of 1.072 give or take a few .001 :) and after a week it is currently at 1.020
My question is should I expect to get any lower? Maybe a few .001 lower, not too concerned about that, but I read that stirring the yeast up would help a bit. I did that yesterday...did notice a little activity in the airlock ( I know, I Know, doesn't mean a thing). Plan on checking the gravity again tonight.

I used the White Labs American Ale blend yeast, with no starter, but it sounds/looks like it took off pretty well.
I wouldn't mind this beer being a little sweet, being that it is a honey ale, but not overpowering at all. Should I leave it in the primary a bit longer if the gravity is still going down at all? Or go ahead and rack into secondary?

Thanks for your reply's and all the great info here!!
 
You'll find that most of us don't secondary, there's really no reason unless you're adding fruit or something, or you want to bulk age for longer than a month or two. Extended primaries have many benefits, and transferring to a secondary has many downsides.

1.072 to 1.020 is 74% apparent attenuation. Some of the American Ale strains are known for being decent attenuators (75-80%), so it might come down a little bit more.

I'd warm it up a couple degrees and wait 2 more weeks, check the gravity, and bottle.

And next time make a starter!
 
The White Labs site states that the yeast you used has an attenuation of ~72-80%. Based on your OG, this would put your expected FG in the range of 1.014 to 1.020. So, if you leave it sit for a little while longer, you might see a decrease in a few more points, but not a whole lot.

If you plan on putting this into a secondary, then you can go ahead and do so now, as you don't have to wait until fermentation is completely over to move a beer into the secondary.
 
Thanks for your help. I will check the gravity again tonight and see if there is any movement. If so, I will let it be for another week.

Another question, If the fermentation has halted, would It be ok to go ahead and bottle since there is no reason to secondary? It seems most secondary for clarification or flavor additions. Since I'm not doing either would it be ok to go ahead and bottle, if not what does leaving it on the primary for a while longer do for the taste?

Probably all questions that could be found if I just search the forums a bit.
Thanks again.
 
I wouldn't do less than 2 weeks in the primary, 3 is preferable. Leaving it on the yeast cake for a little while will allow the yeast to "clean up" any potential off flavors, make sure it fully attenuates, and help compact the yeast cake and trub so that it's easier to siphon off of it. A low SG beer you can move along a little faster, but for a 1.072 beer I wouldn't check the gravity for another couple weeks.
 
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