Ok to bottle?

[sictransit701]

Strong Scotch Ale og 1.095 with Imperial Joystick at 3 weeks in primary

Krausen has subsided. Bubbling once every few minutes. I have no way of determining fg. I’m not worried about bottle bombs. Just want to make sure the yeast have cleaned up any off flavors.

There is still a good bit of yeast in suspension. Is it ok to bottle now, or is the yeast still working? Would it hurt to leave it in the fermenter until it clears? Will it clear?

 

[RPh_Guy]

I'd say it's OK to bottle.

 

[RM-MN]

Strong Scotch Ale og 1.095 with Imperial Joystick at 3 weeks in primary

Krausen has subsided. Bubbling once every few minutes. I have no way of determining fg. I’m not worried about bottle bombs. Just want to make sure the yeast have cleaned up any off flavors.

There is still a good bit of yeast in suspension. Is it ok to bottle now, or is the yeast still working? Would it hurt to leave it in the fermenter until it clears? Will it clear?

I wouldn't leave it too long in the fermeter but I define too long as something over 3 months. There is no point to rushing the bottling. Even if the yeast is done the beer will need some time to mature. By leaving it in the fermenter you give the yeast plenty of time and you allow more of the suspended yeast and other trub to settle out. That extra time in the fermenter also counts for maturing the beer.

 

[hjblwme]

I wouldn't leave it too long in the fermeter but I define too long as something over 3 months. There is no point to rushing the bottling. Even if the yeast is done the beer will need some time to mature. By leaving it in the fermenter you give the yeast plenty of time and you allow more of the suspended yeast and other trub to settle out. That extra time in the fermenter also counts for maturing the beer.

So here is a question to follow up your comment. If leaving it in the fermenter how do you ensure that there will be enough yeast still in suspension for bottling?

 

[doug293cz]

So here is a question to follow up your comment. If leaving it in the fermenter how do you ensure that there will be enough yeast still in suspension for bottling?

Takes very little yeast to carbonate. You will definitely have enough after a month in the fermenter.

The only safe way to know when it's safe to bottle, is two take SG readings two/three days apart. If the SG is the same, then you can bottle. Or, you can wait a few weeks after pitching. If you want to bottle as soon as possible, you need a hydrometer.

Brew on

 

[RM-MN]

So here is a question to follow up your comment. If leaving it in the fermenter how do you ensure that there will be enough yeast still in suspension for bottling?

You could add more yeast to ensure carbonation but the beer that I left in the fermenter for 9 weeks still had plenty of yeast to carbonate. Just how long do you plan to wait to bottle?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Not going to attribute this quote to anyone specific. Just an observation that 1) there's more to final gravity than two SG measurements, and 2) not a lot of homebrewing can be summarized in a sentence or a paragraph (including what I wrote here).

The only safe way to know when it's safe to bottle, is two take SG readings two/three days apart.

Stable SG means the yeast have stopped working.

An estimated final gravity is useful for determining if fermentation has stalled, has been infected/contaminated, or is finished.

Estimated attenuation rates are available for yeast strains. A Fast (or forced) Fermentation Test can be used to determine how fermentable the wort actually is.

 

[bobeer]

What temp has it fermented at? If it's less than 68-70 degrees F I'd warm it up to that for another week. The beer might be at terminal gravity but the yeast still have some work to do. With such a big beer they get lazy towards the end and can take more time to clean things up. Plus there's no downside to waiting another week. Big beers take longer than lower gravity beers do.

Even if you cold crash and then bottle you'll still have enough yeast to carbonate that beer.

 

[sictransit701]

I went ahead and bottled. It was clearing up, just the last bit of yeast was refusing to floc. The fg was 1.020, so I should be good. I didn’t want to rush it, but I will be busy coming the next few weeks. Anyways, it tastes great and looks great. I didn’t detect any off flavors, but I never go by samples. Can’t wait to try some in a few weeks.