Overshot my final SG?

[Getzinator]

I'm currently on my first home brew batch. My LHBS carries Brewers Best kits, so I picked one up with the American Amber Ale specialty grain, LME + DME box.

Brew day was 4.1.12, and racked to secondary the night of 4.5.12. (Early I know, just real excited and still learning these "waiting" and "patience" things.) My OG hit the target at 54. Took a SG reading yesterday (4.7.12) and it was already down to 10. So I let it go and took a reading again today, still 10.

Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing. Is it usual to overshoot the proposed the FG? So quickly? If my ferment is actually done, can I bottle already?

 

[Yooper]

Normally, the bulk of fermentation is over in the first three days or so, so it's very common to hit your final gravity within a few days.

That doesn't mean the beer is really done, though! Oh, sure, it's done fermenting. But after fermentation ends, the yeast are still active and looking for food. After they eat all of the fermentables, they'll go back and scour up whatever they can, and even digest their own waste products. That's what people mean when they talk about "yeast cleaning up after itself" after fermentation.

That takes a couple of days. Then the yeast will finally realize they have no more food and will gradually become dormant and flocculate (clump up) and fall to the bottom of the fermenter. The beer will start to clear at that point.

Once the beer is clear, THAT'S the time to bottle. Remember that as eager as you are, you'd rather have the crap fall to the bottom of the fermenter so you can rack off of it than being in your bottles!

 

[duboman]

Normally, the bulk of fermentation is over in the first three days or so, so it's very common to hit your final gravity within a few days.

That doesn't mean the beer is really done, though! Oh, sure, it's done fermenting. But after fermentation ends, the yeast are still active and looking for food. After they eat all of the fermentables, they'll go back and scour up whatever they can, and even digest their own waste products. That's what people mean when they talk about "yeast cleaning up after itself" after fermentation.

That takes a couple of days. Then the yeast will finally realize they have no more food and will gradually become dormant and flocculate (clump up) and fall to the bottom of the fermenter. The beer will start to clear at that point.

Once the beer is clear, THAT'S the time to bottle. Remember that as eager as you are, you'd rather have the crap fall to the bottom of the fermenter so you can rack off of it than being in your bottles!

This is a great explanation and should be a stickie!

 

[Getzinator]

D'awww but I really want to bottle.

But seriously, thanks a ton for the info. That's not in the included instructions, and I was basically about to start pre-bottle sanitizing.

Had I actually bottled tonight, would the beer have suffered?

Also, can I get the same clarity from bottle conditioning?

(Yeah, I ask a lot of questions. My bad. But thanks for all the help!)

 

[breweRN]

Normally, the bulk of fermentation is over in the first three days or so, so it's very common to hit your final gravity within a few days.

That doesn't mean the beer is really done, though! Oh, sure, it's done fermenting. But after fermentation ends, the yeast are still active and looking for food. After they eat all of the fermentables, they'll go back and scour up whatever they can, and even digest their own waste products. That's what people mean when they talk about "yeast cleaning up after itself" after fermentation.

That takes a couple of days. Then the yeast will finally realize they have no more food and will gradually become dormant and flocculate (clump up) and fall to the bottom of the fermenter. The beer will start to clear at that point.

Once the beer is clear, THAT'S the time to bottle. Remember that as eager as you are, you'd rather have the crap fall to the bottom of the fermenter so you can rack off of it than being in your bottles!

I like this explanation, and that is what really gets me. If i research when it is time to bottle, you will get myriad results claiming that the time to bottle is that when the gravity stays the same for 3 days straight. People do say that it is good to wait 2, 3, or more weeks, but the only definitive stipulation is 3 days of consistent gravity readings. If that is so, and my batch reaches FG in 3 days, than I should be able to bottle in 6 days. I don't agree with that.

I guess my point is that the "when it's time to bottle" issue needs to be revisited and revised to include more.