Safe to bottle?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

munch

New Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2013
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
I am brewing an APA from kit. This is only my second brew and I made a mistake right at the start. I used 1KG of DME and 360g dextrose added to boiling water in my bucket however not all my DME would dissolve. I got worried about infecting my brew or oxidation it by stirring too much and I thought maybe the clumps are just clumps of gluten.

So I left quite a few clumps in the fermenter bucket maybe up to 200-400g max. The beer fermented ferociously for about 3 days. After 4 or 5 days I decided to move it to another room which is not conditioned. So the temperature climber from about 18 to 24 degrees and suddenly it started fermenting again for a few more days though at a slower pace then stopped again.

After 2.5 weeks and a few day of no activity I decided to throw gelatin finings in and stir so I can bottle in 2 days. However suddenly after doing that it started bubbling yet again for 1 more day.

So it seems every time I disturb the brew it starts fermenting again. It may be that some of those clumps have not yet dissolved and not yet fully fermented. I have since read that those clumps of DME are supposed to dissolve and I am supposed to stir 15-20 minutes.

My question is when is it safe to bottle, its been almost 3 weeks now? My SG is 1.010. My OG was 1.052 though I am not sure that was accurate given that not all DME was dissolved. My friends same kit with safe recipe was 1.072

Should I leave it another week or just give it another stir to see if it starts bubbling again. I will check the gravity again in a day or 2.
 
You def should've dissolved those clumps of DME. It's dried wort,so every time you stir it up it breaks some up & starts firmenting. I'd make sure all those clumps are stired till dissolved & let it go again. Especially since your OG was so far off from his with the same kit.
 
Thing is my friend made the same kit now and used even more DME and got 1.056 OG. He was always supicious of his 1.072 reading and thought he made a mistake.
 
An airlock is NOT a fermentation indicator it is a pressure release valve nothing more. That bubbling your seeing every time you mess with it is just excess CO2 escaping or changes in pressure caused by temperature fluctuations.

An SG of 1.010 sounds like a typical final gravity. Wait 3-4 days and take another reading. If they are the same then it is safe to bottle.
 
Back
Top