tiny bubbles, ready to bottle?

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Fighting_sin

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I have a Belgian Ale that was made using White Labs Belgian Golden Ale Yeast (WLP570). It has been in the carboy for 4 weeks and 3 days, in temps between 72 to 78 degrees F. However, it still has a small, 1/4 inch ring of bubbles on the surface with small streams of tiny bubbles rising from the bottom. It looks like a lightly carbonated beer or soda.... The other problem is that I don't have access to a hydrometer at this moment either...

Is this still fermenting? Do you think I'll get explosions if I bottle now? Are these bubbles residual?
 
What's your gravity reading?

Measuring gravity is the ONLY reliable way to determine if primary fermentation is complete or not. Once gravity readings are steady for 3-4 days, you're ready to bottle.


If you've got a big beer, it may very well still be going strong after 4 weeks. If it was OG < 1.080 then you're probably complete. Operative word is probably.

Look at it this way: One more day won't hurt anything. Take a gravity reading now and take another one tomorrow afternoon. If they're the same, bottle it. If they're different, let it go a while longer.
 
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