Too small a drop from OG?

[fredoinjapan]

I brewed a Leffe Blonde clone 2 nights ago and the OG was 1052.
It's been sitting in a room around 23 degrees or 73 Fahrenheit.
48 hours later the reading is 1031.

I put 2kg of glucose in with the recipe trying to get the alcohol level up.
I assume that it should be fermenting with lots of noticeable action.
Apparently, there was no noticeable bubbling sound but it is obviously fermenting right?
Should I leave it a while and see if it comes down?
I want a final gravity reading of at least 1010 which would still only produce 6%.

Thanks in advance,
fredoinjapan

 

[ArcaneXor]

Give it some time and let the yeast do its thing. If it's been two weeks and the gravity is still high, then you can start troubleshooting.

 

[Revvy]

It's only been two nights.....give it time...come back in another 8 days and check the gravity. You'll be happy.

We're not making coolaid here...it takes a bit of time.

 

[fredoinjapan]

Thanks.
I have to travel in a week and will be away for 2 1/2 weeks.
That will be about a month in total. Can I be hopeful that since it has started fermenting already, it will be preserved and fine till I bottle when I get back?
Or would I be better to bottle just before leaving which would be 1 1/2 weeks from brew day? I guess take another reading and then decide?
Thanks for the quick response.

 

[Revvy]

Thanks.
I have to travel in a week and will be away for 2 1/2 weeks.
That will be about a month in total. Can I be hopeful that since it has started fermenting already, it will be preserved and fine till I bottle when I get back?
Or would I be better to bottle just before leaving which would be 1 1/2 weeks from brew day? I guess take another reading and then decide?
Thanks for the quick response.

You will find than many of us will advocate waiting a couple more weeks before even moving it to secondary. Though many of us opt for 1 month in primary and no secondary unless we are oaking or adding fruit, we even dry hop in primary after fermentation is complete (I wait til 2 weeks after yeast pitch to add hops.)

Just because the beer may be done fermenting, doesn't mean that the yeast are done doing work. If left alone, the the yeast like to clean up the byproduct of their fermentation; the stuff that produces off flavors.

So if you gotta go, leave it be, and it will be ready and perfect when you come back.

Even John Palmer talks about this in How To Bew;

Leaving an ale beer in the primary fermentor for a total of 2-3 weeks (instead of just the one week most canned kits recommend), will provide time for the conditioning reactions and improve the beer. This extra time will also let more sediment settle out before bottling, resulting in a clearer beer and easier pouring.