Too Soon to Bottle?

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chef_toby

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21 days ago I started a 6gal honey-wheat ale and fermentation is still ongoing. my gravity reading is about 1.010, from initial 1.060, so its really really close. Thing is I won't have much of a chance to bottle it in teh next 7 days and I don't want to risk letting it get funky; its damned good right now. So, how soon is too soon to bottle? I've heard taht the yeast will go dormant once a certain psi is reached in the bottle but is that before or after bursting when I add my 6oz of sugar to this about 5.6-6 gallons of brew?
 
DO NOT prime and bottle until you have a stable SG. An extra week in the bottle will do no harm at all.
 
Wait to bottle. Otherwise, you risk bottle bombs. An additional week in primary won't hurt anything.
 
be patient and let it go. let your gravity readings tell you when to bottle
 
Wait until the brew is finished/ready for bottling. Do NOT bottle prematurely... Well, unless you want to waste brew and bust bottles, or play brew Russian roulette with your batch...

IME, giving a brew and extra week, or several more weeks, doesn't do any harm at all... If anything, it makes for a much better brew. So let it ride the extra week on the yeast cake and bottle when IT'S ready, not when you are...

Remember, yeast (and beer) cannot ready, don't give a flying rat's rectal cavity about human measurements of time, and will be done when they're done... Jumping the gun and bottling early has been the reason for a lot of postings about bottle bombs, or other carbonation issues.

Also, IMO, a solid month is a good time frame for a brew with an OG of 1.060...
 
what makes you think its still fermenting? unless you caught an infection that shoulda been done fermenting days ago. thats not to say you should bottle it now, since the yeast should be given time to clean up once fermentation is complete, or that you actually caught an infection, but I highly doubt theres still active fermentation going on, especially since you're at 1.01, its probably just residual CO2 escaping
 
Forgot to ask how much airlock movement is going on... If it's just one burp every 5+ minutes, it [most likely] is just excess gas escaping the brew... If we're talking about several movements a minute, then something is going on. If the wort looks good, it could be the yeast. Knowing the recipe that was brewed, the yeast used, and temperatures it's been sitting at would also help... Plus knowing if the wort is actually above ambient temp would help. If it's within 1-2F of ambient, then it's probably not still fermenting.

Either way, giving the brew more time won't hurt...
 
Forgot to ask how much airlock movement is going on... If it's just one burp every 5+ minutes, it [most likely] is just excess gas escaping the brew... If we're talking about several movements a minute, then something is going on. If the wort looks good, it could be the yeast. Knowing the recipe that was brewed, the yeast used, and temperatures it's been sitting at would also help... Plus knowing if the wort is actually above ambient temp would help. If it's within 1-2F of ambient, then it's probably not still fermenting.

Either way, giving the brew more time won't hurt...

Theres a little belch from the airlock every minute or so. Normally I would just let it go till the brew would stop bubbling but during early fermentation my carboy topper got blown off and the airlock choked (with 4 feet of hose) and was afriad of comtamination turning my beer into vinigar. However, considering the brew is in lager territory according to the strip thermometer on the side I'm not suprised its taken a little longer than anticipated. Oh well I suppose its better to have some of the brew on Memorial Day than all over the basment floor.
 
air-lock activity is not a clear sign of active fermentation. some have had fermentations without even a blip and theres a number of things that can cause the occasional bubble. The chances of a bottle bomb at this point is extremely slim, but another week isn't gunna hurt anything. If the gravity is the same tomorrow as the last reading feel free to bottle it up.
 
Agreed that airlocks are not magical fermentation meters...

Besides just using gravity readings (will confirm when fermentation is complete) you should taste the brew before deciding to bottle it up. If you taste it and it has ANY 'off' flavors, give it another week on the yeast and sample again.

I also advise spacing the gravity readings more than a day apart. Maybe it's more of the mazer in me thinking, but I'd rather give it 2-3 (or more) days between readings so that I can catch slower movements.

Bottom line, with beer, even if it's at an actual FG, let taste guide your decision to bottle (or when to bottle)...
 
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