Wait, its still bubblin'??

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Dodgertown

Dodgertown

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Ok. My steam ale has been goin for 17 days in the basement and the air lock still bubbles. Not as often but at least once an hour. Can I bottle yet? Wmwhatca think?

This is my first time using white labs SF yeast. Much more aggressive the the Munich I usually use.

Suggestions? Comments? Greatly appreciated.
 
I concur with BendBrewer, use some sort of sanitized utensil rather than putting the hydrometer in the bucket. I use a Pyrex measuring cup, sanitized of course, and take out 1 cup. That is usually enough to fill the hydrometer's packaging tube and just enough to take a sip...you know, for quality control.
After taking your initial hydro reading I would then wait a day and take another to see if the gravity reduced. My $.02
 
There are many here who will say that you can't judge anything by airlock activity. I'm not one of them, but if you want to cover all the bases, use your hydrometer. Pull a sample (turkey basters work great); wait three days, pull another sample.

The fact that the airlock is bubbling may not indicate fermentation, but it does indicate that the beer has not reached a stable condition. So you probably want to wait, before you start pulling samples.
 
Dodgertown said:
Ok. My steam ale has been goin for 17 days in the basement and the air lock still bubbles. Not as often but at least once an hour. Can I bottle yet?

Suggestions? Comments?
Click to expand...

You have actually watched the thing for an hour to witness one bubble?

Seriously?

And I thought my life was boring.....
 
FensterBos said:
I concur with BendBrewer, use some sort of sanitized utensil rather than putting the hydrometer in the bucket.
Click to expand...


Seriously? What is the difference, other than having a sample to taste? I am not putting down your method, but it is not any better or worse than just dropping in a hydrometer.
 
Bernie Brewer said:
Seriously? What is the difference, other than having a sample to taste? I am not putting down your method, but it is not any better or worse than just dropping in a hydrometer.
Click to expand...

Unless the hydrometer has a tiny crack in it and it drops all the way to the bottom and shatters. (That's why I NEVER put my hydrometer in the wort in the fermenter anymore!) That sucked. Badly.

Pulling out a sample with a sanitized turkey baster is quick, easy, sanitary, and doesn't splash the wort at all.
 
Yooper said:
Unless the hydrometer has a tiny crack in it and it drops all the way to the bottom and shatters. (That's why I NEVER put my hydrometer in the wort in the fermenter anymore!) That sucked. Badly.

Pulling out a sample with a sanitized turkey baster is quick, easy, sanitary, and doesn't splash the wort at all.
Click to expand...


LOL Yoop, I didn't say he should drop the thing from ten feet in the air!!! Honestly, what happened to you is rare, IMHO, and it is still a horse apiece. Nothing wrong with doing it either way.
 
Interesting. I got a wide range of answers and suggestions. I think I even got I insulted.

It has been busy, and being active true. I think I'll turkey baster some out and drop my hydrometer from the second floor into the packaging.

Anyway, I'm gonna let it sit for another day or two and check it again.
 
Dodgertown said:
Anyway, I'm gonna let it sit for another day or two and check it again.
Click to expand...

Good call here, I have a chocolate stout that is going on day 16 and still getting bubbles every 30 seconds. I'll let it continue to sit until the activity goes down more then take an SG reading.
 
Bernie Brewer said:
LOL Yoop, I didn't say he should drop the thing from ten feet in the air!!! Honestly, what happened to you is rare, IMHO, and it is still a horse apiece. Nothing wrong with doing it either way.
Click to expand...

I agree! Unless it shatters in your brew. that really sucks. Now I'm a deeply paranoid person, but I don't recommend being paranoid as a rule!

I'm pretty relaxed and have no issues with putting the sanitized hydrometer into a bucket other than breakage. I said that, and a guy put a sanitized hydrometer in his carboy, and then demanded I tell him how to get it out! Um, I didn't say to put it in a 6.5 gallon carboy. That puppy is never coming out!
 
I left my steam in the primary for 6 weeks then kegged it. it turned out great. Be sure you give the yeast time to take care of any off flavors they produced.
 
I had a belgian white ferment for over 2 weeks and that was at perfect temps. I didn't think it would ever end. Patience is one thing you can't brew without. Good luck with it
 
going on week number 5 here in primary and i still get a bubble every so often. its weird. i'll be sitting in my living room watching tv when all of a sudden i see a bubble pass through the air lock. moral of the story is take a hydrometer sample to tell if its done or not.
 
Yooper said:
I agree! Unless it shatters in your brew. that really sucks. Now I'm a deeply paranoid person, but I don't recommend being paranoid as a rule!

I'm pretty relaxed and have no issues with putting the sanitized hydrometer into a bucket other than breakage. I said that, and a guy put a sanitized hydrometer in his carboy, and then demanded I tell him how to get it out! Um, I didn't say to put it in a 6.5 gallon carboy. That puppy is never coming out!
Click to expand...

Hey, it's a feature. Now they've got a carboy that can tell them the gravity all the time!

*If your Carboyometer is not visible due to krausen, it means your beer is probably still fermenting.

***It is not recommended to aerate your wort by shaking the Carboyometer.
 
dorklord said:
Hey, it's a feature. Now they've got a carboy that can tell them the gravity all the time!

*If your Carboyometer is not visible due to krausen, it means your beer is probably still fermenting.

***It is not recommended to aerate your wort by shaking the Carboyometer.
Click to expand...

Omg I can't breath. That's too much. Lmao
 
Bernie Brewer said:
Seriously? What is the difference, other than having a sample to taste? I am not putting down your method, but it is not any better or worse than just dropping in a hydrometer.
Click to expand...

I am very exact when it comes to my hydro reading and I feel like I can't get an accurate glance at the numbers from the bucket. For instance, I like to fill my hydro packaging with the beer and set it on the counter and then I kneel down so the numbers are at eye level.
Also, I find it is easier to keep things sanitary if I sanitize a measuring cup than my hydrometer and the vessel/packaging I keep it in.
 
FensterBos said:
I am very exact when it comes to my hydro reading and I feel like I can't get an accurate glance at the numbers from the bucket. For instance, I like to fill my hydro packaging with the beer and set it on the counter and then I kneel down so the numbers are at eye level.
Also, I find it is easier to keep things sanitary if I sanitize a measuring cup than my hydrometer and the vessel/packaging I keep it in.
Click to expand...


I look at that a little differently. I never liked the way the hydrometer rubs against the side of the tube and is therefore sticking a little, thus giving an inaccurate reading. At least in the bucket (not carboy :D ) I know it is floating freely and the reading is accurate. All I have been trying to say in this thread is that there is more than one way to skin a cat; everyone has their preferences and their reasons for those preferences. Nothing wrong with that.
 
Dodgertown said:
I was typing on my iPhone.

Gonna take a reading now. Stand by.
Click to expand...

I lied, I didn't take a reading. I noticed that it had stopped. I made sure by letting it sit over night. I brought it upstairs to let it sit before I bottled it 2 hours later it was barely bubblin' again.

I opted to not bottle at that point and now that jammy's sinning on the kitchen counter. Waiting.

Suggestions. Comments.

:D
 
As far as getting an accurate reading, if you always look at it at the same way it is ok. I work in a lab and am always reading pipettes, graduated cylinders, burrets etc. The general rule is you can be at the same angle every time it is relative to your other measurements. If you take one reading at eye level one day then take another in the bucket the next your results will not be consistent.
 
Dodgertown said:
What am I looking for in my reading?
Click to expand...

The grav reading will tell you NOW where on the journey from Original gravity to terminal gravity, your beer really is. You have the OG, if you didn't take one initially, your recipe still should tell you what the grav is for that recipe, in extract it is foolproof, if it's ag, you should have an approximation on your recipe, which will be close enough for government work...Or you can enter the recipe into any beer calculator even the free ones found online.

Your recipe should also tell you what the FG should be..And your current gravity reading will tell you what you beer is doing NOW. If it's barely been fermenting, or if it's close to being done, or if it IS done...
 
As fermentation progresses yeast is using sugars and producing alcohol and CO2 and that makes Specific Gravity go down. That's what you measure with a hydrometer. If there is no change in SG that means fermentation stopped. You're looking for SG to stop going down.
 

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