when to bottle?!?!?

[David20Hersch]

brewed a batch of hefeweizen 23 days ago and it has been fermenting nicely.

after two weeks i took a GR, it was at 0.023 and tasted very tart and sour! i thought that i had somehow ruined my beer but i pushed on.

i checked it at exactly 3 weeks two days ago and the flavor was a way way better but still a bit tart and sulfur is still present in its aroma. its now at 0.008

my main question is if i should bottle or let the sulfur smell and taste leave while the beer is still on the yeast cake. or should i bottle and anticipate a change in flavor in the bottle?

thanks ahead

 

[MadHomebrewer]

I'm planing to brew a hefeweizen soon so I'm also interested in people's answers. As far if it's safe to bottle take another gravity sample and if it's still at 0.008 you should be good. My gut says bottle it and let it condition, but I'm interested in what others suggest.

 

[mrgrimm101]

I'm guessing you mean 1.023 and 1.008. I don't ever get a "sulfur smell" with my beers, but I've never brewed a hefeweizen so I don't know for sure. If it tastes tart and sour then you may have an infection. What does it look like?

You want to take gravity readings 2 days apart. So take a reading today, and another reading on Saturday. If the reading is the same on both days, then I would bottle. If the reading changed, then it's not done.

Hefeweizens should be consumed pretty fresh, so I wouldn't let it age out too much.

 

[flars]

Was this an all grain recipe or extract? Can you post the recipe? I would let it stay in the fermentor longer given the SG is 1.008. The low SG could be indicating a problem.

 

[Sailingeric]

I usually bottle two weeks after I brew. Uncarbed beer and unaged beer does taste different. Some yeast do make a sulfur smell but that usually goes away quickly.

 

[C-Rider]

This question comes up so often it's almost a crime.

You bottle when the beer is finished. When there is no change is SG w/two readings a day or two apart. That's the earlest.

You could let things go longer to let yeast and other trub settle to the bottom, or you might cold crash and or dry hop.

But the basic answer is you bottle when the beer is done and only you can tell when that happens by taking SG readings.

 

[David20Hersch]

the beer looks great, opened the lid, everything looks great. no weird infections that i can see. the tart flavor is dissipating and so is the sulphur.

if the beer still has an sulphuric aroma, which it does, my gut tells me to let it sit and to let it leave before bottling. just wanted to double check it here on the forum.

will sulfur dissipate in the bottle???

 

[mrgrimm101]

IMO you should bottle and let it carb and condition and see if it improves at all. I could be wrong, but I don't see any benefit to bulk aging vs bottle aging in your situation.