Wherry fermenting for 2 weeks. Is this normal??

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Rowley

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First time I've tried Wherry and a little suprised it's still fermenting on day 13 with no sign of letting up.

Instructions say it should be 4 - 6 days (Obviously depending on temperature). It started within the hour at approx 21 deg C and all seemed fine. Allowing for a couple of extra days I expected it to slow down, but no. Now around 22 deg I'm still seeing the airlock bubble at about 2 min intervals.

Obviously won't be risking putting it into bottles until 1st fermentation is over, but would be grateful for any advice/reasurance anyone can offer.
 
The only way to know for sure what's going on is to take a hydrometer reading over two or three days.
 
IGNORE THE OVER OPTIMISTIC KIT INSTRUCTIONS!!!!

Seen that advice so many times since started homebrewing. Nice steady fermentation over 2 weeks is good for your beer! Bottle when gravity steady over 3 days and near target gravity!
 
My Wherry is two weeks in fv and is stuck at 1020 whilst I wait on the promised "enzyme" from Muntons beer wizard :whistle::whistle::whistle::whistle:
 
My Wherry is two weeks in fv and is stuck at 1020 whilst I wait on the promised "enzyme" from Muntons beer wizard :whistle::whistle::whistle::whistle:

You could try 100g of sugar addition.
Might do something.
 
...or you can buy your yeast enzyme from Wilkos for 99p for a packet like I did. No waiting and little additional cost.

Or, how about next next time try a Milestone Lions Pride at the same price as Wherry. Nice copper coloured ale that fermented out in 10 days and is well drinkable in bottles after 3 weeks instead of 3 months like my Wherry was!!!

Enjoying my first bottle now. Nice head and lacing. Not particularly hoppy but was on offer at £9 just over a month ago. I'm well chuffed!!!

PS - must update signature below!!!
 
OK, thanks chaps.

Bubbling intervals are now gradually getting longer, so could be getting there at last.

I'll see how its going by tomorrow night and dip the hydometer.
 
If the postbox is empty on Mon morning I will mate.
So many brews waiting,so little time :D

No rush, my friend, the best time for brewing is upon us, as soon as the strange September summer departs.

I would add about 100g sugar dissolved in warm water and left to cool. The analogy is adding dry twigs or newspaper to a fire (usually barbeque these days) that is not going properly. I also suspect that something like tomato puree is going to do about as much good as yer mate's enzyme.

Whatever you do, don't bottle a Wherry early, before it's done fermenting. In the timescales before it's at its best, a huge amount of CO2 will be generated, with bad outcomes.
 
No rush, my friend, the best time for brewing is upon us, as soon as the strange September summer departs.

I would add about 100g sugar dissolved in warm water and left to cool. The analogy is adding dry twigs or newspaper to a fire (usually barbeque these days) that is not going properly. I also suspect that something like tomato puree is going to do about as much good as yer mate's enzyme.

Whatever you do, don't bottle a Wherry early, before it's done fermenting. In the timescales before it's at its best, a huge amount of CO2 will be generated, with bad outcomes.

Thanks mate
I have decided not to wait on the Muntons mans magic :wink:
I added 100g of dextrose today and probably wrongly a couple of grams of yeast out of the 10g bag of yeast from my Festival Pilgrims Hope .
I brewed this today and also brewed a Brewferm Triple. I am probably the first person in history to brew a 9l brew short !!!! Even if it was a mistake,my unused Kilner FV said 10 on the side but it wasn't until I had brewed it and stuck it in the shed I realised that that indicator was for bottles of wine,on the other side it was litres which means I have brewed it to between 7.5 and 8 litres.
It smells good though as out of my three brews this ones going like a rocket.
Guess it's feeding time at the zoo for the Brewferm yeasties :-o
Cheers
 
PMS - your Brewferm Triple won't have an ABV, it'll be more of an octane rating!

Don't forget, if you wanted to, you could still top it up to the 9L volume.

FatCol
 
Thanks mate
I have decided not to wait on the Muntons mans magic :wink:
I added 100g of dextrose today and probably wrongly a couple of grams of yeast out of the 10g bag of yeast from my Festival Pilgrims Hope .
I brewed this today and also brewed a Brewferm Triple. I am probably the first person in history to brew a 9l brew short !!!! Even if it was a mistake,my unused Kilner FV said 10 on the side but it wasn't until I had brewed it and stuck it in the shed I realised that that indicator was for bottles of wine,on the other side it was litres which means I have brewed it to between 7.5 and 8 litres.
It smells good though as out of my three brews this ones going like a rocket.
Guess it's feeding time at the zoo for the Brewferm yeasties :-o
Cheers

Surely you could add more water at this stage?

Not done a Brewferm kit or anything remotely similar. 1.5 L is a big difference from 9L, though and the yeast might struggle.
 
Cheers guys,might do that today,Slid,Brewferm kits are awesome,The raspberry beer is a great kit :cheers:
I was checking out the Brewferm kits last week. They are a "must do" for me, eventually, but I have rather a large number of cans to open in the meantime, on account of the ongoing Wilko sale and the Coopers kits being on offer at Tesco.

Have never been a big fan of barley wine - but a Brewferm type brew is something that just has to be done at some point, surely.

Will 500ml PET bottles keep something like this for the length of time necessary?
 
I was checking out the Brewferm kits last week. They are a "must do" for me, eventually, but I have rather a large number of cans to open in the meantime, on account of the ongoing Wilko sale and the Coopers kits being on offer at Tesco.

Have never been a big fan of barley wine - but a Brewferm type brew is something that just has to be done at some point, surely.

Will 500ml PET bottles keep something like this for the length of time necessary?

Yes they do no prob.
Barley wine not my scene either.
I have done the Brewferm Pils,the Diabolo and the Framboise,all good but the second two are a step up,not much in quantity,9l and 12l but easily better than many shop bought "craft" beers.
 
Not too sure how my original subject post wandered into Raspberry beer & Barley wine teritory. Can only think there might be a lot of alcohol consumed by learned members of this Forum:wink:

However, back on track; My Wherry is STILL fermenting on day 23.

Hydrometer reads 1012 @ 21deg C. Airlock bubbles on average every 3.5 mins. Tastes and smells OK (i.e not gone off), but is still clearly a work in progress. So I guess I should leave well alone and let nature take it's course.

Just seems an exceptionally long time when other brews are all done in <10 days(ish) from my (limited) experience.

Can anyone tell me:

a). What's the target FG for Wherry?
b). Is there a way to 'stop' beer with some magic substance?
c). Anyone like to offer their own max number of days to ferment this stuff?
 
did this one turn out ok in the end mate? I'm considering getting a wherry today from wilkos as they're on offer

Chris
 
The Wherry kit is OK, and worth £16 to try. But change the yeast as the kit yeast is unreliable. Wilko's sell an ale yeast that's works fine.
It is a very malty beer, and so a dry hop works well to offset that, but the kit doesn't have any extra hops so you will have to provide them.
There are many comments on the Wherry kit review thread if you need any more.
 
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