Ale kit, can i bottle yet?

[R-J-M]

So I started a Bulldog Yule Brew Ale kit off on Sunday 2nd Oct and its been bubbling away quite nicely. The kit instructions said it would be ready in either 8-10 days or when a hydrometer reading is 1.008 or less.

Now I never stick to instructions and tend to keep a brew in the FV for 2 weeks. This has been going now for 15 days, the airlock bubbles once every few minutes, but the hydrometer is still reading 1.012 / 1.014.

I'm conscious that it needs bottling soon, because when I started the brew it told me to add the bag of dried hops provided in the kit, so this has been floating around for over 2 weeks now!

My question lol....should I leave it in the FV even longer till the FG is 1.008, or bottle it now and hope they don't explode! (I will be using swing tops).

 

[sdt7618]

I wouldn't bottle it as it still active, but also are the hops in a bag? if so might be worth sanitising something and fishing the bag out. but definitely wouldn't bottle till finished or you will have gushers.

 

[Covrich]

Wouldn't do any harm at all (good if anything to leave it a bit longer) I find I get sometimes gas just escaping from the bubbler after fermentation has finished sometimes..

 

[DoctorMick]

How long has it been at 1.012/14?

 

[terrym]

At 15 days in its likely to have finished assuming you have kept the temperature at around 20*C (or more), so usual advice to check whether a brew has finished is to check SG on two or three consecutive days and if its the same its ready to bottle.
Bottling at 1.012 should not be a problem; it may be slightly sweeter than the kit instructions suggest but you probably won't notice anyway.
And I would also want to get it off the hops which at 14 days according to some could introduce grassy flavours to your beer.

 

[R-J-M]

How long has it been at 1.012/14?

It was reading that on Friday night and Saturday night. im going to check it again when im home this evening.

 

[R-J-M]

At 15 days in its likely to have finished assuming you have kept the temperature at around 20*C (or more), so usual advice to check whether a brew has finished is to check SG on two or three consecutive days and if its the same its ready to bottle.
Bottling at 1.012 should not be a problem; it may be slightly sweeter than the kit instructions suggest but you probably won't notice anyway.
And I would also want to get it off the hops which at 14 days according to some could introduce grassy flavours to your beer.

It dropped down to 18*C for a couple of days last week so I sat it on a heater pad. only issue is that it isn't thermostatically controlled, so it rose to 25*C but had no sign of stopping, so I unplugged it and its been on the floor at 20*C since then.

 

[terrym]

It was reading that on Friday night and Saturday night. im going to check it again when im home this evening.

1.012/1.014...its got to be one value at any one time.
But it's consistent identical readings that are important if you want to find out if it's finished or not. And whether it's clearing/cleared is also a good sign.

 

[ravey]

Be careful if you bottle it as any residual fermentables will continue to ferment in the bottle. The difference between 1.008 and 1.012 is .52% abv, and priming generally adds .2% abv, so if you were to bottle and prime and it does continue to ferment that extra .004 that's a whole lot of carbonation.

 

[R-J-M]

okay thank you. I will take another reading tonight and decide from there. I will definitely take out the hop bag either way.

Thank you!

 

[terrym]

I will definitely take out the hop bag either way.

Personally I would leave it in. Fiddling about in the FV at the end of a fermentation should be kept to a minimum, and day or two longer, assuming it has finished, is not likely to make much difference now.
And to re-assure you, most beers I brew finish in the range 1.010 to 1012, a few will go down to 1.008 or 1.009, but I have also reluctantly bottled as high as 1.017 when it should have gone much lower having satisfied myself 100% that it had finished.

 

[R-J-M]

Personally I would leave it in. Fiddling about in the FV at the end of a fermentation should be kept to a minimum, and day or two longer, assuming it has finished, is not likely to make much difference now.
And to re-assure you, most beers I brew finish in the range 1.010 to 1012, a few will go down to 1.008 or 1.009, but I have also reluctantly bottled as high as 1.017 when it should have gone much lower having satisfied myself 100% that it had finished.

That is very reassuring then, thank you :) Hopefully tonight will be bottling night then! Its been a while so im looking forward to it.

Thanks for the help!

 

[R-J-M]

not changed for 3 days now so I bottled it last night. 1tsp of dextrose in each 500ml swing top bottle. Should turn out alright, and not explode!

 

[terrym]

not changed for 3 days now so I bottled it last night. 1tsp of dextrose in each 500ml swing top bottle. Should turn out alright, and not explode!

Erm...
1 tsp dextrose per 500ml will give a very high level of carbonation, so watch out for gushers when you open them. I would serve the first ones from the fridge, to see what they are like. Norm for ales is nearer 0.5 level tsp per 500ml.

 

[R-J-M]

Erm...
1 tsp dextrose per 500ml will give a very high level of carbonation, so watch out for gushers when you open them. I would serve the first ones from the fridge, to see what they are like. Norm for ales is nearer 0.5 level tsp per 500ml.

Oh no, never even thought of that! May be a daft idea.....but could I pop the tops off them after a few days to release a little pressure, then swing them shut and leave for another week?

Also, "serve the first ones from the fridge", so stick them in the fridge for a day or so after carbonating and then drink?

 

[terrym]

Uncharted waters for me I'm afraid, however your options would appear to be
1. Leave them as they are and hope things turn out OK .
2. Pop one tonight or tomorrow and see what it's. If its still 'flat' leave it for couple of days and then try another bottle. When there is a little pressure in your bottle, open them all then reseal straight away. And then carry on and leave them to finish carbing etc etc
Others may have a better strategy for you.

 

[ravey]

Oh no, never even thought of that! May be a daft idea.....but could I pop the tops off them after a few days to release a little pressure, then swing them shut and leave for another week?

Also, "serve the first ones from the fridge", so stick them in the fridge for a day or so after carbonating and then drink?

no need to pop the tops off, just the spring. any extra pressure should vent without the risk of anything getting in.