Should I just bottle it?

[BrewerBandit]

Hi guys

I've got another "is it finished" dilemma!

I'm doing a Munton's Belgian Style Ale from their Hand Crafted Range. The instructions say approx 5 days at 18-20C so it's at 1.014, then transfer to a second fermenter, raise temp to 20-24C, add half a cup full of the lees from the first fermenter and 500g light spray malt then wait until it reaches 1.006. Bottle as normal (I assume with priming sugar)

When I started the brew I smashed my trial glass so I couldn't take an OG measurement. After 7 days in the kegerator at 19C +/-1C I still hadn't replaced the trial glass so moved onto the second stage. Occasionally, my airlock doesn't seal properly (lube next time I think!) so I couldn't observe bubbles either. Surprisingly, there was very little sediment in the bottom of the first fermenter so I added everything that was there... maybe just half a cup. My cup incidentally was a small Ikea tumbler! I added the spray malt and bumped it up to 22C +/-1C. It certainly seemed active. There was (still is) 2-3inches of froth on top of the brew. I've left it another 7 days, superglued my trial glass back together (yeah, it worked!) and found it to be at 1.014.

I've found the hydrometer readings to be sketchy in the past... readings being higher a few days after a prior reading etc and assumed it could be dissolved CO2 or something lifting the hydrometer up but for my brew to be at 1.014 when I should be headed toward 1.006 is a big discrepancy.

It doesn't taste too bad and it isn't too sweet, plus there was all the activity after adding the spray malt.

Would you bottle it and move onto that Hazy IPA that I'm desperate to get going!? Maybe add some yeast. Leave it? Am I being impatient?

In case my idea of CO2 affecting readings has credibility I've left the trial glass with ale and the hydrometer for about 30hrs and the reading is closer to 1.013 now.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Personally, I would wait. Waiting will do no harm to the beer. Bottling too early (I'm guilty of this a lot recently) will end up with over-carbed beer which is a PITA to pour and often can result in it foaming out of the bottle and losing precious beer. In bad circumstances, bottles can pop (I had explode during the recent heatwave because of this). It it still has a head, I would say it's probably still active. Wait a few days at least. Normal advice is to wait until the gravity has remained stable for 3 days, then bottle (obviously if you have to open it up and take a sample regularly, this risks exposure to oxygen, so you make your own compromise)

 

[BrewerBandit]

OK, thanks.

That leads onto another question RE taking gravity readings. My main fermenting bucket doesn't have a tap so when I bottle I transfer to a bucket that does have a tap. I usually leave it a few days to settle before bottling. Obviously there is an oxygen exposure but so far I've not had a beer that I think has suffered for it but it does mean my samples are taken from the bottom of the fermenter, not the top. I've always been worried about infecting it close to the final steps to bottling by dipping the trial glass in there.

Could sampling from the bottom cause my sketchy readings even if its been sat there for 7 days?

I probably won't get chance to bottle until Saturday at the earliest so I'll see what happens in the meantime.

 

[jof]

@Agentgonzo I've had bottles go pop during hot spells what would otherwise be fine at 'normal temperatures'
Static final gravity readings & only 2g/bottle priming sugar as I don't like over carbed beer.

@BrewerBandit I'm of the opinion that it's quite difficult to oxidise a traditional British ale & you only need to worry if you're making hipster beer with kilos of expensive & rare hops.

 

[An Ankoù]

In decades of brewing I've only lost two bottles and neither of those popped. Both had hairline fractures in the glass. In the second case I had a puddle on the floor but couldn't tell where it came from until I lifted half the bottle off its bottom half. My normal priming is a 3g sugar cube (round) in a 33cl bottle. 4-4.5g in a 500ml and 6g in a 75 cl bottle.
But I tend to get low FGs and I don't like sweet tasting beers so I use attenuative yeasts. Dislike Windsor intensely and the bottles I filled after using that turned into gushes for the most part.

 

[Agentgonzo]

In decades of brewing I've only lost two bottles and neither of those popped. Both had hairline fractures in the glass. In the second case I had a puddle on the floor but couldn't tell where it came from until I lifted half the bottle off its bottom half. My normal priming is a 3g sugar cube (round) in a 33cl bottle. 4-4.5g in a 500ml and 6g in a 75 cl bottle.
But I tend to get low FGs and I don't like sweet tasting beers so I use attenuative yeasts. Dislike Windsor intensely and the bottles I filled after using that turned into gushes for the most part.

2 decades for me, and these were the first ones to go. They were re-used supermarket beer bottles too, not the stronger homebrew ones.

 

[DavidDetroit]

Agree with the above.
Whatever the last sugar addition was, if it were me, I'd automatically wait two-three weeks. Temp in range is important. That way though, you're not handcuffed with OG and FG readings though it sounds like you fixed it. Would like to see a photo of that.
Like was mentioned, it's hard to oxidize those types.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Agree with oxidation. I don't do anything special. I don't use a bottling wand - I just squirt the beer from the fermenter tap into the bottle. A small amount of CO2 comes out of solution and you get a small bit of foam.i cap on this. If the beer is oxidised, I've never noticed it (so I assume it doesn't oxidised to and noticeable degree).

 

[An Ankoù]

Agree with oxidation. I don't do anything special. I don't use a bottling wand - I just squirt the beer from the fermenter tap into the bottle. A small amount of CO2 comes out of solution and you get a small bit of foam.i cap on this. If the beer is oxidised, I've never noticed it (so I assume it doesn't oxidised to and noticeable degree).

Pretty much the same. I have a bit of tube that goes about 4 inches into the bottle. The beer hits the priming sugar and starts to foam a bit forcing out most of the air as the bottle fills. Oxidation has never been an issue. I used to make AIPAs and so called double IPAs never had an issue there either. Much prefer pales and bitters and stouts so I dont bother with the IPAs any more.

 

[Sandimas]

In decades of brewing I've only lost two bottles and neither of those popped.

I think either you are lucky or I'm unlucky: I've had bottles foam, shoot out and hit the ceiling, and explode throwing glass everywhere. Every 2-3 years I get a batch that goes this way despite rigorous cleanliness. And in many cases it's because I bottled too early. In fact, I've got one that is a bit lively at the moment, the last brew I made back in May, probably a bit too close to summer and got some wild yeast in there.

But with brewing patience is your friend. I don't even start measuring a brew until day 14 and usually bottle between day18 and day28. Since doing this I've significantly reduced my bottle bombs.

 

[An Ankoù]

I think either you are lucky or I'm unlucky: I've had bottles foam, shoot out and hit the ceiling, and explode throwing glass everywhere. Every 2-3 years I get a batch that goes this way despite rigorous cleanliness. And in many cases it's because I bottled too early. In fact, I've got one that is a bit lively at the moment, the last brew I made back in May, probably a bit too close to summer and got some wild yeast in there.

But with brewing patience is your friend. I don't even start measuring a brew until day 14 and usually bottle between day18 and day28. Since doing this I've significantly reduced my bottle bombs.

I stopped using low attenuation yeast that are supposed not metabolise maltotriose, Windsor being a common example. While these yeasts work well in the cask or possibly with filtered beer, I think they're unsuited to bottling as they do nibble away very slowly at residual sugars. When I did get gushers it was invariably with this type of yeast.
I'm not even sure that we should look at bottled beers as simply bottled cask ales; I think they're a different beast altogether. I can't think of a bottle-conditioned commercial beer that tastes identical to its cask equivalent even when the excess condition has been stirred out of it.

 

[BrewerBandit]

Well, a week after my first post it had fallen to 1.010. Two weeks on (20st Aug) it was still at 1.010. This is at
22C +/-1C.

I'm not expecting it to be to my taste and I've got a Hazy IPA kit begging to get started so I just bottled it.

I did prime the brew before bottling with 85g sugar so fingers crossed I won't have any explosions. So far so good!

 

[dad_of_jon]

If I bottle what is on the high side side for a particular style I just reduce the amount of priming sugar to reduce the risk of over carbing.

 

[Slid]

As a practical and weirdly experimental sort of brewer, I would say from experience, that beer yeast will continue fermenting at temps as low as 3C until there is practically nothing left.
This is possibly due to having used stuff like Saison and other Belgian style yeast in the brewery, even the odd wine yeast, and the impossibility of eliminating every single yeast cell from any FV.

My advice - never, ever bottle a "normal" English sort of a beer above 1010 unless you know from experience it will be OK to do so.

 

[Moorbs]

OK, thanks.

That leads onto another question RE taking gravity readings. My main fermenting bucket doesn't have a tap so when I bottle I transfer to a bucket that does have a tap. I usually leave it a few days to settle before bottling. Obviously there is an oxygen exposure but so far I've not had a beer that I think has suffered for it but it does mean my samples are taken from the bottom of the fermenter, not the top. I've always been worried about infecting it close to the final steps to bottling by dipping the trial glass in there.

Could sampling from the bottom cause my sketchy readings even if its been sat there for 7 days?

I probably won't get chance to bottle until Saturday at the earliest so I'll see what happens in the meantime.

To avoid the hassle of taking samples out of the fermenter I use an ispindle which was £30 or so assembled and connects over the WiFi router to brewfather to give me a nice graph of specific gravity and temperature. I also use a cheap refractometer I got on amazon when brewing instead of a hydrometer, much easier (but you have to run post fermentation readings through a calculator)

 

[MrJay83]

There is zero point in taking reading with that kit apart from seeing if you have a stable gravity. I done it a few months back and wasn't a fan at all. My ispindal graph for it is below.
Their American Style IPA in that range is really good.

 

[Agentgonzo]

To avoid the hassle of taking samples out of the fermenter I use an ispindle which was £30 or so assembled and connects over the WiFi router to brewfather to give me a nice graph of specific gravity and temperature. I also use a cheap refractometer I got on amazon when brewing instead of a hydrometer, much easier (but you have to run post fermentation readings through a calculator)

I have gone down a similar route. I find the refractometer to not be accurate enough (sample to sample) to determine whether fermentation has finished. I can't reliably measure to the nearest gravity point (or two) day-to-day. It's useful as a quick guide

The iSpindel, whilst not 100% accurate is consistent enough day-on-day to tell me whether fermentation has finished. This was my first brew with it and I think a have a contamination with saison yeast from a previous brew.

Any advice on a deep clean of a stainless fermenter?