HI,
I brewed two batches of beer on the 9th of this month. One a guiness clone and the other an irish red. Both of which I added 2 lbs of dextrose towards the end of the boil to boost the OG a little. The fermentation was robust in both until about the 5th day when it died down significantly. I transferred both to glass secondaries with bubblers on the 18th. The bubbles stopped in about 3 days in the guiness and I left it for another few days and bottled it on the 31st. The red, however, still makes a bubble every 70 seconds. Do you think this is still fermentation or the decaying of the dead yeast in the trub? Ideas?
Take a hydrometer reading. Did you have an idea about the OG?
Sneezles
As @sneezles61 said your best bet is to take a reading. Going by “bubbles” can be deceiving as pressure changes, temps, and agitation can affect the amount of dissolved CO2 from fermentation, making it look like it’s still fermenting.
Yes, I don’t generally go by the bubbles but use them to keep track of what is going on. I always take a hydrometer reading before adding the yeast and again just before bottling. I haven’t yet taken a reading at the end of this fermentation on this batch. I guess where I am coming from is I have made a lot of wine in my life and its not uncommon to see this happen in a batch. But there I can add potassium sorbate to halt any fermentation and then let it sit and clear. I can’t do that with beer as I need the yeast alive to bottle condition. I was just wondering if anybody has ever had an extended fermentation or if you think it something else. I will probably just bottle it and not worry about it.
I would be willing to bet that after this long, and a bubble every minute+ the activity you’re seeing is caused by environmental changes. What do you ferment in? If you use a carboy you’d be able to see a pellicle if it’s being caused by wild yeast / infection.
I’d still just get a hydrometer reading.perhaps you’ve reached FG a while ago, now it’s chomping away at the last bits of sugar, making a dry-er brew…
Sneezles
I agree with the others. Bubbles escaping at this point are probably not a result of active fermentation. Increase in temperature= increase in pressure, so it could be just a release of the already-existing CO2.
I know it’s expensive, but I invested in a tilt hydrometer a while ago. It’s awesome, you can watch the gravity readings so you 100% are sure when fermentation stops
Oh, yeah! I’m so happy with mine…
expect I just wanted to use it and the battery is dead…… only good for about 100 brews…… clowning there…
Great piece of equipment!
Sneezles
The orginal ferments were in plastic bottling buckets. Lids were not air tight so no bubblers. The secondaries are glass with bubblers.
So using glass you would see a pellicle forming. If you don’t see any oddities then your good to go!
