Hey everyone,
So I started to brew the white house honey ale with my starter kick and I am unsure on if the fermentation process is done and if I should start to bottle it. I started the brew about a week ago and after the first day I saw some bubbles but now its really dropped off since then and I haven’t really seen any gas escaping from the seal. This being my first brew I am uncertain if it is ready or if it still needs to sit another week? Please give me some input.
Gravity readings will be the best way to know for sure.
If you dont have a hydrometer let it sit another couple of days.
When I did my first batch it was also 1 gallon and was the White House Honey Ale. I had it in primary for 1 week, then bottled and it came out great.
It looks like there is still suspended yeast and sediment. Let it sit another week to finish up. Even after fermentation is complete the yeast are still cleaning up off flavors naturally produced by the fermentation process.
Specific gravity readings with a hydrometer is the only sure way to tell when final gravity has been reached.
Thanks for the input, I’ll let it sit for awhile longer till I see a change in the sediment that is still floating on the top, is it normal that I haven’t seen any bubbles escaping from my seal in a few day’s or is there any other signs that I should be looking for to know my fermentation is done since I do not own a hydrometer?
How long active fermentation takes depends on a lot of factors, but 3-5 days is pretty typical for many ales. That doesn’t mean it is done, it just means that no more alcohol is being produced. As flars said, the yeast are still cleaning up after themselves and the beer will get better if you let it sit longer. Again, how long depends on lots of factors, but my advice to you is to not bottle until at least 2 weeks since brew day. That timing may or may not be optimal for flavor development, but it will pretty much ensure that the beer is ready for bottling without worrying about exploding bottles or having huge volumes of sediment in the bottles.
