Safe to Bottle?

[wigginsdaniel31]

Planning on bottling my 3rd batch of beer tonight, Caribou Slobber Extract Kit. Checked the gravity on Saturday, Sunday, and this afternoon and all 3 have come out at 1.020, however, I am still having what I think is a decent amount of airlock activity (about 1 bubble every 10-12 seconds). I brewed this on July 9th, 2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary. OG was 1.053 and I checked the gravity when I racked it to secondary and got 1.023. I have tasted all of the samples and they seem to have a great taste and smell to them. The beer also seems to have some carbonation to it already.

I am wondering with the amount of airlock activity that I am getting if it is still okay to bottle this or should I give it a few more days? Also, if it is okay to bottle, should I go ahead and use the recommended amount of priming sugar according to NB’s calculator (4.16 oz)?

Trying my damnedest to avoid bottle bombs, so any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!

[65ss427]

Check your gravity over a 3 day period, if it stays the same it’s good to bottle. Airlock activity isn’t a good indicator as your beer could continue to degas (that’s the carbonation you’re experiencing when you taste it) for some time after fermentation is done. That said, after 4 weeks, I’m betting your beer is ready to bottle. As far as priming sugar goes, what you propose sounds just about right for the style.

[shadetree]

Once you racked it off the yeast cake, fermentation pretty much stopped. With three identical readings, you’re ready to bottle. Next time let it sit on the yeast for another week or two before racking if you want the FG a bit lower.

[grants]

My situation of leaving Caribou Slobber on the yeast in primary:

7/19 Did boil - followed all instructions including agitation and got predicted original gravity of 1.052
7/30 Hydrometer reading of 1.02
8/2 Hydrometer reading of 1.02

An online calculator says the ABV at those readings is 4.2%
I was hoping for a target FG of 1.014 (ABV 4.99) which many other Caribou first-timers have achieved according to online forums.

I don’t have a secondary and was simply going to bottle on 8/9 which seems to be okay under the instructions. A local home brewer said I might want to stir the beer/wort gently if still at 1.02 today to try to reactivate the yeast action since fermentation appears stalled. I’ve never heard of that, and this thread seems to indicate bottling at 1.02 is fine.

Should I give it a stir, and wait? Bottle on Saturday, or do something else? Airlock has not been bubbling after first week, though the water seems to always be pushed into the second chamber. During the hydrometer tests bubbles quickly formed in the tube…

Any advice appreciated.

[grainy]

go ahead and bottle it up your fine with 1.020. extract finishes high like that. if you stir it up your just asking for possible problems with bugs and oxygen with all that messing around. now if your grav was 1.030 or something like that I would say stir it up to get the yeast going but 1.020 is not that high or that far off.

[shadetree]

Yes, getting the yeast back in suspension might chop off another 5-6 points. But don’t “stir” - gently swirl the fermenter instead. There’s a layer of CO2 (or a layer with a high concentration of CO2) sitting on top of the beer, so if you don’t cause it to splash it won’t introduce O2 into the beer.