A couple of bottling questions

[paultr]

I have a couple of demijohns with 4L of fermenting lager in each. The lager was decanted from a bucket when I added more sugar to raise the SG (the story is on another thread).

The demijohns have been fermenting for quite a while now (nearly 4 weeks). There is no heating under the beer but the room averages around 16 degrees at a guess.

I want to determine if it is time to bottle the beer but there is still some very small signs of activity - a bubble in the airlock every 5-10 minutes. What do the experts think - bottle now or wait until there are no bubbles in the airlock at all ?

Secondly, my local home brew shop sells small packets labelled 'bottling sugar'. These are apparently filled with sucrose. Is that going to be better to prime the bottles than ordinary household sugar ?

 

[Chickpeanut]

As a beginner who's only done a few kits, I can only speak from my own limited experience when I say that each time I've bottled, (usually after 3 weeks in fv) the fermentation process has never truly stopped completely. There has always been the slightest amount of CO2 still being produced just like you say every 5 or 10 minutes.

Your brew is probably ready, but the only safe way is to check your FG readings with a hydrometer. If its the same for 3 days in a row, it's ready.

 

[johnlaurence6]

Personally I am happy to bottle after 2 weeks from fermentation beginning, as long as the air lock bubbles are very slow and the sugar added to each bottle does not exceed 2 grams (half a cube).

Household sugar is sucrose - grape sugar is glucose - fruit sugar is fructose.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Baz Chaz]

..... Secondly, my local home brew shop sells small packets labelled 'bottling sugar'. These are apparently filled with sucrose. Is that going to be better to prime the bottles than ordinary household sugar ?

It will probably be more expensive than Tate n Lyles ordinary granulated, so don't waste your cash :!:
I've only ever primed with ordinary granulated, I batch prime and never had a problem :

As for 'is your brew ready to bottle?' has the hydrometer reading been steady for a couple of days if it's low enough and steady, then bottle :thumb:

 

[paultr]

Hi Chickpeanut - thanks for your quick reply :)

I had thought of doing that but I have not got a sample cylinder tall enough for my hydrometer and if I take a reading through the glass of the demijohn I do not think I could read it accurately enough. On the subject of hydrometers I find the tiny scale quite difficult to read on mine as it goes from .990 all the way to 1.170. I wonder if you can get one specifically for beer brewing that has a larger scale that goes from .990 to 1.075 or something like that i.e. larger spaces between the gradations.

 

[paultr]

Thanks johnlaurence6 @ bazchaz for your replies.

Tate & Lyle it is then :thumb:

I think I will bottle in the morning - as I said in my other post, I do not think I will see any change on the hydrometer reading.