Brew still bubblijng after nearly 3 weeks

iaindm · Sep 9, 2012

I have a Youngs Harvest Bitter which has been in the bucket for nealy 3 weeks and it is still bubbling away regularly. Should I just leave it to carry on till it stops or should I do anything?

Dieseljockey · Sep 9, 2012

It's ok...What's the temp of the brew? have you taken any hydro readings?

iaindm · Sep 9, 2012

Temp is about 20 and I have not taken any readings. The only different thing is that I added about 150g of soft brown sugar at the start.

pittsy · Sep 9, 2012

20c is ideal , 3 weeks does seem a little long , i would take a reading and then try again tomorrow to see if it has stopped , post the reading when you have done 1

Dieseljockey · Sep 9, 2012

pittsy said:
20c is ideal , 3 weeks does seem a little long , i would take a reading and then try again tomorrow to see if it has stopped , post the reading when you have done 1

+1 on that...I've had brews in the FV for this long..so don't start to worry......yet.. :whistle:

the-erl · Sep 11, 2012

I've had a couple of brews do this, I left them for 3 weeks because the airlock was still bubbling but after I'd taken a hydrometer reading on 3 consecutive days (took 3 readings because I wanted to be sure, normally only take 2) and the reading was the same, I bottled. Luckily I use swing top bottles because when priming the beer was quite lively and would try to fizz over the top but I could get the tops on in time to prevent this. I'm not sure why this can happen to some brews but the brews it has happened to me with taste great, not over carbonated. It might pay to get it into a secondary fermentation vessel just to get it of the trub as 3 weeks is a little long.

Let us know how you get on!

:drink:

iaindm · Sep 15, 2012

After bubbling seemed to subside I left the brew for a couple of days before checking it and as everything was showing stable, I decided to bottle last night. I decided to try a glass and, WOW, excellent with no ill effects after being in the bucket for approx 4 weeks. it was so nice that I have decided to put a number of bottles into long term storage along with the Brewferm Christmas Ale and a few other bottles of Ritchies Brown Ale and Tooheys which I hope to enjoy at Christmas.

iaindm · Oct 7, 2012

3 weeks after bottling, I tried a bottle last night and it was excellent, no ill effects on the extended time in the bucket. I am really looking forward to my festive tipple. if the brew is this good after 3 weeks what will it be like after 3 months.