Father Hooks still in first fermentation stage (1st timer)?

[Southend 96]

Hi, as a first timer having a go with a father hooks kit and looking for a bit of advice please.......

Started the kit off day one as normal with an OG of 1.040

Added hops on day 6 (instructions say 5)

Instructions say 1st stage takes approx 10 days.....however it's now day 17 and it still bubbling away like a 'good un' approx every 5 mins....

Temperature has been a constant 22-24 degrees controlled using a heater mat.

Taken readings over the last 3 days and they are reasonably consistent....day 14 = 1.008 /day 15 = 1.007 / day 16 = 1.007.

Instructions state reading must be below 1.009 before bottling.

How best to proceed...
Is it ready for bottling now based on the stable readings?
Do I leave it in the FV vessel for a few more days and see if the bubbling stops?
Will 14 days with the hops in make the brew too bitter?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance

 

[Clint]

The key is a stable fg over a few days. Leaving it a bit longer won't harm and it won't be too bitter. A few kits that ask for quite low fg,in the 1006/08 area can take up to a month to reach it. Sounds like yours is doing fine.

 

[obscure]

If you have a good seal on the fermentor, its really not that unusual to still see some bubbles after fermentation is complete, as Clint says the key thing is that you have a staple gravity for several days in a row (and it is in the expected range for FG so not a stuck fermentation.)

I tend to bottle at 14 days but tend to give it a week from hitting final gravity to actually bottling this seems to give the beer time to clear.

 

[terrym]

This is one reason kit instructions are often rubbish. In my view you should be adding hops for a dry hop guided by your hydrometer or if you don' t have one, your eyes, not after a set length of time.
Anyway that aside in this case if it were me I would now be putting the FV somewhere cold for a couple of days max to clear then getting it bottled, on the basis that it's steadied at 1.007 or thereabouts and unlikely to go much lower, and in an effort to get it off the hops.

 

[Southend 96]

Thanks for the advice it was much appreciated......I left it another 3 days in the FV and although it was still bubbling occasionally the FG remained 1.007 for five consecutive days so I have now bottled the brew.