First Kit, bottling stage? Need help.

[trueheart]

Hi All

My first brew has been in now for 5 days. I removed the lid this evening to take a hydrometer reading and was hit with an odour that can only be described as BUM. Is this normal as I am not sure if it was just the layer of gas that had built upo in the three inch gap between liquid and lid. The lid has been sealed and all equipment steralised using brewclean.

I took a reading before adding the yeast when we mixed the kit (Art of Brewing Premium export Bitter)and it read 1.041 which my table shows an ABV of around 5.3% which I was pleased with. Now the hydrometer read 1.011, is this OK????? I will take another reading tomorrow and if the same I am going to bottle it up.

The bubble on the top has stopped bubbling which leads me to think that it has finished the fermentation cycle, am I right??

Any help would be appreciated

Phill

 

[tubby_shaw]

Hi All

My first brew has been in now for 5 days. I removed the lid this evening to take a hydrometer reading and was hit with an odour that can only be described as BUM. Is this normal as I am not sure if it was just the layer of gas that had built upo in the three inch gap between liquid and lid. The lid has been sealed and all equipment steralised using brewclean.
Perfectly normal :thumb: The yeast gives of some funky smells during fermentation :lol:

I took a reading before adding the yeast when we mixed the kit (Art of Brewing Premium export Bitter)and it read 1.041 which my table shows an ABV of around 5.3% which I was pleased with. Now the hydrometer read 1.011, is this OK????? I will take another reading tomorrow and if the same I am going to bottle it up.
The potential ABV is a product of the initial gravity and the final gravity, there is a calculator HERE so if your gravity falls another point you will have 4.1% abv
If it has finished fermenting you would be better to leave it in the fermenter for another 2 days before bottling to allow the yeast to remove some of its by products that created the funky smell :thumb:

The bubble on the top has stopped bubbling which leads me to think that it has finished the fermentation cycle, am I right??
If the airlock has stopped bubbling, then it has either finished fermenting, there is a leak allowing the CO2 to vent elsewhere or the atmospheric pressure is dropping faster than CO2 can be produced :shock: :lol:
Any help would be appreciated
I hope this helps
Phill

 

[Vossy1]

In addition to the excellent advice from t_s, If you have the same hydro reading 2 days on the trot, then fermentation is likely to be finished.