Question about Bottle Conditioning in my first-ever Homebrew

[Kunal Vanjare]

Hello guys,

So my first ever BIAB homebrew, which is a 5L Citra IPA is in bottling now for around 36 hours. This morning I saw some bubbles on the surface of the beer. I am using swing top bottles and at a temperature of around 19-20 degrees C.

I hit my OG perfectly, which was around 1.05. But after 2 weeks of fermentation, I decided to check my FG which was at 1.03, whereas the recipe called for an FG of around 1.015.

I never got any airlock activity because I used a bucket, whose lid wasn't sealed most probably. Also I had around 5 Litres of beer in a 10L bucket.

On bottling day, there were no yeast rafts on the surface, so I assumed the fermentation was over.

Also, I miscalculated the priming sugar quantity because I lost around a litre of my beer due to trub losses (i expected to lose around half a litre).

Hope I have not created bottle bombs here

Are bubbles during bottle conditioning normal? How long do they normally last? When should I be worried?

Also, I am out of town for work starting from 14-18 December. Should I just put them in a box because there won't be anyone to keep an eye on the progress and I dont want beer all over my room (if it does explode )

I have also filled about half a litre in a PET bottle so as to be able to check the carbonation level. Might just open it up next week and taste the beer.

 

[fury_tea]

So did you bottle at 1.030??
If so, that seems very high, especially if your fg was supposed to be 1.015, I'd say either you had a stuck fermentation or your beer just wasn't finished yet.. Definitely put them in a box and be careful when handling them.
The priming sugar calculation being off by half a litre or so isn't anything to be massively worried about though. I always find there's a little bit of leeway with that.

 

[Mavroz]

Wow, 1030 is high to bottle as Fury said, it seems like fermentation had not finished!

 

[samale]

If it's swing tips I would open them and realease the pressure before resealing. I have only ever seen bubbles in the surface of bottles that have not been capped correctly.
As already said 1.030 is way too high to bottle

 

[Duxuk]

I often see a ring of bubbles whilst conditioning. My most recently bottled (AG#149!) has been sat near a radiator to speed it up in the hope it's drinkable by New Year and has a good ring around each one. As said, 1.030 is very high for bottling. How hard is the PET bottle? You'll need to do quite a bit of pressure relief if all your figures are correct.