When to bottle up latest brew?

[CMAC]

Good evening folks, long time lurker and now new member of the forum. I've only ever done one brew before and that was last year. This time around I've decided to brew the "Muntons Flagship Beer Kit - Hazy IPA".

At the moment i am 12 days into fermentation. It has gone well so far think.
I added second batch of hops on day 10.

It's quite possible I messed up the OG gravity reading but I think it was 1.034/35. I have taken another reading in the last hour and we are at 1.000/02. That is an alcohol level of 4.59%. Airlock isn't seeing much action the last day or so which is normal I assume. The odd release here and there. I am wondering what I should do now. I tried a taste and it is lovely, great hoppy flavour but not much of a smell on the nose. I don't mind that tho.

I want to know could I bottle it up tomorrow evening (which would take it to a full 13 days) or leave it the full 14 days. I am away for work on Friday morning which would be day 14 so it's not possible to bottle. My fear is leaving it until Sunday when I arrive home that the % will rise which I don't want.

Would it be wise to leave it until then? I'm thinking it would definitely finish fermenting by that stage. The brew has had a consistent temp while fermentation has gone on. In a warm room with temps sitting at 18°/20° and no higher.

Would appreciate some wise words from you folks here. Thanks alot and sorry for the long post.

Cmac.

 

[Clint]

Leaving it a few more days will do no harm and if it rises in abv it was supposed to. Take gravity readings each day til then if its stable,bottle at your leisure!

 

[CMAC]

Thanks Clint! Appreciate the reply mate. I think I will leave it until Sunday night then. Means I don't have to worry about it.

Cheers

 

[Clint]

Yeah,you got it! Nice and easy!

 

[jof]

When you bottle, I would suggest that pick a few bottles and change the amount of priming sugar you use in those.
Make sure you label them or you won't know how it did.
Don't go mad, as too much priming sugar risks bottle bombs

But as a beginner it's good to get a feel for how much to add, if you like your beer really fizzy & lively, or less fizzy like pub cask beer.

But you only have 1 customer (possibly 2 if sharing with other 1/2) to please, so adjust to your preference.

 

[dad_of_jon]

what jof said + try the ones with more sugar first as they will carbonate quicker. this works especially well when you ages beers over months and through a summer if like me you store beer in a non temperature controlled shed.

 

[Twostage]

Was the 1.000/1.002 a typo ? That seems very low, I would expect more like 10/12.

I'll be interested how it tastes.

 

[CMAC]

Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it. I've got carbonation drops and 500ml bottles. I read I'd need to add two drops per each bottle. So I was gonna attempt that. I'm wanting to make it gasy as I will be sharing among my friends.

 

[CMAC]

Thanks for the comment mate . The plan is to let it condition for a few weeks in the front room then into the fridge for another few weeks. I can't wait to try it!

 

[CMAC]

Was the 1.000/1.002 a typo ? That seems very low, I would expect more like 10/12.

I'll be interested how it tastes.

I don't think so?? It started out OG 1034 it now sits at 1002 I think. I possibly read it wrong I'll have another look this evening . Interested to see how it finishes up myself. Thanks for the comment.

 

[RichardM]

Two drops per bottle sounds too much to me
In future just use granulated sugar. It's cheaper and easier to regulate the amount.
If it hasn't finished fermenting the ABV will continue to rise whether it is in the bottle or the fermenter. As @Clint said check the gravity avfew days running and if it doesn't change it is done and can be bottled. If you bottle it before it is done then you may end up with bottle bombs.

 

[CMAC]

Two drops per bottle sounds too much to me
In future just use granulated sugar. It's cheaper and easier to regulate the amount.
If it hasn't finished fermenting the ABV will continue to rise whether it is in the bottle or the fermenter. As @Clint said check the gravity avfew days running and if it doesn't change it is done and can be bottled. If you bottle it before it is done then you may end up with bottle bombs.

Cheers Richard. Appreciate the comment and tips. I'm just going to let it go until Sunday and by then I hope it will be finished the fermentation process. I'll check the abv tonight and again tomorrow morning. Do you suggest just one carbonation drop per bottle then? As I've bought them I'd rather use them up. Thanks again

 

[RichardM]

Cheers Richard. Appreciate the comment and tips. I'm just going to let it go until Sunday and by then I hope it will be finished the fermentation process. I'll check the abv tonight and again tomorrow morning. Do you suggest just one carbonation drop per bottle then? As I've bought them I'd rather use them up. Thanks again

As @jof said, experiment. Put two in some bottles and one in others.

 

[dad_of_jon]

I don't think so?? It started out OG 1034 it now sits at 1002 I think. I possibly read it wrong I'll have another look this evening . Interested to see how it finishes up myself. Thanks for the comment.

As long as your method of reading your OG & FG are the same that will give you abv % - my hydrometer in water at 20c (its calibration temp) is out by 0.002 so I just take that off both readings.

 

[allotment_fox]

BMAC You could always post a photo of the test sample hydrometer / reading

 

[CMAC]

As long as your method of reading your OG & FG are the same that will give you abv % - my hydrometer in water at 20c (its calibration temp) is out by 0.002 so I just take that off both readings.

Thanks for the comment mate. I bottled up late last night. The last reading on Friday morning before work was 1.002. Reading (FG) before bottling was 1.000. My original reading was in and around 1034/35 so that leaves me with an abv 4.46%. I could have made a mistake as I was in a rush. Could be slightly higher in % but I am happy with that.

All bottled up and smelling great. Fingers crossed it's a tasty brew. Gonna leave it to condition for around 10 days then pop them in the fridge. Ready for Christmas time

 

[CMAC]

BMAC You could always post a photo of the test sample hydrometer / reading

Just seeing your post mate. Apologies. It's all bottled up now. FG say at 1.000. I'll post some photos when I decide to open one before Christmas. Looking forward to it. Thanks for you comment

 

[CMAC]

As @jof said, experiment. Put two in some bottles and one in others.

Hello mate I went ahead and done what you and jof said. The larger bottles I added two drops in half of them 12x and the other 12 I added one drop. The extra glass bottles I had were all large apart from a few. I mixed and matched and took notes on what each bottle contained. Interested to see how it turns out. Then I'll know going forward for future brews what the best is. Thanks again for the tips mate. Appreciate it.

 

[CMAC]

Good morning folks. Hope all is well. I just wanted to ask a few more questions about my brew here. I bottled up on the 27th Nov. My beers are conditioning in our front room that gets a fair bit of heat when the heating it on (basically most of the day as it's so cold out!). My questions are while conditioning the beers is heat a factor? And how long should I leave the beers to condition before adding them to the fridge?

Thanks alot for all the tips and comments originally. Appreciate them all and can see myself being around the forum more as time goes on.

Cmac

 

[Clint]

Your beers should carbonate in a week or so if kept warm. I leave mine 1 to 2 weeks then put them in the shed.