Youngs AAA won't stop fermenting

[Brewdoug]

I've been fermenting my Youngs American Amber Ale kit for 5 weeks now and it still doesn't seem to have quite finished fermenting.
I've followed the instructions to the letter. The recommended fermentation temperature is 20 - 24C so I've kept it at 22C throughout in a water bath with an aquarium heater having pitched the yeast at 23C and the airlock was bubbling steadily the next day.
I added the dry hops when activity had almost stopped after 12 days and the SG at this point was 1.012, the guide is 1.015 or below. This seemed to kick the fermentation back into action and when I checked after another 2 days there was more activity and a good crust again on the surface. Another 3 days and fermentation had slowed right off again so I checked the SG again and strangely it was still 1.012. This disturbance though seemed to kick it off again and there's been airlock activity ever since, as regular as every 15 seconds at times.

So today I'm thinking it's been 5 weeks that's ridiculous, the manufacturer suggests fermentation should be complete after 10 days and as its now slowed considerably I'm going to bottle it. On lifting the lid though there was quite a bit of hop debris on the surface and I could see occasional bubbles rising to the surface so now I don't quite know what to do. SG reading is now 1.006 whereas the instruction guide is below 1.013 final SG, so given my OG of 1.054 that gives me 6.3% ABV against the claimed 5.4%.

Any advice what I should do now? I've not heard of anybody else having this kit take so long. If I don't bottle yet is there a danger the yeast won't tolerate much more alcohol (I'm not too sure how this works) to give me carbonation after I add the priming sugar in the bottle?
Another concern I have is that I've now dry hopped way too early and wonder whether I should put some more in - I've not got the hops used in the kit (Pacific Jade, Cluster and Summit), but I have Cascade and Citra.

 

[terrym]

I've been fermenting my Youngs American Amber Ale kit for 5 weeks now and it still doesn't seem to have quite finished fermenting.
I've followed the instructions to the letter. The recommended fermentation temperature is 20 - 24C so I've kept it at 22C throughout in a water bath with an aquarium heater having pitched the yeast at 23C and the airlock was bubbling steadily the next day.
I added the dry hops when activity had almost stopped after 12 days and the SG at this point was 1.012, the guide is 1.015 or below. This seemed to kick the fermentation back into action and when I checked after another 2 days there was more activity and a good crust again on the surface. Another 3 days and fermentation had slowed right off again so I checked the SG again and strangely it was still 1.012. This disturbance though seemed to kick it off again and there's been airlock activity ever since, as regular as every 15 seconds at times.

So today I'm thinking it's been 5 weeks that's ridiculous, the manufacturer suggests fermentation should be complete after 10 days and as its now slowed considerably I'm going to bottle it. On lifting the lid though there was quite a bit of hop debris on the surface and I could see occasional bubbles rising to the surface so now I don't quite know what to do. SG reading is now 1.006 whereas the instruction guide is below 1.013 final SG, so given my OG of 1.054 that gives me 6.3% ABV against the claimed 5.4%.

Any advice what I should do now? I've not heard of anybody else having this kit take so long. If I don't bottle yet is there a danger the yeast won't tolerate much more alcohol (I'm not too sure how this works) to give me carbonation after I add the priming sugar in the bottle?
Another concern I have is that I've now dry hopped way too early and wonder whether I should put some more in - I've not got the hops used in the kit (Pacific Jade, Cluster and Summit), but I have Cascade and Citra.

My take on what you have said is that it should have now finished the primary given a) the length of time in the FV and b) the SG.
I would take SG readings on consecutive three days and if no sign of further movement down, get it bottled. I would give it three days rather than two as there is a little uncertainty about whats going on. You have waited five weeks and so an extra day will not make much difference.
As far as the 'restart' is concerned at 1.012, when hop pellets are added to a brew and break up, the particles form sites for the CO2 to come out of solution until things stabilise, and that is what you mostly saw. However since the SG appears to have come down some more it indicates it was still fermenting. The crust you saw was more likely to be made up from hop particles rather than yeast.
Finally I would not be concerned about a high ABV hampering the yeast to give you carbonation in your bottles, just satisfy yourself the primary has finished, then bottle and prime as you would normally do, and let the yeast do the rest.
And personally I wouldn't add any more hops.

 

[Slid]

Hi there, Doug

I agree with the advice from Terry!

Get it bottled at your earliest opportunity and don't mess with it any more.

Ale yeast be be OK at 6.4% for secondary fermentation and dropping to 1006 is, with the greatest respect, only an estimate based on a "guessing stick" and could easily be as much as 1010.

Stop worrying and move on to the next brew!

 

[Racinsnake]

Defo don't add more hops!! :electric:

 

[Brewdoug]

Thanks for the reply Terry.
I did think that myself about when I added the hops, the crust was certainly green but about 1cm thick. What I'm finding strange is that it's carried on fermenting for almost another 3 weeks and reached such a low SG. I've not read of anyone else getting a SG that low.
As you advise, I may as well leave it another 3 days now then bottle it. As for the hops, it didn't taste too bad when I tasted the trial jar, quite bitter but not too much aroma though. Will probably be quite nice when it's cleared and got some carbonation.

 

[Brewdoug]

Thanks guys I'm certainly keen to get on with the next brew, this ones starting to get boring lol.
I've got lots of AG ingredients waiting to experiment with so I'm desperate to free up the FV.

 

[JayB240]

My rule of thumb: 4 bubbles in the airlock per minute (or less) indicates primary fermentation is complete.