Problems with timings

Darius7

Here's my dilemma. I have my second brew in the bin at the moment and thought it would take a similar time to ferment as my first brew - about 5 days. It's taking longer this time which I understand is no bad thing. The brew's OG was 1048 and it has dropped to 1020 today (day 7). But the rate of gravity drop is slowing quite a bit to the extent that I'm not sure it will be below 1014 (it is recommended to bottle when i get a steady reading below 1014) by Thursday night (day 9). The problem is that I have to go away for 4 days on Friday morning. Basically, my dilemma is whether to bottle it a touch early (eg a gravity reading of 1015/6) or leave it until Monday night when it could have been sat in the bin (not fermenting) for 3 or 4 days. Of course it may well have finished by Thursday which will be great. Any thoughts gratefully received. Thank you.

mozza

I'd imagine bottling later rather than earlier would be better, a few days shouldn't hurt

HBO_Staff

Especially with bottling it is best to be sure it's finished. By leaving it a few extra days it will allow more sediment to drop out of the liquid, and whilst you wouldn't want to leave it in with the sediment for too long, a few days wont harm it. If you wanted to speed the brew up so it was finished as quickly as possible, try increasing the temperature, as it is quite likely you are brewing at a cooler temperature as this can make it take longer

Darius7

Great advice - thanks very much and it's good to know that the beer won't spoil if left for a few extra days. I have considered turning up the temperature but it's quite hard given that it's -3 degrees at the moment!! Thanks again for the advice and I'll keep on monitoring...