HELP: Still Fermenting After 4 weeks

What's your gravity now.

 

Check your gravity. Under no circumstances should you bottle if it's still fermenting. That is, unless you like bottle bombs.

 

Did you used the adjustment calculator to get that 1.026, or are you reporting the gravity the refractometer is directly reading? Have you taken a hydrometer reading as well? What yeast did you use? The mash out issue doesn't matter at all, but 4 weeks in and still ferementing is abnormal, unless you had a stuck fermentation that kicked up after transfer. Could be a possible infection if your gravity reading wasn't correct with the refractometer and you didn't sanitize correctly...I never secondary an IPA for dry hopping (seems most homebrewers don't anymore) because of risk of infection and oxidation, besides the fact that its just a PITA to add extra steps and extra cleaning for no reason. And as was already metioned, you should never bottle if fermentation is still active because you will just make bottle bombs and have one helluva mess on your hands!

www.northernbrewer.com/learn/resources/refractometer-calculator/

 

You really need to get a hydrometer...I have only had problems with my refractometer's post fermentation readings and quit using it years ago because the readings never jived with the hydrometer readings. It always seemed accurate for prefermentation readings though, which can be useful for all grain brewing as you can test your wort even while it's hot. Give it another few days and see if fermentation slows or is completed before taking another reading. I'd recommend not using a secondary in the future unless you are long term aging a brew and NEED to get it off the yeast cake. I do all "secondaries" (that are less than a month or so) in the primary fermenter and never have issues. It'll save you time, effort, cleaning and the risk of contamination and oxidation.

Keep us up to date on this batch, but for now just have a homebrew and relax

 

As for the bubbling question, the beer can be off gassing still. Also, things like outside temp and barometric pressure can make your fermenter bubble on its own, and this can all happen after your beer hits fg.

 

In my experience Sean Terrill's refractometer calculator is very good, better than any other I have tried. And some of them are fairly bad. That's why I included Sean's (with a slight enhancement) in BrewCipher.

 

If you have a hydrometer, I'd take a reading and compare it to your recipe's expected FG to see where you are. I'm guessing that your answer from Northern Brewer about the 'nucleation from the hops' is the answer why you're still seeing bubbles. The hydrometer is invaluable to keep you from making wrong decisions based on calendar days.