Hi there. It's me, the eternal noob. I just bottled a session IPA (or very hoppy pale) because I'm going out of town and can't leave it sitting for another 10 days (it was copiously dry-hopped for one). I took gravity readings Saturday(1020) yesterday (1018) and today (1018 - but only about 15 hours later) and went for it. My question is - and potentially a stupid one - is that enough elapsed time for no change in reading? The FG is high according to calculating software. It should have finished at 1013. I used Safale US -05 and today was day 14 in the fermenter. They yeast had fallen out nicely and the beer was clear. It smells and tastes great and is right where I wanted it in that sense. I am asking because my last beer suffered from a possible fusel alcohol problem - it had a hot, apple taste and no real hop characteristics. I was of the 'just wait two weeks and bottle' school, but now that I have a fermenter with a spigot it's easier to take gravity readings. Lesson learned. Thanks in advance.
I would say that it was too soon. Three days with no change between gravity readings is the rule of thumb for homebrewers. Gushers or even bottle bombs may be in your future. Since the deed is done and you're going out of town, I'd say to bottle condition in the coolest place in your living space in a sealed plastic bin. Check carbonation level once you get back and refrigerate the entire batch once it reaches desired carbonation. Then again, the yeast may have been done. A little extra caution won't hurt, though.
Thanks. I will keep it in the basement, as we're already over 90 here. I guess I could have just fished out the hop sock and let it sit another week, but then I was paranoid about exposing it to oxygen and floaties...
Also I realize that they are two different problems: fermenting at too high of a temp (fusel alcohol) and bottling too early, but what I meant to say was that I'm worried about off-flavors again. If potential bottle bombs is the only problem I can live with that I guess.
Bottling too early should not cause off-flavors. To re-enforce what @MrOH posted above it would be wise to place your bottled beer within a container of some sort (e.g., big plastic totes if you have them) to contain the potential bottle bombs. Also if you have some protection (e.g., face shield, eye googles, work gloves, etc.) it would be a good idea to wear them when opening the first bottle(s) to check on the carbonation level. Safety first! Cheers! P.S. I will be sending you a PM with a link to an article that you might want to read.
Out of curiosity, are you using a hydrometer or refractometer to measure FG? And if you're using a refractometer, are you adjusting the reading using a wort adjustment calculator? If not that could account for the unexpectedly high reading. (I still remember the first time I used a refractometer and got a nominal FG of like 1.034 or something, I was losing it until I realized I needed to adjust the raw number.) For what it's worth, speaking personally, I would have bottled this beer without worrying about it. That might not be best practices, but US-05 isn't a finnicky yeast and 2 weeks is plenty of time. Still, I agree with the advice about being careful with the bottles - better safe than sorry.
When I have rushed batches, I have sometimes encountered acetaldehyde and diacetyl. In bottles, they have been ephemeral, as extended conditioning after priming seemd to help. It was just the early bottles I tasted that were problematic. Since kegging I have not noticed acetaldehyde but can think of several batches with diacetyl issues that ultimately were solved with adding active yeast.
Good point. If you bottle before the primary fermentation properly processes the byproducts of acetaldehyde and diacetyl is not ideal. My personal experience with US -05 is that this is completed well in under 14 days (in less than 7 days for me) but.... Cheers!
