I had a lot of bubbles in my tube but my FG was better than expected. Should I wait longer or bottle? Can I keep the same sample and use it for further testing (kept covered of course)?
You mean it was lower than expected? Are you going off the numbers given on the kit you bought? Usually you can get rid of bubbles by spinning the hydrometer and shaking the tube. Bubbles should only make your gravity higher.
If there were bubbles it's possible your FG is actually lower than you think. Take a new hydrometer sample in 2 days, then another 2 days later. If no change, then you can bottle.
And if when drinking the sample, pay attention to whether you get a sour or very tart flavor. Depending on how long your beer has been fermenting, a final gravity reading that is well under your expected gravity reading could be an indicator for other issues.
It's carbonation as a product of fermentation. But it's not enough CO2 to fully carbonate your beer to style.
Yes. A fair amount of CO2 generated during fermentation stays dissolved in the beer. When it's agitated (draw a sample, rack to other vessel, etc.) some of that dissolved CO2 gets released.
It's better to wait 2-3 days between readings. No (measured) change in one day may not mean that it's done.
I remember not too long ago someone who frequents this forum reminding us all to shake up/ agitate our samples for Hydrometer readings to de-gas them for a more accurate reading.
Today's reading was the same so I went ahead and bottled. It was really releasing CO2 as I filled the bottles so I let them settle down before capping, let's hope I don't get a bunch of bombs! There was more action if I put the priming sugar in first, anyone else get that?
How do you introduce your priming sugar during the bottling process? I don't understand "if I put the priming sugar in first." Is it going into the bottling bucket as a powder, or do you boil it into a syrup solution before adding?
The advice offered was wait three days between readings to ensure fermentation has finished ... not one. Sounds more like a beau coup injection of O2 rather than a release of CO2. I'd store the bottles in a spare bath tub ... covered with towels with the shower curtain drawn.
When you added beer on top of the sugar, the sugar granules acted as nucleation points to release more CO2 from solution. This would probably be the "action" you saw. I too am puzzled about why you went ahead and bottled. You came here and asked if you should bottle now, and then talked about bottling the next day. Two people advised you to wait and repeat readings in two or three days. Nobody advised you to bottle sooner than that. So I have to ask... why did you ask?
Clearly, the OP just couldn't help himself. Patience is most easily practiced when one's kegs are full. Likely this is not the case here.
