Should I bottle?

[GavOReilly]

Looking for advice.
I found the ingredients for an American pale ale that I bought 8 months ago and never got around to brewing. I decided to try use them anyway but I had a few problems. First off: I only achieved an original gravity of 1.033 (was aiming for at least 1.045). I was also unable to get the wort as cool as I'd like. The weather was very warm and my wort chiller just wouldn't bring it below 24C.

It's been fermenting now for seven days with no airlock activity. There was a bit of foam on top for the first few days but now there is none. The temperature is currently 21C.

My question is: is it worth bottling or should I just toss it out and start a new brew?

[Parky]

My question is: is it worth bottling or should I just toss it out and start a new brew?

Before considering bottling a good first step might be to determine if fermentation has completed. Take a gravity reading and if it seems a little high (say 1.020) then there are still fermentables in there that may cause issues when bottled.

If you're getting a high gravity reading you might try pitching in some fresh yeast. I'm not sure what type of yeast you were using or how it was stored over the 8 months, but sounds like it may not have performed as expected. New yeast will be quite happy at 21oC (or lower if it's possible for you), and should complete fermentation for you without any issues.

Another trick I've used to kick start a stalled or incomplete fermentation is to add a little dextrose to the FV (maybe as little as 100g per 23L batch) and gently rouse the yeast from the bottom of the FV. The simpler sugars seem to encourage the yeast to start feeding again, and once they're worked through the dextrose they carry on with the unfermented maltose and more complex sugars.

If the gravity reading is low over a number of days, indicating fermentation is complete, I would leave it for another week at least. High initial temperatures may create some off flavours, which will take the yeast time to clear up.

Next step might be to taste the brew and determine if there are any off flavours (see Palmers guide - http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html). Then ask yourself the question - would I buy this in a pub? 

'To toss or not to toss' is always a tough choice, but if you follow the steps above at least you'll have given the brew a fair chance to redeem itself. Good luck 

BTW: Welcome to the forum - you might consider introducing yourself in the 'Introductions' forum so you can tell us a little more about your brewing and connect with your local club.

[Jonnycheech]

Sounds like you had a Krausen (foam) so therefore fermentation occurred. Odd that there was no bubbles from the airlock though. Some things you might check: is the fermenter lid sealed properly and is there liquid in the bubbler? I know they sound silly but I have made the error before of not sealing the lid fully and I thought nothing was happening but it had fermented fine.

The OG is a quite a bit off? Did you add enough malt or too much water at some point?

As parky says check the gravity and taste it. If it tastes ok bottle it. You'll probably have a few esters and diacetyl in there as you fermented at 24C which is too high. If you can get it down to 1.010 you'll have a 3% brew, which is a nice session ale.

It's a learning curve

[Pheeel]

Might also be worth posting the recipe too

OG can be an interesting one with extract as each brand varies

[GavOReilly]

Thanks Guys. Gravity reading on day 11 is 1.010. Having tasted the sample there is a very slight astringency (& quite dry) but a not bad flavour.

[LordEoin]

You should be fine. You might even get lucky and some of that astringency will fade in the bottle or get hidden a bit when cold and fizzy.

What yeast did you use?

[GavOReilly]

What yeast did you use?

Safale US-05

[eanna]

A few of my fermenter/lid combos don't bubble the airlock anymore, its nothing to be worried about.

[GavOReilly]

Airlock just started bubbling on day 12 (after gravity already reached 1.010). What's going on?

[Parky]

[size=0px]Airlock just started bubbling on day 12 (after gravity already reached 1.010). What's going on?[/size]

This is most likely CO2 in solution being released, and isn't unusual to see even after fermentation has finished. It can sometimes happen if the FV was moved, or if you took a sample, or if the temp. of the room increased, or just because ... 


Remember, the bubbler is simply a means of venting gases from the FV, so nothing to be concerned about really. More important at this stage is to take a gravity reading a few days apart to determine if the brew has finished fermenting, and once it has, it's time to bottle.