Longer Fermentation plus Need More Priming Sugar ???

[vixdname]

Hi there, 1st post on here and hope someone can answer 2 quick questions.

1. Im making a Festival Razorback IPA and its been bubbling for 14 days come tomorrow, the bubbling in the airlock is getting slower but its still there 2 weeks on.
I dry hopped on day 5 as required on instructions.
Ive maintained a temp of between 20 and 24 degrees at all times.
Is it unusual that its still fermenting after 2 weeks ?

2. I mistakenly filled the primary fermenter up to 25 litres instead of 23 litres as mentioned in the instructions when I atarted the brew.
I know this will lower the alcohol level and may slightly affect the head it keeps in glass but I have 100 grams of priming sugar to add when it finally finishes fermentation.
That 100 grams of dextrose is based on 23 litres but as I said I put in 25 litres, do I need to add or can I add more table sugar to up the ratio of priming sugar to container quantity as per the instructions???

Id rather the IPA over carbonated than under carbonated as a matter of personal taste.

If any of you experts could give me any info on the above Id genuinely be very grateful.

[Raxy]

Have you taken gravity readings? I've never made that kit but it should be finished in about a week. What temperature is it fermenting at?
For the carbonation 100g won't be enough if you want a lot of carbonation. I used to use 120-130g for 23 liter batches. If you want a lot of carbonation you could try 140-150. There are calculators online you can use to figure out how much is needed, just watch out for bottle bombs.

[Water_Wolf]

Have you got a hydrometer? That's really the only way to know that it has finished fermenting.

If you don't have one you could just taste the beer to see if it is still sweet. In all likelyhood it has finished fermenting and is just slowly degassing.

You can add normal table sugar to the dextrose to increase the carbonation. Just make sure you put the same amount of sugars into each bottle.

[guest2162]

This calculator works it all out for you...

https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

[vixdname]

Ok  so it looks like ill be putting in another 25 grams of table sugar along with the 100gs of dextrose supplied with the kit.
I tasted it and it doesnt taste sweet at all.
The sg is coming in at 1.005, which is exactly whats required according to the instructions.
The airlock is still bubbling albeit slowly, but what frightening me is the instructions specifically say that Im not to bottle until all bubbling is stopped !!!! Yet its achieved the required sg
Between the still bubbling airlock and that Im adding extra priming sugar I dont want bottle bombs.
Is this bubbling just co2 escaping naturally as someone suggested I dont know......any more suggestions

[guest2162]

Check the FG again tomorrow and if it hasn't changed fermentation has finished.

Two possible explanations for airlock activity are

When you dry hop, the hop particles provide nucleation sites for the co2 which causes them to be released from the beer

also, another possible cause for the airlock activity could be temperature fluctuations especially at the moment when the nights are cold but the temperature rises again during the day


I think the best advice is probably just have patience. You will lose absolutely nothing by leaving it another week. I know when I was starting I rushed a few batches and was always sorry I didn't just give it more time!

[vixdname]

Right so, Ill check with the hydrometer again tomorrow and see what it reads.
The temperature does also fluctuate a bit between night and day, eventhough I usually heat up the room a little before heading to bed to stop the temperature falling too low.
Ill leave it for a few more days even if the SG readings remain stable, just to give it that extra time to ensure fermentation is completely finished.
Youre right about having patience though, I dont mind waiting if it means I get a decent end product.
Ill let ye know how i get on

[guest2162]

There is a home brewing adage that has become a cliche that holds much truth from a godfather of modern home brewing Charles Papazian, which is 'relax, don't worry, have a home brew' (RDWHAHB)

[La brewski]

I done this kit a while ago took 3 weeks to finish I batch primed and it never carbed properly at all it was the first and last time I batch primed never had trouble before it really bugged me cos it should of been a tasty brew

[vixdname]

Ive read upteen reviews on this kit and overall it gets great reviews. I like well carbonated brews and considering I put 2 extra liters of water Im definitely going to add to the 100gs of dextrose priming sugar I got with the kit. Going to add about another 15 to 20gs. If I find after a few weeks conditioning its still under carbonated Ill have no issue opening all bottles and adding more sugar per bottle before leaving them back in the warmth again.
Am on day 17 now and its bubbling on avg every 70 to 80 seconds.
Do u have any suspicions as to why your batch didn't carbonate?, temp issue, dead yeast ?

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

an alternative to batch priming, is to make up a priming sugar solution, and inject 10ml of it into the bottles, using something like a 100ml syringe.

Basically if your 20L batch calls for 150g of priming sugar, thats going into 40 bottles, at 10ml of solution each, you will need 400ml of solution with 160g of sugar dissolved in it. In practice I overbuild the solution, to something like 500ml/200g.

This is a bit more faffy than batch priming, but you can get good at it over time, injecting 10 bottles at a go. You can get more precise priming, if batch priming is not mixing thoroughly for you.