very long ferment

[billybacardi]

Hi all and cheers, about 3-4 weeks ago i did a bit of an experimental brew , 1 can, i kilo dme, some grains, extra hops and elderflowers, sg 1.040, fermented really good for 2 days then slowed right down to 1 bubble in about 1 and a half mins, i left it a week and took a reading, 1.010. left it for over a week to let it finish, it did'nt but i decided to put in secondary anyway. its been in the secondary now for two weeks and its still bubbling at about the rate of 1 bubble every 1 - 2 mins. Not sure if i should bottle it and risk a few or all of them blowing or wether to add more yeast to see if it ferments out completely....... any suggestions/comments welcomed,

[Rubbery]

I guess your elderflowers were knocking around while you were brewing, so it is quite likely to be a wild yeast infection that is bubbling away in the background. This is not necessarily a bad thing - you may end up with a funky beer.

As you are already below 1.010 adding more yeast will do nothing to help, so I would bottle it with little or no priming and watch closely.

[billybacardi]

It might be possible to be a wild yeast thing but i dont really think so, I had brought 1 gallon of water to the boil, turned off the heat and added the flowers straight away then steeped for 30 mins before removing the flowers. Idid think that the boiled water which was still at least 90degrees would have killed everything off. Do you think it would have? thanks for the reply. ps its still bubbling

[Rubbery]

I was thinking that you had probably got a lot of wild yeast in the air when you were sorting the flowers. That yeast may have landed in your wort.

[billybacardi]

well i have to say !!!!!! wild yeast or not, this brew tastes absolutely fantastic and its not just me saying that, well worth the wait, cheers all and thanks for the advice.

[Rookie]

It could just be co2 coming out of suspention. I'd think it would bubble more often than every minute or two if it were a wild yeast infection.