First brew (Wherry) still fermenting after 12 days

[razer]

Hi all, just after a bit of advice. Put my first brew on a week ago Saturday just gone (Woodfordes Wherry) and it is still bubbling (about every 5 minutes now)

Ive been away for a couple of days so didnt get chance to put the Hydrometer in last night but on Sunday evening it was at 1015 (1018 a couple of days before) It hasnt started clearing down yet either so do i leave it longer or should i put it in the King Keg yet? (i'll check the hydrometer tonight)

In terms of colour its still a dark brown and quite bitter to the taste at present, is that normal?

Also when i put in the priming sugar, can i use Glucose (it came free with the starter kit) or is normal sugar preferable for priming?

Thanks

[Benson_JV]

1015...with a woodfordes? Top notch.
If it stays at 1015 for 3 consecutive days, your fine to keg it. No harm in leaving it for a few extra days in the FV though. The colour & bitterness will definitely change over maturing. If the glucose came free, it'll be fine to use.
Hope this helps mate, good luck!

[razer]

Cheers, sounds like its time to keg it from that!

[razer]

Well shes gone into the King Keg, so heres hoping!

Need to go out and buy another kit and keg now....

[garysig]

I'm having a similar problem with my Geordie Yorkshire bitter. It's been going for 8 days now, at 18 to 19 degrees, so I'm not expecting it to have brewed particularly fast, but it's been stuck on 1012 for the last two mornings (and was around 1014 the morning before). The Instructions say don't bottle until it's below 1005 or risk explosion in the bottles - am I safe to ignore this? Is my hydrometer out of calibration?

I think I over filled the FV if that's important?

The top of the liquid in the FV is virtually foam free, but there is a very fine amount of bubble/foam here and there, as if an incredibly slow brew is still happening.

Cheers

Gary

[razer]

Exactly the same then. The box said my brew should be ready after 4/6 days. Not sure if i would risk bottling it though. At least my Keg has a pressure relief valve.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

I'm having a similar problem with my Geordie Yorkshire bitter. It's been going for 8 days now, at 18 to 19 degrees, so I'm not expecting it to have brewed particularly fast, but it's been stuck on 1012 for the last two mornings (and was around 1014 the morning before). The Instructions say don't bottle until it's below 1005 or risk explosion in the bottles - am I safe to ignore this? Is my hydrometer out of calibration?

I think I over filled the FV if that's important?

The top of the liquid in the FV is virtually foam free, but there is a very fine amount of bubble/foam here and there, as if an incredibly slow brew is still happening.

Cheers

Gary

I did a Geordie Bitter a few weeks ago with 500g medium spray malt and 500g brewing sugar. By days 6 and 7 it had got down to about 1.011 IRC so I kegged it. I suspect the yeasts supplied in the cheaper kits don't like a high-malt diet. As you're bottling rather than kegging it may be safer to persevere for another few days.

[simple one]

Read the instructions, but take them with a pinch of salt. I think they are written by a health and safety concious lawyer.

I had the same dramas when i started out, loads of literature said you had to ferment down to gravities that the beer (in hidsight) was never going to get down to.

Ignore your instructions.

Trust your hydrometer. Even if its not calibrated correctly, it will still give a consistantly wrong result over 3 days!

[garysig]

Thanks guys. I used 1KG of brewers sugar. LMy last reading was this morning so I'll take another tomorrow morning to be sure and then probably bottle tomorrow night.

Unfortunatley the hydrometer that came with all my kit was smashed in transit, so I wasn't able to take an initial gravity reading. It'd be reassuring to know the original gravity buy hey ho... I'll know for next time.