Is it time to bottle?

[HogieWan]

I'm doing my first batch, so I'm a bit jumpy here. I've had the same gravity reading for about 3 days, but the airlock is still bubbling a little. Also the SG isn't where I expected it to be: it is at 1.020 and expected FG is 1.015. What do I do?

[toneyc]

How long has it been fermenting? What was the starting gravity?

:)
Toney.

[HogieWan]

sorry - I thought I put an OG. It was 1.054. Its been fermenting since monday evening, but it started quickly. The next morning was the fastest action in the airlock and by wednesday morning the krausen had formed and fallen already.

[HogieWan]

Will the airlock completely stop bubbling when it's done?

Also, I've pulled the stopper a couple times to check the SG (using a thief) and have noticed that the airlock bubbles a little quicker just after putting it back on. Is this normal?

[BrewDog]

HogieWan-

If the Krausen has fallen, it's pretty much safe to bottle.
I almost always secondary ferment, but if I ever do a single-stage ferment, I usually wait a day or 2 after it's fallen, just to be on the safe side.

The airlock will slow down a bunch, but it might not come to a complete halt.

Keep in mind that every time you open it up, you risk contamination. Have patience, and you will be rewarded with really good beer. Just give it the time it needs (min 2 weeks in the bottle, preferable 3 or more).

HTH-

[HogieWan]

I'm going to do a two stage for my next batch. When do I transfer to the secondary? My primary will be a plastic bucket, can you go by airlock activity to know when to transfer? Is there a wrong time to transfer?

[Wilson]

Hey, good to see some one else from Louisiana!

I ususally have my brews on the 1-2-2 methode. 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary, and 2 weeks in bottle. This is a "more or less" schedule. Most of the times I leave them in longer because I'm lazy.

Just dont bottle too early or you'll have a bunch of bottle bombs on your hands.

[HogieWan]

I've read a couple places that you should transfer to secondary after the initial fermentation slows down.

I'm just wanting to know the earliest possible times for all this (moving to secondary, bottling, drinking) so that If I ever want to make a batch for some occasion, I'll know if I have time to do it.