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Little Bubbles in Carboy?

N

NabilMish

Hello, All!

I've had my 2nd batch of beer going for a long time (Feb. 2 to Mar. 21!), and I still see tiny bubbles coming up in the carboy. Is that normal? It's a "steam" type beer from a kit, and (if I measured correctly) the S.G. started a little lower than the instructions say (1.040 instead of 1.050), but now it's in the right finish range (1.010). I may not have aerated it very well at the beginning, and my basement stays around 60 degrees F. I just tasted a little tonight when I checked the S.G., and it tasted OK. Should I be concerned about the tiny bubbles that I still see coming up? I (obviously) don't want "bottle bombs"... For future batches should I only be concerned with the S.G. and not worry about the small amount of fermentation that can go for a long time?

Thanks!

Neal
 
If you divide the change in gravity (30 pts) by the OG (40), you get 75% attenuation which is typical for many beer yeast.  And you say it tastes OK.  If the FG were much lower and/or the attenuation was really high, that might indicate an additional critter got in there and kept eating.  And it might taste sour.

If no starter was done, little aeration was added, and it's 60F, then that probably explains the long slow ferm.  I bet you're OK.  It's been 7+ weeks and the gravity is fine, so you could either bottle immediately or transfer to secondary to help clarify the beer before bottling. 
 
Thanks for the reply! I transferred it from my bucket to my one carboy in the first week and I'm tired of waiting, so I'll go ahead and bottle it.

... so... in the future I shouldn't be concerned about tiny bubbles that keep coming up, as long as the S.G. is OK, right?
 
You are probably just seeing a little Co2 gassing off. This happens from time to time. Nothing to worry about as long as your at your FG with no surprises.

Cheers
Preston
 
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