Is it time to bottle?

[Ceejay]

G'day all. I'm brewing a Coopers Canadian Blonde, its been bubbling away since I began last Tuesday (12th) and now the bubbling has slowed right down to almost zero. Took a hyd. test and it showed 1016....question is: should I wait until the reading is down to around 1010 before I bottle, I used 1kg No.2 Brew Enhancer.? Appreciate any input, cheers.

[BierMeister]

You can bottle or leave it another week in the fermenter. Depends how desperate you are to drink it? I would personally leave it another week or two to brew out, settle and condition (mature) somewhat before bottling it. Do another hydro check after 24 hours and if it's the same reading then you can bottle, even if the Hydro is still 1016 don't worry its fine.

[Ceejay]

Thanks for the prompt reply B.M. ,yes I'm hanging to taste the brew as my last effort got an infection and ended up down the gurgler, but if leaving it to brew another week or so will only enhance the taste, I'm all for that. I was a bit wary as I had been told that if I left the brew in the fermenter after the bubbling had stopped there was a chance that it might sour a be undrinkable. Thanks again.

[BierMeister]

1. Your last brew. What sort of infection? Describe the taste etc.. how do you know you got an infection?
2. Leaving the brew in the fermenter is not a problem for a number of weeks as long as the temp is normal (below 25C) and you have sanitized everything prior to brewing, which brings me back to question 1.

[Ceejay]

re the infection, the beer tasted sour and smelt pretty awful and someone on this forum suggested that it sounded like an infection.

[Trough Lolly]

Your infection may have originated in the bottles you used. Clean like a demon and if in doubt, clean them again!!
No point wasting all your hard work on dirty bottles.

Cheers,
TL

[BierMeister]

Yeah, definately sounds like it. I would suggest if you want to get some better flavour out of your brew to leave it for 2 weeks to mature and settle. This will get rid of a lot of those off flavours commonly associated with home brews. Thats 3 weeks in total from when you began the brew. If you can, leave it in a cool place, or a spare fridge can be used. This helps a lot of the yeast and crud to fall out to the bottom and out of the resultant beer you put in the bottle.