When to bottle big beer

[rockharrier]

So I've got a Belgian Dark Strong going in the primary fermentor. It's at about 10% abv, and refractometer readings have not changed in over a week. At about 1.010. Yeast is the Wyeast 3787 trappist high gravity. How much longer should I wait to bottle?

 

[brewcat]

How long has it been in the primary? I have a dubbel going that I plan on leaving at least another week which would be 4 weeks since brew day. Once gravity is stable it is about bulk aging.

 

[Culbetron]

If the gravity has not changed in over a week, you should be ok to bottle. Just remember that the gravity of a fermented beer needs to be measured with a hydrometer, not a refractometer. Refractometers work well for measuring the gravity of wort, but the alcohol throws them off when measuring beer.

 

[rockharrier]

It's been 3 weeks in primary. Regarding the refractometer, I convert the brix to gravity points using the Beersmith tools...when I compare the conversion to a hydrometer sample, it's almost always spot on! In any case I tend to use the refractometer to see when the fermentation is stopping, and a hydrometer sample for my "official" FG.

Cheers,

 

[Culbetron]

If you trust the accuracy of your measurements then stable gravity for a week should give you plenty of confidence to bottle.

 

[beergolf]

I would consider giving it some more time. That yeast can fool you into thinking it is done and then slowly tic off a few more points.

The only time I had an overcarbed beer was using that yeast. I went 4 weeks and it seemed to be stable so I bottled it. Obviously was not. If you look up some of the comments on 3787 you will find that it is known for doing that. Best to err on too long than too short. A beer that big will need some age anyway so no need to rush it into bottles.

 

[rockharrier]

Thanks. I'll give it a couple more weeks.

 

[cannman]

Don't forget to adjust for the fact that you have alcohol in your beer when using a refractometer

 

[GrogNerd]

adjust for the measurement, not for the stability of the measurement

if the reading on a refractometer is stable, it's not an accurate measurement of gravity. if the reading is not stable, that is an accurate indication there is still active fermentation

otherwise there is no reason to rush it.

I will say I didn't have a great experience trying to bulk condition my 2nd barleywine. came out tasting like model airplane glue. don't know what happened to cause that

 

[rockharrier]

Maybe I'll split the middle and aim for end of next week. Out of curiosity I took a hydrometer reading today (have a SS bucket with ball valve, so it's easy, I just hate wasting beer). Hydrometer was 1.009, and refractometer was 9.1 (where it's been for 10 days now). I'll take another hydrometer sample on Friday, and if it's stable I'll bottle...that would be about the 4 week mark.

I'm pretty pleased to go from 1.081 to 1.009 with this yeast...I brought up temp to 76 near the end to dry it out as much as possible...mashed at 150. Anyone have experience with this yeast getting much lower on a beer this size?

 

[rockharrier]

Btw - the hydrometer sample was dead-on with the refractometer prediction. The Beersmith refractometer calculators seem pretty accurate whenever I cross-reference them to a hydrometer.