[euge]

[sigh] You did not follow Denny's advice.[/sigh]

It is essential one checks the gravity before removing the beer from the primary fermenter. Now it needs to sit in the "secondary vessel" for longer. Due to the cold-snap you had a problem- however a gravity check would have let you know the beer still needed to be on the yeast.

Chalk it up as a learning opportunity!

As a warning- if your current beer is bottled before it is done fermenting you could experience bottle bombs or gushers. At the very least the beer will be over-carbonated.

[smthgfshy]

DOH!!!!! 

I've experienced bottle bombs before.......very scary....

I'm not gonna worry about though....I'll let it sit for a good three weeks or longer in the secondary.  I'll take gravity readings every week. 

Any possibility of pitching some more yeast in there??
How 'bout reducing the amount of priming sugar used at bottling time??

There's only thing to do.....conduct a detailed comparison of Celebrator VS. Salvator.....here goes.

[tschmidlin]

If possible you can try warming it up too.  Since the bulk of fermentation is over there is very little risk of off flavors, and it can help the yeast dry it out.  If possible, I'd move it up to 70 or 72 F and see what it does.

[smthgfshy]

Update #4763...

I checked my gravity and its still 1.028.  The beer is mostly clear.  Hop leaves are still floating on top, soaked through, but haven't sank.  I moved it back to an area that sits right around the 40-55 degree area in preparation for bottling.  I'm hoping the cooler temps will settle the yeast and smooth out the flavor.  After the warnings of bottle bombs, I plan to prime with only 1 cup of DME, instead of 1.25cups.  I'll condition the bottles in a safe, cool area. 

on tasting notes, the beer is fairly bitter, not overly coyingly sweet.  Hops are present for sure, not overly aromatic like a ruination.  Color is a bright med. amber, with overt shades of ruby or scarlet.  Tastes fairly similar to Lagunitas lucky 13, mondo large red or maybe a hop rod rye....it's been a while since I tasted that one though....I'll take a bottle over to Denali Brewing Co. and have them do a more involved tasting in a month.


If the bottles don't explode, it'll be the best second batch of homebrew I've ever brewed.

Hope all your winter brewing projects are going well.  Thanks to all for the advice!!

[smthgfshy]

I popped open a bottle of the big red ipa yesterday and here is what I found....

Poured a deep deep red...mahogany, garnets, rubies, reddish brown.
Head formation was slow and modest, 1 finger, slightly reddish, very dense, thick, rich, sticky, creamy, tiny bubbles
Carbonation was low - too low - only a very few tiny bubbles rising to the surface.
Mouthfeel was creamy, malty, sweet - too sweet (high FG?) to balance bittering hops
Aroma was of rich malts, bready, caramels, hops came in late, never overpowering - even the dry hops
Drinkability was great albeit sweet (a touch cloying), alcohol was unnoticeable, but I could feel it after 25 ounces.

Wish I could've got my FG down a little to dry things up.  I added 2/3 corn sugar instead of 3/4 to help reduce the possibility of bottle bombs.  And of course the temp plummeted after bottling.....so they never got to sit at 70 to prime properly.   I'll open another in 10 days or so and I moved the bottles in front of my heater so maybe after some more time things will improve.

Thanks again everyone for the wonderful help, ideas, recommendations, and criticism.  I'm very happy with the result as is.  I might even enter it into a homebrew competition next door at DBC.  My second batch (Belgo-Am IPA) is well under way and I'm picking ingredients up tomorrow for a Levitation clone.

D-