Advice please on my Red Ale

[JonGoku]

I checked my Red Ale last night (brewed on 3/14) and it still had a good bit of krausen on top (after 13days as of this writing). The OG was 1.051 and the reading last night was 1.017. The target OG and FG for the kit was 1.052 and 1.014. I've been keeping it at 65* do you think it still has a chance to knock of 2-3 more points if I warm it up to 70ish? Would I need to give it a bit of a swirl?

The yeast I used for this one was an English London Ale yeast I got from the brew master at The Red Car Brewery near my work. It had a very quick and active ferment at the beginning, and was the first time I needed to use a blow off. All of my beers so far have been bottled at 2 weeks or later and this is the first time I've seen thick krausen still on top at the 2 week mark. Is it best to wait for this to drop before bottling or transferring? Is it a sign fermentation is still going?

Edit: Also where does this fit in the BJCP style guidelines?

[brahn]

Different yeasts have different flocculation rates. It's not abnormal for the krausen to stick around for quite a while after fermentation is complete. To determine if it's done fermenting, take another reading in a day or two and see if the gravity has changed.

[backyard brewer]

Different yeasts have different flocculation rates. It's not abnormal for the krausen to stick around for quite a while after fermentation is complete. To determine if it's done fermenting, take another reading in a day or two and see if the gravity has changed.

+1

Swirling or warming a little won't hurt anything either.

[JonGoku]

Taking hydrometer readings for 2-3 days and comparing is well understood.

To clarify what I'm asking:
1) Is it best to wait for the krausen to subside before transferring
2) Is warming and swirling advisable to milk out a few more gravity points

[JonGoku]

Swirling or warming a little won't hurt anything either.

Will give it a try.

[brahn]

You don't need to wait for the krausen to subside before transferring. Swirling and raising the temperature won't hurt, but it's never really helped me either.

I wouldn't put a whole lot of faith in the FG estimates you see on kits, they're very rough estimates.

[JonGoku]

You don't need to wait for the krausen to subside before transferring. Swirling and raising the temperature won't hurt, but it's never really helped me either.

I wouldn't put a whole lot of faith in the FG estimates you see on kits, they're very rough estimates.

Alright thanks for the advice. I'm fairly satisfied with how it tastes pre-carb'd but it would be nice for once to say I hit my target. I was fairly certain I was going to for this one since it went off like a firecracker.

My only regrets I have from this batch is taking a shortcut with the specialty grain steep. As I had read elsewhere in webville that it was ok to stick the grains in at flame on, and remove them when temps reached 160F this is what I did. I recall a fairly strong grain/tea taste to my initial wort before pitching and can not recall if it felt "puckery". I'm slightly worried the short cut may have cost me in additional tanins. When I tasted it last night the strong grain/tea flavor was not as present, but then again I was left with a split decision on whether it was just a "dry crisp drink" or if it was a tad on the tannin filled side.

All comments aside that I need to RDWHAHB because I'm over analyzing, I'm curious to understand how much the shortcut cost me. Needless to say, I'll be less lazy next time, however given the time frame in which I'm given the hall pass to brew is getting shorter we'll see.

Any comments on what catagory the Red Ale falls in? I know there were other kits that specifically mentioned Irish Red so this is different then that I suppose.

[maltbarley]

I have never seen a yeast advertised with an exact attenuation rather than a % range. So yeah, I'd RDWAHAHB (in fact, I am right now).

[JonGoku]

I have never seen a yeast advertised with an exact attenuation rather than a % range. So yeah, I'd RDWAHAHB (in fact, I am right now).

hehe, I did bring homebrew to work today

[jward]

Any comments on what catagory the Red Ale falls in? I know there were other kits that specifically mentioned Irish Red so this is different then that I suppose.

I would suggest that it most likely falls in 10B American Amber Ale. Take a look at 9D vs 10B. I brew a lot of Red Ale and they are not necessarily to either style. Keep in mind that the BJCP style guide lines do not represent every beer you can brew.

[JonGoku]

Any comments on what catagory the Red Ale falls in? I know there were other kits that specifically mentioned Irish Red so this is different then that I suppose.

I would suggest that it most likely falls in 10B American Amber Ale. Take a look at 9D vs 10B. I brew a lot of Red Ale and they are not necessarily to either style. Keep in mind that the BJCP style guide lines do not represent every beer you can brew.

Thanks, that makes sense. I agree that it would be difficult for the guide lines to represent every beer you could brew, however I assumed a Red Ale was more common then not. When I bottle this, I will try to aim for a higher end carbonation and prime with 4.5oz/5gal of corn sugar (ferment @ 68F)

[JonGoku]

I opened up a bottle of the Red I bottled last Friday and I may have overdone the carbonation a little. It was only in the fridge for about 45min and my wife was the one who transferred it from where I had my cases of beer to the fridge (she could have shook it up ) but when I opened it I got a bit of foam coming out the top. I'm wary of some potential bottle bombs so I put two foam containers on top and on bottom just in case to minimize any collateral damage.

Other then that I'm fairly satisfied with the turnout.

Derrin, you may want to move the bottle I left at your place to a "secure location". Let me test a few more, and then I'll try to compare notes with you next week sometime on how you think it turned out.

[brahn]

4.5oz in 5G is not that much sugar. I used to use at least 5oz and up to 6.5oz for a highly carbonated style. There are a few things that come to mind as far as what could cause the excessive foaming. If the priming sugar doesn't mix well, you'll end up with some of your batch hyper carbonated and some of it undercarbonated. Hopefully you get some that's just right too. Infections can also cause this problem, but you would most likely be able to taste, smell, or see signs of an infection in the bottle.

[JonGoku]

4.5oz in 5G is not that much sugar. I used to use at least 5oz and up to 6.5oz for a highly carbonated style. There are a few things that come to mind as far as what could cause the excessive foaming. If the priming sugar doesn't mix well, you'll end up with some of your batch hyper carbonated and some of it undercarbonated. Hopefully you get some that's just right too. Infections can also cause this problem, but you would most likely be able to taste, smell, or see signs of an infection in the bottle.

Thanks for the feedback. When mixing in the priming solution I let the siphon swirl in the incoming wort to help mix in and after it was transferred I took a sanitized spoon and slowly stirred it some more. Anyways, I'll try another tonight and see how it goes.

[backyard brewer]

I'll refrigerate it