Autoylsis guidance...????

[samsonave]

Brewed a pretty big (1.082) belgian golden strong during the first week of December. I did a starter with new vial. Pitched at 66 and raised/maintained around 70-72. Exponential phase was strong, but here I am nearly a month later...and still am getting a bubble every 5-10 seconds or so and can visibly see plenty of CO2 rising.

I don't like to take a gravity reading until I see fermenation has clearly ended. Worried if I dont pull this off the now huge yeast cake I am going to get autolysis in my beer.

So help me: let this thing finish fermenting? or secondary and stir up some yeast to finish any left overs? Open to suggestion...

[krizwit]

What yeast? A month is not a big deal. CO2 can come out of suspension when the beer is warmed, but a bubble every 5-10 seconds is quite a bit. Take a gravity reading and see where you are at.

[samsonave]

It was WLP570, Belgian Golden.

[RLinNH]

I'm with Krizwit on this one.

[BrewerAdam]

I agree that a month is nothing to worry about. 3 months maybe, but I would just let it go and take a reading in a couple of weeks.

[DBear]

You should be ok. Take a reading to check

The beer might be finished but WLP570 takes a loooooong time to floc out.

[dmtaylor]

Based on experience, you're safe for at least 2.5 months. Start worrying at month #3. You're perfectly fine at only one month old.

[BeaverBarber]

My guess is that you have an infection. The good news is that a little brettanomyces in a Belgian ale is not always a bad thing. Go ahead and sterilize a turkey baster and take a sample. See if it's a flavor that you can stand. When I've had that problem in the past, I get a bubble gum or Band Aid flavor. Brett flavors don't go away, they intensify with time so if you don't like the flavor now, cut bait and try again. If you don't mind the flavor and you bottle, be careful because you could have bottle bombs.