I put into my brew 2kg of brew enhancer (sugar etc) and 1kg of brewing malt, so there was about 3kg of food for the yeast (which was able to handle high alcohol).
The guy at the shop said there'd be enough food to keep the yeast happy for about 12 days. It's been 14 days now, and it is still bubbling but about once every three minutes. The pressure is still there though. I have checked the gravity and it is 1.020
Should I wait for the pressure in the air lock to completely go before bottling?
Yes, let it go almost flat; at least an hour between bubbles, no bubbling at all is even better.
Rack it into another bucket and let it clear for 24 hours, then rack it again, getting it as clear as you can (leaving the rest of the dead yeast on the bottom of the bucket) then bottle.
Everyone is always in a rush with their first batch, but patience is a virtue.
YES!!! Wait until fermentation is absolutely complete before you bottle. Otherwise your beer is likely to gush out of the bottles when opened, or worse (and yes, this has happened to me), you could end up with spontaneous bottle explosions, sending schrapnel literally up to 15 feet away... not to mention the sticky puddle all over the floor and the ceiling, walls, and surrounding area. Not cool.
The only "official" way to know for certain that fermentation is complete is to monitor the gravity over the course of about 3 days to make sure it isn't changing anymore. But the more practical method that I use (so I don't need to take so many damned gravity readings!) is to wait for the bubbling to stop completely, then wait 2-3 more days just to be absolutely certain, and then it should almost definitely be ready for bottling. [Incidentally, I have never had a problem when I actually adhered to this method. The only time I had bottle explosions was early on in my homebrewing when I was in a big hurry to bottle so it would be ready by a certain date. I should have waited for the bubbling to subside. I believe the gravity was still at around 1.022 when I bottled, and still bubbling away. What a fool I was. Oh well, you live and you learn.]
By the looks of your gravity of 1.020, it appears that you are getting very close. I'm guessing it should only take another week at most, probably less than that. But as a disclaimer, it depends on so many factors, such as the type of beer, original gravity, health of the yeast, type of malt, amount of aeration... So you can never say for absolute certain that "this beer will be finished in 12 days". It is simply not possible. Any mention in a recipe of number of days in fermentation is only an estimate, which is, more often than not, way off.
I'm going against the grain of your earlier replies. I am on a more or less rigid schedule of two weeks. I'll bottle today and start a batch today (been at it for 14 years). I just timed the bubbles - one every 3 minutes 16 seconds. Carboy is thermostatically controlled to
60F.
When one thinks about this logically - that is one bubble (maybe fraction of a ml) in 20 liters of liquid. If one bottles to 12 oz bottles that fraction of a ml is further reduced by a factor of FIFTY.
That seems pretty insignificant to me.
In 14 years, I exploded 3 bottles (in my second year) and that was with two cups of priming sugar and old time thick Corona bottles (the newer thinner ones seem stronger) at a storage temperature of >77F.
If your temperature was reasonable, 60 or more for the two weeks, I'd say go for it.
If you have doubts, bottle in plastic soda bottles. You can squeeze the bottles and tell how well they are carbonated (use an unopened soda for reference). Those plastic bottles can't be exploded easily - they assume a teardrop shape first (that was my experimental 1/4 cup sugar, 16 oz water and baker's yeast - during summer for 6 months)
Beer does improve with age and longer certainly won't hurt it. I'm always trying to brew enough during winter to last me through summer so I settled on two weeks. I'd go for longer if I had the space and equipment.
I use two stage fermentation; it is almost always clear at the end of two weeks.
BTW I still prime with 1-1/2 to 2 cups of priming (corn) sugar.
I am into day 20 of fermenting a high alcohol beer. It is still bubbling infrequently so isn't ready for bottling yet. My brother tasted it and he said it tastes a bit like barley wine. What can I add to it to make it more of a beer flavour? It is late into the fermentation stage so hopefully I can still add something.
i hate to be the one to say YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK. he is likely tasting the high alcohol, and the sweetness of unprocessed sugars.
Adding hops to it is likely the answer y0u want to hear, but expect your beer to explode. temperature and specific gravity would really help.
If your brother hasn't turned green yet, then just invite some university buddies over, and have them finish it off, without bottling it. then try following a reciepe you trust. ONLY had one batch of exploding beer bottles but the cleanup was incredible. don't do it.
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