"Joe Murphy" <SPAMTHIS@SPAMTHIS.com> wrote in message
news:41464737$0$2656$61fed72c@news.rcn.com...[color=blue]
> Another noob question. I've taken hydrometer readings on three successive
> days and they are all giving me a gravity of 1.017. The airlock bubbles[/color]
once[color=blue]
> every 3-4 minutes. It appears to be bottling time.
>
> Trouble is, I haven't the time to do it right during the week so it looks
> like my beer will have been in the fermenter for two weeks once I finally
> get to it on Friday night.
>
> Is this OK?[/color]

Yep, it's fine. In fact, it's probably better to wait than to bottle too
early. If the airlock is still making bubbles, even every 3-4 minutes, it's
still fermenting a little bit, but Friday will probably be a good time to
bottle. No worries.
[color=blue]
> Also, any downside to using an empty dishwasher to air dry (but *not*[/color]
using[color=blue]
> the heating element in the dishwasher itself) sanitized bottles?[/color]

Who says your bottles need to be dry before bottling? Don't bother, it's
not worth the wait. So the bottles are a little wet? Who cares. The beer
will taste the same with a couple of extra drops of water mixed into it.

At first glance, it might seem like the dishwasher would be a really nice
place for bottles to dry out, but on second thought, it seems risky, or at
least it seems that way to me. The dishwasher is a moist environment to
begin with, and if you've got any microscopic food particles at all in the
drain or stuck to the walls or racks, bacteria and yeast are likely to grow
there, and it seems conceivable that bacteria or wild yeast could get into
your bottles. If you are thinking about doing it anyway, make darn sure it
doesn't smell bad in there at all, and there isn't any food or dirty stuff,
and if I were you, I'd leave the door propped open a bit to let any
drippings evaporate out more freely. Of course, if your goal is to
sanitize, but then you wait a day or two to allow time for the bottles to
dry, then your bottles really aren't sanitized anymore, are they? I always
clean my bottles on the same night as I bottle. No worries that way.
[color=blue]
> The newbie questions continue, but you've all been very kind. Thanks.[/color]

We all learn as we go.

--
Dave
"Just a drink, a little drink, and I'll be feeling GOOooOOooOOooD!" --
Genesis, 1973-ish