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I have Cooper's Dark Ale currently brewing - my first ale and second brew ever (after a reasonably successful Coopers Lager). The airlock just doesn't seem to be bubbling away like the lager, nor is there a strong yeasty scent around the tank. I used Cooper's Brew Enhancer 2 with the dark ale (and brewing sugar with the lager). The initial hydrometer reading was 1038. Testing it this morning, after approx 2.5 days of brewing, it's reading approximately 1016-1018 with some head to it. Given my inexperience, just wondering if this seems normal? I have read that ales ferment at the bottom of the tank while lagers ferment on the surface so perhaps this may explain the difference?

Airlocks are not a good indicator of fermentation. Your fermenter lid may not seal perfectly, and gas is escaping and bypassing the airlock.

Look instead for other signs of fermentation:
• condensation on the lid
• kraeusen on top of the wort (ie a frothy head, which might look disgusting!)
• a darker ring of deposit on the inside of your fermenter at the top of your brew.
• and lastly, the most reliable of all, a hydrometer reading.

You've done the last. Your brew has dropped from OG 1.038 to SG 1.016-1.018 in 2½days.
That's good, and shows your fermentation is proceeding as normal.

Leave your brew for at least a week. It should drop another 8 or so points yet as fermentation continues. At the end of that, once your get stable readings on two continuous days at around FG 1.010, you should be OK to bottle.
Having said that, there is no harm in leaving your brew about 2 weeks all up in your fermenter. It will give the yeast the opportunity to clean up fermentation side products, and leave you with a cleaner and clearer beer to bottle.

So, in summary, relax, it's all going well.

Thanks for that.

I have a beer finings satchel to add to the fermentation - do you recommend finings and if so, at what stage is it best to add?

Finings aren't really necessary for a dark ale such are your current brew.

They might be useful in lighter brews, but again, two weeks in the fermenter generally clears up my beers nicely.

However, if you do want to use it, I'd add it once you are sure your fermentation has come to its final gravity, say 2 or 3 days before you bottle / keg.

+1 for what Warra said.
I get great looking beers without finings and after keeping them in primary fermentation for at least two weeks.
BTW. Lager yeasts are the ones that gather at the bottom of the fermenter and ales at the top.
I ferment my ales at about 18C. It can take easily up to 10 days for fermentation to finish especially if the night temp drops it to 16 or so.
Cheers and welcome

I've bottled the batch in the 750ml PET bottles a couple of weeks ago but, in a "blonde moment", only put in one Cooper's carbonation drop for each bottle instead of two. Tasted a bottle the other night - no head and tasted like wet cardboard. Is there any way of salvaging the batch?

A wet cardboard flavour says to me that the beer has oxidised. The only thing that I can think of is that maybe the beer was splashed around whilst bottling. Can you describe how you bottle your beer? Do you use a special bottle filler, or do you just pour it in?

I left it in an extra week as per the suggestion above.

Yes, I used the special bottle filler that comes with the Coopers Brewing Kit.