Worried about Smugglers Special

[fatbutthin]

I have just bottled my Muntons Premium Gold Smugglers Special but even after over two weeks in the FV it still only got down to 1.017 FG after a start point of 1.050. As it was just starting to get a faint whiff of vinegariness (sic) I was worried that some nasties had got in and would get worse with any more time in the FV so I figured get it bottled before anything else can spoil my hard work. I used 80g of brewers sugar into the 36 pints before bottling.
There was a lot of floating sediment in the FV and some found its way into the bottling vessel before I bottled up but I hope this won't have got into the bottles.

Is my brew totally ruined due to the slight whiff of vinegar and did I bottle too soon at 1.017 FG?
Crowncap I think you have brewed this kit before.

[Normski]

Hi fatbutthin
I've make Smuggler before and it can be a bit slow to ferment. Mine took a month. It was during the winter, so probably because of the lower temperature. I always have a taste when bottling. It wont harm you. Hopefully it'll be ok. Just give it plenty of time to condition. I had the last bottle at about 12 months and it was one of the best kit brews I've ever had.

[fatbutthin]

Thanks Normski, although it's tough to resist I am happy to leave my brews for good long conditioning times so hopefully that'll do the trick.

[fatbutthin]

No chance, although I'm just finishing off the last few bottles of Nog that have been in the bottle for 5.5 months now, very fizzy and pretty strong too!
Good to know that Smugglers is a good laster though as I may have to condition it for a bit longer than usual.