Fermentong times

Does beer just ferment in my house faster than others? I've kept the room at a steady 67 degrees within my yeast's calculations and everything I've made has reached target gravity within my first check of 7 days. I expected at least two weeks especially on my high gravity stout but no, sure enough 7 days and I hit the FG point. I've been using the Brewology101 formula which is about 75% less of OG (less the 1.) It's a nice thing because I can drink the beer sooner than expected and everything has been coming out tasting great. But am I missing something that would make great better?

Well ... it may reach FG in 7 days, but that doesn't mean it's done. Especially on the high gravity brews, give it extra time. If it were my batch, I'd give it a full 4 weeks. But hey, it's your call.

Cheers!

If you are hitting stable FG (multiple checks over 2-3 days) then it is done fermenting. That doesn't mean the beer is done or the yeast are "done." For my process I'm with frazier, I go 4 weeks for bigger or darker beers and almost always the full time on the yeast cake. Lagering/aging/conditioning all depend on beer style and your preference of process. If you're turning out good beer then who am I to say.

frazier said:

Well ... it may reach FG in 7 days, but that doesn't mean it's done. Especially on the high gravity brews, give it extra time. If it were my batch, I'd give it a full 4 weeks. But hey, it's your call.

Cheers!

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plenty of time for the yeasties to clean up shop. No rush- patience

fermentation times vary depending on many factors. Temp being the biggest factor. Your 67f temp in your house means your beer temp could vary well be over 70f. The yeast generates heat during fermentation.The higher the ferm temp the faster it will get done fermenting. The yeast strain also is a big factor in fermentation speed. Some yeasts are just animals and tear through the sugar rapidly, while others seem to take their time.

Yeah, good stuff to know. I wasn't convinced on the stout so I let it sit but only or a total of two weeks. I really wanted to do four-five weeks in the bottle with it but after two weeks me and a friend tried it and the next thing I knew it was all gone save a couple of refugees. I think this stuff is great but with a little more patience I want to get greater or even greaterer.

I rarely find active fermentation to last longer than a week, and most beers it's usually done by day 4 or 5. That said, my primaries are usually 2-5 weeks, depending on the beer. Session beers, wheat beers, hoppy beers get the short end (assuming stable gravity plus a couple days to clean up), and the big beers the long end.

sonex said:

fermentation times vary depending on many factors. Temp being the biggest factor. Your 67f temp in your house means your beer temp could vary well be over 70f. The yeast generates heat during fermentation.The higher the ferm temp the faster it will get done fermenting. The yeast strain also is a big factor in fermentation speed. Some yeasts are just animals and tear through the sugar rapidly, while others seem to take their time.

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I agree with this. In a room that is 67 degrees, and active fermentation can easily be 77 degrees as I've seen a 8-10 degree rise in temperature due to the heat of fermentation itself.

I've also seen a warm fermentation ferment out in 24 hours.

So, yes, a fermentation in the mid to high 70s can easily be finished in a day or two.

And in my experience, pitching the proper amount of yeast (using liquid yeast with a starter) and keeping the beer at a lower temperature (usually mid 60s) means the beer is always done fermenting by day 5.

I know you mentioned the beer comes out tasting great, but you could definitely try a cooler fermentation and see if it changes the flavor a bit. Some yeast strains are much better at lower temperatures, and I've noticed a big improvement in the quality when I started fermenting most ales in the 65 degree range (beer temperature, not room temperature).