Too Impatient
 

So this is my first brew and I have already found myself deviating from the recipe.

The recipe called for 2 weeks in the primary followed by 2 weeks in the secondary. I already cut a few days off of the primary as the FG was steady and where it should be, and now I plan on cutting the secondary a few days short as well and going ahead and bottling this evening.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who is too damn impatient to follow directions!!

You are not the only one.

Not the first, and wont be the last. I held out on my first one, by buying a bunch of craftbrews I had been wanting to try. That was enough to keep me away from it. Although once it was bottled, I did try a few before the 3 weeks it was suppose to have for carbination.

Well, you're certainly correct to trust the hydrometer over an arbitrary time period, however you just have to hang in there regarding the rest of the wait. I've been brewing for 2 years and am now just getting to the point where I can get my head around the concept of aging. You'll get there.

What kind of beer are you making? I think some types of beers really need that extra time (especially lagers, and higher gravity ales) and other beers can be bottled/kegged in very little time (low gravity ales).

American Amber Ale. OG was 1.048.

+1

That's the only way I'm able to wait. Hopefully once I get a good pipeline going it'll be a little easier.

I am have an issue with waiting as well. I have 4 batches in primarys and just got all my pieces for the keezer build and am dying to keg something. I have a honey ale thats been in primary for 14 days and a hefe thats been in for 7. Not sure if I can wait

It's definitely not easy. Building a pipeline helps. I've got a Blond Ale and a Raspberry Wheat that have been in primary for 3 weeks even through gravity readings have been steady. I've also got a Brown Ale that is at 2 weeks in the primary and will be brewing a Pale Ale tomorrow.

I'm going to bottle the Raspberry Wheat tomorrow. That will help me hold off another week until I bottle or keg the Blond Ale.

My mindset is to give everything enough time to make it taste as best as possible. I'd rather wait longer and have a good beer than rush it and be disappointed.

I am in a similar situation, 1 in the primary and 2 in secondaries and am building my keezer, just got all new kegging equipment and can't wait to keg instead of bottle!! I actually have 12 bottles from late summer 2009 though left that I had brewed.