Rookie Porter question

Just bottled my first 3 gallon batch of a Porter from extract (and only second batch ever...).
I seem to remember reading somewhere that dark beers need to ferment longer than light beer. If this is true, how long should I wait before drinking

Thanks
Chris

check the gravity green-pea.

How long was it in the fermenter? I just bottled a batch last night that I started in January (I would have done it a month ago, but the cold weather in Jan/Feb made the yeast fall asleep for 3 weeks!).

Now I am figuring it has at least 2 weeks in the bottle, but probably 4 before it's ready. So, I am looking forward to getting to test one in 2 weeks!

Well, if you've bottled it, your fermentation should be over (otherwise bottle bombs are in your future). You should always use a hydrometer to check your gravity to tell if a beer is finished fermenting. That is the only sure way to know if your beer is ready for bottling.

Dark or light, that has no real bearing on fermentation time.

Wait 3 weeks with your bottles at 70 DegF. Then they should be carbed and ready to go.

Sorry, I neglected to add the O.G - 1.034 and F.G. -.999 to the original post for the more condescending (and please, feel free to talk down to me some more....) of you......
To those who just had help and answers, thank you


Chris

Hey Chris, fermentation is usually done when your Final Gravity reads the same for 2 or 3 days in a row. Most members here will tell you to leave your beer in the primary fermentor for 2-3 weeks so the yeast can clean up any bad stuff that might still be in your beer. Usually after 2-3 weeks your beer is done fermenting.

After primary fermentation and the gravity is stable, you can go ahead and bottle or if you choose transfer to a secondary to condition for 2,3,or 4 weeks. Many here(including myself) do not secondary unless adding fruit or dry-hopping due to and increased chance of infection. Lagering/clarifying is of course an exception

After bottling(or kegging if you do that) I usually wait about 3 weeks for my beer to carbonate then it should be ready. Longer conditioning times can usually help beer taste better, especially more complex beers, but that is definitely a personal preference so you'll have to figure out what works good for you.

Keep on brewing and keep on asking questions and, good luck!

Darker beer can take longer to condition because there are more types of malt and it takes time for them to blend. I'd give them a month to 6 weeks in the bottle.

Thanks, Kevin. On the next batch, I will be sure to check the final gravity over several days. I was not aware of this. The primary fermentation stage on this one batch was for 12 days. The air lock had stopped visible action for a couple of days. I then added the sugar mix, stirred, and bottled on April 8th.
Now, it's hurry up and wait...........

Chris

theatrewizard said:

Thanks, Kevin. On the next batch, I will be sure to check the final gravity over several days. I was not aware of this. The primary fermentation stage on this one batch was for 12 days. The air lock had stopped visible action for a couple of days. I then added the sugar mix, stirred, and bottled on April 8th.
Now, it's hurry up and wait...........

Chris

Click to expand...

Wait? Why wait! You have an empty fermentor so it is time to brew! Get the pipeline going

WickedLB is right. The last thing you want is to finish off a batch and then have to wait weeks for the next one to be ready. I have a batch conditioning for every batch on tap.