Fermentation Regimes

There seem to be plenty of ideas of how long to primary..if at all secondary..cold crashing, etc.

What are some thoughts on the best practices for fermenting?

I check the gravity. When I hit my FG I move to secondary for a couple of days just to get to help it clear up a bit more prior to bottling. The key is to check your gravity readings the beer will tell you when it is done. Whether you move it to secondary or not is up to you. Certainly if you are adding fruit or something else after fermentation is complete it might be cleaner to move it to secondary.

Brewing an ale, keep an eye on temp for the first few days, you want to stay pretty exact. After that, maybe let it rise a couple degrees. Keep in primary for a month. It will clear up after kegging.

+1 on temp control.

Pitch the right amount of the right kind of yeast into a well oxygenated wort at the temperature that you will ferment at which I believe to be nearer the bottom end of the yeast's preferred temperature range instead of near the top. Maintain the temperature until the ferment slows, then let it warm to encourage the yeast to clean up and give them a couple weeks to do so.

thanks for the feedback!!

1. how many days until you take a SG?
2. adding fruit etc-is that typically done after primary?
3. what temp is recomended for cold crashing?

I primary 2-3 weeks..if gravity is terminal then I rack to secondary and cold crash immediately in a fridge for 2-3 days then bottle. I would take the gravity after a couple of weeks then again in few days. If you want to use a secondary and the SG is steady then go ahead. if you don't want to secondary then let it set and clear then either bottle or cold crash.. I had an old cockfighter friend tell me one time about getting roosters ready for battle. There are a whole lotta little roads that lead to the same highway. Whatever works the best for you is what works best.

is there any point in cold crash if i bottle?

davidcr80 said:

is there any point in cold crash if i bottle?

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It depends on who you ask. I like the fact that even after 3-4 weeks in primary, when I cold crash there is a layer of sedimant across the bottom of the carboy that is not going into my bottles.I still have planty of yeast to bottle carb and just bottle it cold and let it warm back up to room temp to carb.

I've been doing 2 weeks in primary now that I use a stir plate for my starters. I usually check the gravity the day I prep some starsan for getting my next yeast starter going. Then it takes 2-3 days for my starter to be ready. After that I move the primary to keg, clean out the carboy and put the new beer in the carboy.