first time homebrewer question

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KingC

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As the title states I am indeed a first time homebrewer. I am currently one week into my fermentation of a Witbier that hopefully will turn out well. A preliminary taste test taken a couple of days ago suggest everything so far is going well (knock on wood). I am at the point now where I am not 100% sure what to do with the fermentation. I am not going to do a secondary fermentation as this is my first brew, I plan on doing so in the future. I wouldn't mind a few suggestions as to how long to continue letting my concoction sit and ferment. As of now I planned on watching the airlock for bubbles every day as a sign of continuing fermentation, as well as taking some hydrometer readings. Also, since this is going to be just a primary fermentation is there potential for poorer taste of the beer if let sit too long? Any suggestions or help from you folks would be fantastic for a first time homebrewer. :mug:
 
No worries about it sitting too long until we're meauring time in months, not days or weeks. You have at least four weeks, likely more, until autolysis might possibly come into play.

How long has it been since you brewed? Generally, one week in primary, two in secondary, three in bottles. Since you aren't doing a secondary - and that's fine for a witbier - I'd be inclined to lean towards two weeks in primary before priming and bottling, with a gravity check before bottling.

Are you still seeing bubbles? If you see any, it's still fermenting, so let it keep working.
 
KingC said:
As the title states I am indeed a first time homebrewer. I am currently one week into my fermentation of a Witbier that hopefully will turn out well. A preliminary taste test taken a couple of days ago suggest everything so far is going well (knock on wood). I am at the point now where I am not 100% sure what to do with the fermentation. I am not going to do a secondary fermentation as this is my first brew, I plan on doing so in the future. I wouldn't mind a few suggestions as to how long to continue letting my concoction sit and ferment. As of now I planned on watching the airlock for bubbles every day as a sign of continuing fermentation, as well as taking some hydrometer readings. Also, since this is going to be just a primary fermentation is there potential for poorer taste of the beer if let sit too long? Any suggestions or help from you folks would be fantastic for a first time homebrewer. :mug:
One week into fermentation? I'd let it sit for at least another week (as the_bird said).
 
I'd make it another two weeks.

Consider a rule of thumb for most low to moderate (1.040-1.055 OG) beers.

1 week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, 3 weeks bottle/keg conditioning.

That being said, you do not need to transfer to a secondary fermenter, but your beer needs that extra time. If you wait an additional week, your beer will be that much better and that much clearer when it is time to drink.
 
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