Fermentatoion period

On this Australian malt can I bought it says fermentation should take 4-7 days, does this mean I should bottle it after that period?

I usually go about 10-14 days then take a hydrometer reading. In a few more days take another hydrometer reading. If they are the same it's done fermenting and would be safe to bottle. If the readings differ take another one in a few days and repeat until you get same readings. This is the only way to know if its done fermenting. Yeast work on their own timeline. The times in recipes is basically a rough guideline.
Depending on how big a beer it is even if its done fermenting it could need more time to condition bigger beers take longer till the flavors play nice with each other.

Ok thanks, the hydrometer I have have has a mark where it says the beer is ready, my last lbrew wasn't quite at that mark but I bottled it anyway, I haven't tasted it yet, will it not being at the "ready" mark should it be ok? And/or will I have exploding bottles?

Not sure I haven't seen a hydrometer like that.
The ones I use have a numerical scale on the side. In distilled water it should read 1.000
Tap water should be pretty close to 1.000 a well at whatever temperature your hydrometer is calibrated at. Not having seen that hydrometer before I would think as long as it reads to the same mark when you take your samples it would be fine. Might want to see what someone else has to say that has used that style hydrometer before though.

Ok, it also has a numerical reading, it read about 1.015, it was stuck for about 2 to 3 days so I bottled it, should it be ok

Yeah you should be fine. Whatever the reading may finish at, as long as you get consistent readings a few days apart then you'll know primary fermentation has completed.

Fantastic, that's a bit of a relief

Yeah I've had beer finish around 1.020 before. Generally the more complex higher gravity beers will tend to finish at a higher final gravity than lighter ones but there are alot of different variables that all factor into where you end up. Viability of yeast, proper pitching amount, mash temp, adjuncts added Etc etc etc

Ok cheers, does this kind of a gravity reading lower the alcohol content?

GilSwillBasementBrews said:

Yeah you should be fine. Whatever the reading may finish at, as long as you get consistent readings a few days apart then you'll know primary fermentation has completed.

Click to expand...

+1 to getting consistent readings a few days apart. Don't bottle just because it has reached the expected FG - the gravity has to be stable or you could get bottle bombs.

Seedybrewer said:

Ok cheers, does this kind of a gravity reading lower the alcohol content?

Click to expand...

It depends in where it was "supposed" to finish at gravity wise.
To figure out your ABV. You would take your starting or original gravity(OG) minus your final gravity(FG) and multiply by 131.25 to get your ABV.
So without your starting gravity you would only be able to get an approximate ABV
OG - 1.015 x 131.25 = ABV%
Not sure what your recipe was so I can't really give an estimate but as a for instance if your original gravity was 1.055
1.055-1.015x131.25= 5.25ABV%
The lower the final gravity is the higher the amount of alcohol present in the beer.