Average fermentation time??

Hi all, I am a newb to brewing, but I was after some help.

Doing an Amber ale extract, added 150g of Choc malt grains, LME and Fuggles hops for extra flavour. (I boiled the grains and hops, yeah I know bad move) and a 1kg of dextrose. My og was 1.040 ish.. The yeast was standard from the kit ( unsure of strain)

My question is how long shall I ferment for? Should I just check the hydrometer ( my target is 1.010 1.012) or should I wait a certain amount of time before even considering open the fermenter. Any help would be great. Go easy.. I am a newb.

I am also a newb with about 6 brews so far, hops get boiled with your wort so your fine there if you went by the recipe schedule if not it might be a more bitter. When I do a partial mash which it sounds like you did I heat my grains to around 152-158 F for 45 min before boil. Im not sure exactly what happens to grains when they get boiled, I know they release something extra that you dont really want. But you only used less than a half pound of grain so you might be fine ( im also newb so not positive ) When I ferment I usually will go no less than 2 to 3 weeks in primary, then usually rack to secondary for a week or two, then bottle for at least 10 days. I hope this helps suddsy, I learned a ton of information just from this website so your in good company.:rockin:

Awesome man.. Cheers! Yeah I actually boiled the grains.. Yeah bit of a cock up.. Lol.. But I think it should be ok.. Excuse my newbness..but what do actually mean by secondary??

I'm also new to brewing but what I've been doing is leaving mine in the primary until bottling. I don't rack to a secondary. For the ones I made, it took about 4 weeks to get a steady SG reading for 3-4 consecutive days. Once I got a constant hydrometer reading, it was time to bottle. Hope that helps.

Most of the activity happens during the primary fermentation. Some people prefer to rack (transfer wort) to a secondary fermenter/carboy to get more clarity. When you rack, you leave most of the yeast and byproducts behind in the primary. During secondary fermentation, most of the remaining yeast will settle at the bottom and when you go to bottle, you get a clearer beer. This is all preference and from what I've heard and experienced so far it's not necessary.

All of those tips were given to me by other more experienced members on this forum and by reading what. I did a lot of reading before I started.

Using a "secondary" means you transfer out of your primary fermenter (after fermentation is fully complete) into another vessel. This is simply to allow the finished beer time to clear and age a little more while off the yeast cake and trub. For 90% of brews, a secondary is overkill and not really necessary. Most often used when dry hopping, aging on fruit or wood chips, or a simply looking for a "show quality" clarity.
For the most part, you will be good just leaving it in your primary the additional time (3-4 weeks) before checking your gravity. Check again in a day or two; if it hasn't dropped any more, then your ready to bottle.......

{edit} Sorry TG123 - I should learn to type faster..lol

Fantastic guys!! Thanks so much for the info.. I really love this forum.. It's helped me heaps so far.. Thanks again.

501irishred said:

{edit} Sorry TG123 - I should learn to type faster..lol

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lol. no need to apologize. I probably learned all of that from you somewhere on this forum.

Let's be clear: a secondary will not clarify a beer any more than primary will.

You have an interesting situation in that you boiled some grains. I'm not sure how this will impact the final product. You could very well end up with some less than favorable tannins or unfermentable sugars.

As for how long you should wait, you should leave it alone for a couple weeks, at least (I always do four, but that's what works for me). Then, you should check the gravity a few times over the course of several days. If the final gravity is stable, bottle or keg.

Cheers! Good luck!

berebrando said:

Let's be clear: a secondary will not clarify a beer any more than primary will.

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True, in and of itself. It can however give another layer of protection from trub/yeast being mixed with the beer while transferring to bottling bucket, allows gelatin to be mixed in to help clarify, and allows you to bulk age/clarify indefinitely without developing off flavors from sitting on the yeast cake too long. Probably better to say using a secondary allows more options when concerning clarity, than to say using a secondary clears beer on its own.

I was thinking of adding some flavourings, dried orange peel or honey.. I think secondary is the best for this right? Anybody got any tips for this procedure.. Especially honey.. How can I infuse a honey flavor in my secondary without adding too much sugar as to prime it?? If that's makes sense lol

Honey can impart some flavor, but for the most part it is simply added as a very fermentable sugar that can help reduce the FG and creates a "thinner" mouth feel. When used for this purpose it is usually added at flame out (or towards the end of the boil) to fully dissolve it into solution. To add it for sweetness and maintain a true honey flavor, you would need to kill the yeast. Possible, but very tricky if bottle conditioning - do some research on backsweetening if this is of interest. As for orange peel, or any other zest, you can add to secondary (or even primary once fermentation is fully complete) or you can add to the boil from last 15min up to flame out.

Perhaps not my place, (but) my suggestion would be to stick to some "tried an true" recipes for a bit until you get all the bugs worked out of your process. Then you could begin experimenting with brews that are know to you and you'll be better at picking out the subtle change that additions/subtractions make to the finished product.

Which every you decide, good luck and welcome to the fold!