Trying to keep it simple but, perfection dominates

Quote:
Originally Posted by permo
#1 lesson for a newer brewer is patience. I think starting out I would have been best served to pitch the yeast and put the fermenter away without checking for 3 weeks. 9999 times out 10000 after 3 weeks of being left alone you will have awesome beer.

During my limited personal experience I have found time in the fermenter and fermentation temperature to be the two most important factors.

long time in fermenter + cool steady temperatures = good beer

This is the type of advice that I have been looking for. Every site that I enter seems to have different advice. Some swear by the SG method, some by less than a bubble/min, than others by the calendar no matter what. I am a perfectionist by nature and tend to over analize and fuss over things which do not require it. I want to keep home brewing fun and enjoy the product when it finishes. I have my first batch of Irish Pub Draught in a glass carboy with blow off tube. It has been there now for 10 days and the bubbles are sporatic and range from a minute apart or more and not consistantly (apart from being at least a minute apart). I do have my OG at 1.048. I also do not want to waste beer every time I take a gravity reading as it is only a 2 gal batch. What is recommended if I don't wish to waste beer measuring FG and yet wish to be accurate in bottling? Have brewers always had hydrometers? What was done a few hundred years ago to accomplish the same results?

Thank you,

NavyMarine1978

I would wait another few days and bottle it... unless it is a really big beer (>1.080) i usually don't bother taking intermittent measurements and just bottle/ keg after 14 days. Basically you just want to make sure it has been long enough to be sure your fermentation is complete, measuring just lets you go sooner because you can verify it is complete.

Leave it in primary for a month. Bottle and wait three weeks. Chill it and enjoy.

I have not lived that long to know. But in a glass carboy when the bubbles are done and the beer is clear take a FG reading so you know you are perfect to bottle the brew. The only way to know for sure is a FG reading. Cheers

jtsims21 said:

I would wait another few days and bottle it... unless it is a really big beer (>1.080) i usually don't bother taking intermittent measurements and just bottle/ keg after 14 days. Basically you just want to make sure it has been long enough to be sure your fermentation is complete, measuring just lets you go sooner because you can verify it is complete.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the great advice. This is the sort of advice that I have been looking for. The Irish Stout Pub Draught is stated to have a FG of 1.020. What sort of beers have a FG >1.080? I would otherwise not be concerned with measuring if I had a large enough batch (mine is 2 gal) and I really don't want to introduce any oxygen until bottling day as well. To take a proper measurement with my hydrometer and test tube, it requires 3/4 cup of beer. I already lost one with the OG reading. Saturday is 14 days and I will bottle than as well. Today, when I checked for bubbling (day 10), bubbles not only where at least 2 min apart but also sporatic. Sometimes the bubbles were up to 2.5 min apart. I will check again before bottling but am confident that day 14 will be fine. The brew shop that made the malt extract and created the recipe suggested 10 days and figured up to 21 days would be fine but no more. I will try the 14 days and see what the result is. How long should the brew sit once bottled with dextrose and at temp should it sit?

Thanks everyone,

TromboneGuy said:

Leave it in primary for a month. Bottle and wait three weeks. Chill it and enjoy.

Click to expand...

What do you look for when you crack open the first bottle? I understand that 3 weeks also ages/conditions the beer, but is there any signs of being done in glass bottles?

NavyMarine1978 said:

Thank you for the great advice. This is the sort of advice that I have been looking for. The Irish Stout Pub Draught is stated to have a FG of 1.020. What sort of beers have a FG >1.080? I would otherwise not be concerned with measuring if I had a large enough batch (mine is 2 gal) and I really don't want to introduce any oxygen until bottling day as well. To take a proper measurement with my hydrometer and test tube, it requires 3/4 cup of beer. I already lost one with the OG reading. Saturday is 14 days and I will bottle than as well. Today, when I checked for bubbling (day 10), bubbles not only where at least 2 min apart but also sporatic. Sometimes the bubbles were up to 2.5 min apart. I will check again before bottling but am confident that day 14 will be fine. The brew shop that made the malt extract and created the recipe suggested 10 days and figured up to 21 days would be fine but no more. I will try the 14 days and see what the result is. How long should the brew sit once bottled with dextrose and at temp should it sit?

Thanks everyone,

Click to expand...

not a FG of 1.080 but an OG, FG depends on a lot of things and can be different with the same OG. Basically the bigger the OG the more the yeasts have to work through and the longer it will take. Also the longer it takes to ferment the longer it will take to condition and clean up after itself.

It should sit at the same fermentation temperatures for at least 2 weeks I like to leave them 4. So I am not drinking green beer.

I subscribe to the just let it sit for 3 weeks ideal. (depending on the style of course).

However, it *could* be done sooner, or perhaps not, depending on the yeast health, number of cells pitched, temperature of the wort during fermentation, and makeup of the wort.

That is why taking a reading is suggested. With an idea of what the FG is, you can judge whether or not you will likely get bottle bombs.

If you don't want to take too many readings due to beer loss, then wait the 3 weeks and then check it.

You may want to get more fermenters so you have something to do while you wait...

Homercidal said:

I subscribe to the just let it sit for 3 weeks ideal. (depending on the style of course).

However, it *could* be done sooner, or perhaps not, depending on the yeast health, number of cells pitched, temperature of the wort during fermentation, and makeup of the wort.

That is why taking a reading is suggested. With an idea of what the FG is, you can judge whether or not you will likely get bottle bombs.

If you don't want to take too many readings due to beer loss, then wait the 3 weeks and then check it.

You may want to get more fermenters so you have something to do while you wait...

Click to expand...

This is my first batch and I have just bottled it at the 14 day mark. It seemed like a happy median and I was content with what I saw in the fermenter (clear, settled, bubbling was sporatic and less than a bubble every 2 minutes). While bottling, I watched the siphoning hose and the beer looked clean and clear. I was also told that the process of clarifying the brew by the yeast may work faster in the single fermenter method (no transfer of brew into a secondary fermenter). Can anyone tell me how long to let the carbonating beer sit before transfering to the fridge? The instructions given to me suggest 7-10 days at room temperature and than transfer to a cooler area. Can they sit at room temperature the whole time that they carbonate?

My wife liked the line about purchasing another fermenter so that I will have something to do while I wait on the fermenting beer.

Thanks everyone,

NavyMarine1978 said:

This is my first batch and I have just bottled it at the 14 day mark. It seemed like a happy median and I was content with what I saw in the fermenter (clear, settled, bubbling was sporatic and less than a bubble every 2 minutes). While bottling, I watched the siphoning hose and the beer looked clean and clear. I was also told that the process of clarifying the brew by the yeast may work faster in the single fermenter method (no transfer of brew into a secondary fermenter). Can anyone tell me how long to let the carbonating beer sit before transfering to the fridge? The instructions given to me suggest 7-10 days at room temperature and than transfer to a cooler area. Can they sit at room temperature the whole time that they carbonate?

My wife liked the line about purchasing another fermenter so that I will have something to do while I wait on the fermenting beer.

Thanks everyone,

Click to expand...

bottle conditioning... I would wait at least 2 weeks no less before you chill them. I personally wait a month before chilling and drinking. Since the last one is always the best just brew more like the previous post says and enjoy later

PS: I also leave in the fridge for at least 3 days to let the yeast settle into a cake in the bottle.

I've gotten to a point where I accept that any beer I'm planning on bottling is going take about 8 weeks from brew day to opening the first. I'll leave most of my beers in the fermenter for four weeks and in the bottle for another four. I've tried only three weeks in the bottle, but am generally disappointed. As far as keeping the hobby fun, I've found this to be the best approach. I don't worry about checking the gravity constantly and I'm not antsy to open a beer before it's ready. I have enough experience with craft beer to know what I enjoy drinking during each part of the year. I just brew today what I want to be drinking in two months.

downtown3641 said:

I just brew today what I want to be drinking in two months.

Click to expand...

Best advice. It's easy to get clenchy and start counting bubbles and making tables of gravity readings, but all the beer really wants you to do is wait.

Sounds good. So, there is not a real definative answer, only guidlines and suggestions. I guess, like everything else, there is a learning curve and eventually a feel for the craft.

Thanks everyone,

NavyMarine1978 said:

This is my first batch and I have just bottled it at the 14 day mark. It seemed like a happy median and I was content with what I saw in the fermenter (clear, settled, bubbling was sporatic and less than a bubble every 2 minutes).

Click to expand...

While airlock bubbling isn't the best indication of active fermentation, I wouldn't bottle a beer that was still bubbling without taking a couple hydro readings. It could very well be done and bubbling for some other reason, but I'd want to know for sure to avoid bottle bombs. Info for the future, I suppose.

yancydc said:

While airlock bubbling isn't the best indication of active fermentation, I wouldn't bottle a beer that was still bubbling without taking a couple hydro readings. It could very well be done and bubbling for some other reason, but I'd want to know for sure to avoid bottle bombs. Info for the future, I suppose.

Click to expand...

The store from whom I purchased the ingredients from and who also designed the recipe suggested bottling after the bubbles reached less than one/min. I asked them about the hydrometer readings and they also suggested that the hydrometer is better suited towards making wine instead of beer. I do seem to get a different answer from almost everyone that I ask about when to bottle. I figue this first batch is a leaning curve and will continue to be so until I make beer without thinking about it. Thanks for any and all advice. I will most certainly be experimenting with future batches trying to improve on them. This time around, I took the advice of the storekeeper and brewmaster at Noble Grape. I look forward to being comfortable enough with brewing to experiement and try different things.

Thanks again everyone and keep the suggestion comming.

It was also suggested to me that some beers in some scenarios will never completely stop bubbling. Hence the suggestion to bottle when bubbles less than one/min. Has anyone else heard of this?