Extract kits

Just a quick question about extract kits. When thumbing through the catalogs looking for different kits, it says that some are ready in 5, 6, 8 weeks, 3months, etc... yet as I've received the kits the directions really don't tell you where the beer is supposed to sit for that extra time. A 5-6 week kit is pretty easy to follow the 1-2-3 method but what about beers that say 2-3 months. Do they just rest in the secondary for an extra long period or is the extra time taken care of with bottle conditioning?

The vast majority of ales do well with a 1 week primary and two week secondary. The extra time is typically in bottle conditioning.

The exceptions would be very high gravity ales which may take a little longer to ferment out. (But even then, I suspect there are very few ales not fully fermented in three weeks.)

Lagers take longer becuase the fermentation process is a little slower.

Thanks for the quick reply. That takes care of a lot of confusion. And that means I can brew up my Fat Tire clone this weekend!!! :rockin: WAHOO!!!

Cheers!

You can also condition some in the secondary depending on your recipe and comfort level. If you are brewing a high gravity ale, you may want to try fermenting to completion in primary, then leaving in secondary for an extended time (4 weeks or even more). I can give you an example of a barley wine I am planning. I figure it will be in primary for around 3 weeks, at that point I am going to rack it into a secondary and leave it for around 6 week, maybe even 8 and then bottle condition it for around a year. Take into consideration that is an extreme example.