leaving in fermenter?

firstly hi guys, new to this. chances are it will now be my homepage

i have been searching around the forum for a while about ways to clear beers up and improve taiste. something that many ppl do is leave in the fermenter for about 3 weeks b4 bottling? just trying to clarify that a lil. so it takes 5 days(ish) to ferment, then once it stops you do nothing with it for 3 weeks before bottling? this sounds weird cause ive had a mate tell me to try and bottle asap then let them age in bottle. also that would mean that your fermenter is out of use for 4 weeks more or less b4 you can brew another batch? so does everybody have heaps of fermenters or am i thinking about this the the wrong way?

cheers guys

you leave the fermenter alone and do nothing with it for 3-4 weeks. after that time bottle the beer and let it sit 3-4 weeks. the yeast will clean up the beer and flocculate out leaving you with a clean, clear, yummy beer. your friend is the victim of outdated information.

many people on here have several fermenters going at once. figure out how long it takes you to drink a batch of beer. then divide 2 months (recommended fermentation plus carbonation time) by that amount of time. buy that many fermenters and spread our brew days out enough so that when you finish drinking one batch the next batch is done. this is the basics of a beer production pipeline.

Two weeks for me in primary and its done, Then I keg it.

Welcome to HBT!

TipsyDragon speaks the truth. I leave all my beers for at least 4 weeks so they are crystal clear and clean tasting.

You definitely need to get more fermenters! If you don't have enough to ferment 20 to 30 gallons at a time, you need to go shopping.

you can use carboys as a primary as well...So if you have a fermentation bucket and a carboy, thats 2

+1 on 2 weeks and keg it...unless its a really big beer then 3-4 weeks in primary

lol ok so i have 2 but it looks like im going to want a few more then.

so just to realy break it down for me(litterally i have only just put my 3rd batch on and am still waiting b4 i open the first, so i am quite new to this)
1. do the fermenting then leave for 3-4 weeks
2. bottle and add dextrose for proming.
3. leave for another 3 weeks(or longer if wanted)

i dont bother using a second fermenter simply for bulk priming?
if not to i use taps on the fermenter to fill bottles or do i use some sort of syphon to try and leave all the sediment and untanteds in the bottom?
and if i do fill from taps should i leave a certain amount in the bottom and throw it away to reduce the amount of crap going into bottle?
and do i need to cover the airlock up or just leave it be?

sorry for the silly questions guys i just realy want to get it right. and im loving the whole process atm

cheers again

wow just while typing my reply there was another 3 posts
must be some real enthusiest floating around
thanks for the help i realy appreciate it

after the 3 weeks in primary, siphon to a clean carboy or bottling bucket leaving everything behind, then add sugar (4 oz corn sugar or whatever you like) mix and bottle. So yes you need one empty vessel to siphon into on bottling day (unless you keg).

Also I prefer carboys to plastic buckets because I feel they are better for long term use...just my .02.

People are quick to respond.

Everbody is different with different opinions.

Me: 1 week in primary unless it looks like it isn't done, but I've never had brew need more than 7 days in primary. That is followed by two weeks in a glass secondary, then bottled and allowed to sit another two weeks.

Using that formula I've never had any problem, except a batch of bottle bombs. I believe those were infected with something.

This place is an incredible source of info. Familiarize yourself with the search feature; it's amazing what a person can find here with a bit of research.

Happy brewing!

so how du u bottle from a glass fermenter? on of those carboy things? they dont have tap do they?

The bucket with the tap on the bottom is your bottling bucket. Generally that is used only to bottle so you dont want it tied up on bottling day with a batch of beer in it. Look into purchasing some ale pails or 6+ gallon carboys (both plastic or glass) to do your primary and secondary if you want to. Also try to find Revvys thread on bottling, a ton of info there. A bottling wand and a designated bottling bucket is going to make bottling go a lot easier.

Here is the link to the thread, it is a sticky in the bottling/kegging forum.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

red said:

so how du u bottle from a glass fermenter? on of those carboy things? they dont have tap do they?

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I always bottled from a carboy when i'm bottling. I just use a siphon with racking cane and stopper. I add my 3/4 cup corn sugar (4 oz) to 4-6 oz of boiling water and cool to around 100F, then rack the beer onto it trying not to disturb the yeast cake. Mix and siphon into bottles from carboy.

But like previously stated, there are many right ways to do things. I started with wine years back so I had a lot of carboys and no bottling bucket...That method just seemed to work well for me.

Cheers

osagedr said:

This place is an incredible source of info. Familiarize yourself with the search feature; it's amazing what a person can find here with a bit of research.

Happy brewing!

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You couldn't be more right! I'v just picked up homebrewing in Sept and getting ready to brew my 5th batch hopefully this weekend. I've used this place for alot of information.

As far as fermentation goes it all comes down to preference. My first few batches I went from straight primary to keg. The first batch tasted great while the second batch was a tad yeasty. I've got a customized IPA recipe I'm waiting to crack open next weekend that was my first to use a secondary on. I tasted a small amount before it was bottled and it was delicious! So go with what feels the best.... Brew on!

red said:

i dont bother using a second fermenter simply for bulk priming?
if not to i use taps on the fermenter to fill bottles or do i use some sort of syphon to try and leave all the sediment and untanteds in the bottom?
and if i do fill from taps should i leave a certain amount in the bottom and throw it away to reduce the amount of crap going into bottle?
and do i need to cover the airlock up or just leave it be?

Click to expand...

the only time you need to use a secondary is if your making a lager or doing an extended aging. lagers are very susceptible to autolysis, which is the yeast eating each other. ales on the other hand don't really have this problem. a secondary should almost always be glass. plastic is not on oxygen barrier.

for bottling siphon your beer off the trub on the bottom of the fermenter. i usually prepare the priming sugar and put it in the bottling bucket. i then siphon from the fermenter into the bucket. keep the hose flat on the bottom of the fermenter. this can be used to get a gentle swirling action going and will mix your sugar and beer.

assuming you have siphoned off the trub there is no reason to leave any amount of beer in the bottom of your bottling bucket. i typically will start tilting the bucket so i can get that last few bottles out of a batch.

the only cover you need to put on your airlock is that little plastic cap that came with it.

red said:

so how du u bottle from a glass fermenter? on of those carboy things? they dont have tap do they?

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you either rack to a bottling bucket or use a auto-shiphon and bottling wand. the easiest is the first approach. you add the sugar to the bucket then siphon onto it. this does the job of mixing the sugar for you and gets your beer off the trub. the second approach is a little harder. you may need a helper. you would add the sugar directly to the fermenter (be careful not to aerate) and gently mix. then stick the auto-siphon in the beer keeping it off the bottom. one person will have to put the wand into a bottle and press down while someone else works the auto-siphon. once things get going you can set the siphon on the bottom of the fermenter. just be careful not to move it around and disturb the trub.

When leaving in the fermenter for up to 3 weeks, do you ever open the lid to check the gravity reading, or do you just wait and check it right before you bottle? I was curious about exposing the beer to oxygen with all of the head space in the primary bucket.

unless it's a huge beer it will be done in three weeks. I ferment in a carboy and most activity is visually done in 7 days (give or take). By the end of week 2, its done. Week three allows it to clear and condition a bit. If by chance the gravity is still higher then expected on day 21, I would wait a couple days and check again (although it's never happened to me with an ale yeast)...Lagers are a whole different story.

Thanks, Goose. But since I ferment in a bucket, will I damage the beer by opening the lid a couple of times over the course of 3 weeks to check the gravity?

I have atually never left beer in a plastic primary for 3 weeks. I used to rack from a bucket to a secondary (glass carboy) after 1 week and leave in glass for week 2 and 3. I then stopped using the bucket completely and just use the carboy.

That being said, you should be ok but i don't see the need. The less you play with it the better, especially in a bucket. My worry would be the large opening in the bucket might offer a larger risk. I would watch airlock activity and leave for a minimum of 7-10 days after the last sign of fermentation (bubbles) and never less then 21 days. I only use my 7.9 gallon bucket for very big beers and then rack to glass after 10 days or so...

I'm sure more people will chime in. This works for me, but there are many ways to do it.

--enjoy

bradneal said:

When leaving in the fermenter for up to 3 weeks, do you ever open the lid to check the gravity reading, or do you just wait and check it right before you bottle? I was curious about exposing the beer to oxygen with all of the head space in the primary bucket.

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i do not touch the bucket at all for 3 weeks. as long as there are signs of fermentation (karusen, airlock bubbling, sounds of bubbles) there is no point in checking your SG. once all other indicators of fermentation have gone away the only way to know if things are done or not is to take an SG reading.

goose1873 said:

I have atually never left beer in a plastic primary for 3 weeks. I used to rack from a bucket to a secondary (glass carboy) after 1 week and leave in glass for week 2 and 3. I then stopped using the bucket completely and just use the carboy.

That being said, you should be ok but i don't see the need. The less you play with it the better, especially in a bucket. My worry would be the large opening in the bucket might offer a larger risk. I would watch airlock activity and leave for a minimum of 7-10 days after the last sign of fermentation (bubbles) and never less then 21 days. I only use my 7.9 gallon bucket for very big beers and then rack to glass after 10 days or so...

I'm sure more people will chime in. This works for me, but there are many ways to do it.

--enjoy

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its a great idea goose but plastic fermenters are costly enough... im sure glass carboys would be nice but id recon they would break my piggy bank a bit

better bottles are pretty cheap, they are not glass but people swear by them. they are light, durable, and less expensive then glass. They also have are shape like a carboy and allow less exposer to air and easy siphoning...A 6.5 gallon glass carboy is about $35, which isn't too bad either...

You'll find many people use ale pales and i'm sure they are fine. Carboys are just more versatile and it's nice to have a few laying around.

red said:

so how du u bottle from a glass fermenter? on of those carboy things? they dont have tap do they?

Click to expand...

You just use a siphon hose. Easiest thing to do is spend a few bucks on an auto siphon, your local supply shop should carry. It's just a racking cane and a tube. Stick it in the beer, pull up on the cane, then push down. gravity and air pressure take care of the rest. They're awesome.