Length of fermentation

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dentdr

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Im on my second brew, and doing a second fermantation, how long should my first fermantation take?, I'm getting different times from people,
 
secondary fermentation is mostly myth. Actually, it's just conditioning - the yeast are cleaning up byproducts and settling down for a nap.

You can do everything in one fermenter - the primary, or after initial fermentation, you can move it to a secondary for more clearing up, or dry hopping, or fruit additions - no matter. Just give the beer time (2-4 weeks) before doing anything else.

primary fermentation usually takes 3 pretty crazy days once it starts (might take a day or two to start) then settles down after about 2 more, so in general, primary fermentation takes a week. But again, leave it be for 2 -4. All my beers sit at least 4 weeks in 64F temperature controlled environment before I think about doing anything else.
 
Your question is kind of vague so I'll guess you mean how long should you let your brew ferment before it's complete, the most honest answer - your beer isn't done fermenting until you have some good consistent gravity sample data proving so, each beer is different, not smart to assume anything with home brewing.

Give it 10 days, take a gravity reading, then take one the next day. Change in the #s? Still going. No change? probably done or slow enough it shouldn't hurt anything (that's not say though you should jump in and bottle, longer it sits the better it gets at least with my beers, that's a debatable topic though)

What kind of beer did you brew?
 
Your question is kind of vague so I'll guess you mean how long should you let your brew ferment before it's complete, the most honest answer - your beer isn't done fermenting until you have some good consistent gravity sample data proving so, each beer is different, not smart to assume anything with home brewing.

Just to add to this, the yeast you use and the temperature affect how quickly it ferments. If you just have a primary (like I did when I started), you'll probably want to give it three to four weeks both to ferment and then also age.
 
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