Final Gravity Reading on my first beer...

I put what I did with the kit I bought into QBrew. It calculated the Starting Gravity spot on. It has been about ten days since I started the batch and it reads 1.014, which is what Qbrew says is the Final Gravity. Should I just bottle this up now? Oh yeah it is an IPA. It tastes pretty good too. Comments?

I'm still pretty new to all of this, but from what I've read you can bottle it now, but it definitely won't hurt to wait another week or so. This will allow the beer to condition and settle more.

I leave the beer alone for 10-14 days in the primary. I can check the gravity then as I know that fermentation has finished because of my experience. I can now check the finish gravity (FG) if I want to. If it is finished and conditioned then it is ready to keg or bottle.

You probably could bottle it now, but I'd strongly suggest waiting at least another week to 10 days for better flavor. The gravity probably won't drop any more, but it really makes a huge difference in the taste. If you have a secondary vessel (carboy) you could rack it into that for 2 weeks before bottling then start another batch - it helps with the wait.

I have been leaving mine in the primary for 2-3 weeks. There are a lot of threads that you can find where members talk about leaving it at least 2 weeks, despite FG, to allow the yeast to settle out and clean up the beer. However, as long as the fermentation is done, you can bottle right now.

Well, I put it in a carboy on like the 3rd or 4th day. It still has a big layer of yeast at the bottom but there really is no trash in the beer anymore. I have another glass carboy that I am going to use for my next kit that should be in soon. Would another dry hopping be in order if I rack it for another week? My local homebrew store got in my whole leaf simcoe yesterday.

Edit:
The directions I had said to put it in the secondary after three days. Should I even worry about racking it to a different container?

No, if it's already in secondary don't rack it again. Just leave it another week.

IMO the directions they gave you are flawed - I wouldn't even consider racking a beer to secondary after 3-4 days. Primary fermentation should be completely finished before racking, even then it benefits from being on the yeast for extra time to clean up off flavors produced early in the fermentation process.

My current schedule is 10-12 days primary, 2 weeks secondary and 3 weeks in bottles. Even then some beers taste a little green and take an extra couple of weeks bottle conditioning.

goodgreener said:

Well, I put it in a carboy on like the 3rd or 4th day. It still has a big layer of yeast at the bottom but there really is no trash in the beer anymore.

Edit:
The directions I had said to put it in the secondary after three days. Should I even worry about racking it to a different container?

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You do not have to secondary ales at all. It is best to primary for 2 weeks so the yeast can clean up after themselves. This makes a cleaner tasting beer. Keg or bottle after conditioning.

In my experience, racking beer to a secondary for another week or two has always improved the taste of my ales. It's only a little extra work, and definitely worth it IMO.

Also, not measuring the gravity is fine if you're kegging, but you really should if you plan to bottle. There's nothing quite like bottling a beer that you didn't realize got stuck at 1.020, then having it resume fermentation in the bottles once you get 'em warmed up.

GNBrews said:

In my experience, racking beer to a secondary for another week or two has always improved the taste of my ales. It's only a little extra work, and definitely worth it IMO.

Also, not measuring the gravity is fine if you're kegging, but you really should if you plan to bottle. There's nothing quite like bottling a beer that you didn't realize got stuck at 1.020, then having it resume fermentation in the bottles once you get 'em warmed up.

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Leave the beer in the primary for a month then and you will see it is very good too because you have all that yeast working to clean up the beer. The beer made 200 years ago was left in the keg the whole time, even while serving and it was very good beer then. The only beer that needs to be off the yeast is a lager due to the extended time of lagering as there could be autolisis of older yeast. When you transfer to another vessel you are reducing the yeast cells able to do this clean up of unwanted esters etc.

WBC said:

Leave the beer in the primary for a month then and you will see it is very good too because you have all that yeast working to clean up the beer. The beer made 200 years ago was left in the keg the whole time, even while serving and it was very good beer then. The only beer that needs to be off the yeast is a lager due to the extended time of lagering as there could be autolisis of older yeast. When you transfer to another vessel you are reducing the yeast cells able to do this clean up of unwanted esters etc.

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WOW!!!!!!! dude, they had kegs 200 years ago!!!!

just breakin yer....

i dont have enough primaries, so i leave for 3 weeks, then bottle...then wait however long i can take it.
my 5 week old apa is pretty good. not better than some commercial micros, but better than any macro i have had in my life.