Recipe says wait 6 weeks!?

I'm making an American pale ale, and the recipe says wait 2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, then bottle and wait to weeks to drink... Does this sound right?

yeah. my pale ales and ipas are usually 10 days primary 1 week secondary then 2 weeks bottle conditioning. they hit their fg in about 3-4 days so i give them an extra week in primary before i transfer.

Yes. At least that long.

Don't transfer from primary until you have a steady FG. Use your hydrometer.
Unless you are dryhopping or aging your beer, you don't necessarily have to put it into a secondary. Typically, I let my beers go 3-4 weeks, cold crash and keg.

johnnyo said:

yes. At least that long.

Don't transfer from primary until you have a steady fg. Use your hydrometer.
Unless you are dryhopping or aging your beer, you don't necessarily have to put it into a secondary. Typically, i let my beers go 3-4 weeks, cold crash and keg.

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+1

Nowadays many of us opt for a month long primary rather than racking to a secondary, though when I do secondary, or recommend it to folks I tend to do a 2 on 2, just as those instructions say. But I don't recomened anyone rack to a secondary indiscriminately based purely on a calendar.

It should be done based on 2 gravity readings over three consequetive days to insure the beer is done, if one was considering racking on day 14, then I would take a reading on day 12, and then 2 days later- if the numbers match, the fermentation SHOULD be complete, and racking can commence.


As to how long a beer takes to carb and condition, that really can't be quantified. A beer takes as long as it needs to to carbonate and condition.

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.

And just because a beer is carbed doesn't mean it still doesn't taste like a$$ and need more time for the off flavors to condition out. You have green beer.

Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

Sounds good, and yes I'm dry hopping, so it sounds like I should use a secondary then.

How often should I check with my hydrometer? My og was 1.065 and out of impatience I checked at 2 days for fun, and it was 1.035, so its doing work, so now I just wait 10 more days and rack to secondary?

michaeljones147 said:

Sounds good, and yes I'm dry hopping, so it sounds like I should use a secondary then.

How often should I check with my hydrometer? My og was 1.065 and out of impatience I checked at 2 days for fun, and it was 1.035, so its doing work, so now I just wait 10 more days and rack to secondary?

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Generally you should expect Ale's to need at least 14 days in the primary at the fermentation temperature to finish. I don't check FG readings until day 14. Check the gravity reading 48 hours apart and if it's stable you can bottle if you are impatient or wait another week or 2 so the yeast can clean up some off flavors. Once you bottle the beer the yeast stop cleaning up off flavors and start eating the priming sugar so you have to wait even longer for them to get back to cleaning up those off flavors! Patience, my friend.

Roger, thanks man

michaeljones147 said:

Sounds good, and yes I'm dry hopping, so it sounds like I should use a secondary then.

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Not necessarily, a lot of folks, myself included dryhop in primary, adding them in week three and bottling a week later.

Note, also since this is my first brew, will the foam on the wort from fermentation settle out by the time I need to check my final gravity?

Note, also since this is my first brew, will the foam on the wort from fermentation settle out by the time I need to check my final gravity?

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Yes, mine has settled on my latest after 3 days.

Awesome, man I love this forum, thanks all for the fast responses and great info. I'll try not to be too annoying

michaeljones147 said:

Note, also since this is my first brew, will the foam on the wort from fermentation settle out by the time I need to check my final gravity?

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Usually it will settle out and your beer surface should be pretty much foam/bubble free by the time you check gravity.

I always take a sample of the beer out of the fermenter and put it in a test tube and then stick the hydrometer into the test tube for a more accurate reading. If you just stick your hydrometer in the fermenter you will have a hard time reading it from an above angle.

Be very careful, this hobby can be VERY addicting

I'm noticing John! And ill try that next time, it makes sense to use the test tube

Primary for 2-3 weeks, secondary with dry hops. Bottle.

Send me some bottles for testing. I'll let you know if they are good to go, or if you need to send the rest to me for disposal...

michaeljones147 said:

Note, also since this is my first brew, will the foam on the wort from fermentation settle out by the time I need to check my final gravity?

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yes it will, give it some time......listen to Revvy

Haha, ill get on that homer

Revvy said:

Not necessarily, a lot of folks, myself included dryhop in primary, adding them in week three and bottling a week later.

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what Revvy said.

i've done a secondary once... if i ever make a barleywine or anything large that needs to age for sometime, i will do a secondary. But if it's anything around 1.060, i let it go for a month, bottle/keg and let it sit for another few weeks or a month.

however, i just made some new batches after being away from the hobby for a few months... and i just bought a kegging setup... and i'm feeling that noob impatience thing... lol

Ok, thanks

michaeljones147 said:

Haha, ill get on that homer

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Sweet!

Leaving in primary for longer than many instructions say is good. 2/3 weeks. If you google search John Palmer Homebrewing, you will find a free e-book that has EVERYTHING you will need to get going from beginning kits to all-grain. A fantastic book that highlights the flaws of kit instructions and what to do to get a good beer.

The "foam on the wort", or krausen, will have settled by the time you reach your final gravity. There's just no reason to check it until the krausen has dropped.

Robms88 said:

Leaving in primary for longer than many instructions say is good. 2/3 weeks. If you google search John Palmer Homebrewing, you will find a free e-book that has EVERYTHING you will need to get going from beginning kits to all-grain. A fantastic book that highlights the flaws of kit instructions and what to do to get a good beer.

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Well, I am using a recipe in stead of a kit at least...some kudos?

Pilgarlic said:

The "foam on the wort", or krausen, will have settled by the time you reach your final gravity. There's just no reason to check it until the krausen has dropped.

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Awesome thanks man

I think a lot of new brewers start out drinking batches too soon till they realize that by the time they get to the last bottle it's tasting really good. Then they start to become patient.

Bithead said:

I think a lot of new brewers start out drinking batches too soon till they realize that by the time they get to the last bottle it's tasting really good. Then they start to become patient.

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I learn from others so I will wait, till then it is Sweetwater IPA