How Long do YOU Ferment in primary?

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brandonnys

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I've seen a number of threads all over the board, so this post is less of a "This is the right way to do it" and more of a "This is how I do it" thread.

Maybe a few questions to get it started:

1. For the given beer style/yeast strain combination (please disclose), how long do you usually ferment in primary?

2a. Is it a static amount of time? I.e. I always rack from primary to secondary after X days?

2b. Is it driven by a percentage of the difference in OG and FG? I.e. With a known OG and a calculated FG, I know to rack over to secondary once fermentation reaches X% between those numbers.

2c. Is it based on the visual appearance of the fermentation? I.e. As soon as the krausen falls, I rack to secondary. This is usually X days.

2d. It is based on airlock/blowoff tube activity? i.e. As soon as the airlock bubbles less than X times per Y time period, I rack over.

2e. Is it a combination of the above?

The above questions imply a well-regulated fermentation environment and viable yeast cultures (basically ideal conditions).

Here's an example:

I use Wyeast #1332 in my Amber Ale. I've had best results with racking to secondary after four days in primary. By day 4, there is usually very little airlock activity, and the krausen has fallen to about half of its peak height. I'm usually within 4 points of my calculated FG after 4 days in primary. I ferment at 67 degrees, plus or minus 0.5 degrees.
 
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Great thread, I'm game

I us US-05 in my house APA, and I usually go by appearance for kegging (for most beers actually). I never use a secondary unless I'm adding flavoring such as oak, or fruit. So I will usually wait 3 day after the krausen falls, then take a gravity and tasting sample. I'll use this sample as a gauge for when to keg. If there are obvious flavor flaws in the beer (diacetyl, acetaladehyde, etc), I will leave it for a few more day, or if the FG is several points higher than expected. After a few days I will repeat this process until it "tastes" ready to keg, and my FG is stable. This also changes if I dry hop in primary. I will wait for the krausen to fall, dry hop, and then wait a specified amount of time (usually 4-7 days) before starting the tasting/measuring process.

My typical primary time for the APA is about 12 days. I dry hop on the 7th day, and keg on 12.

Lager schedule is far more time driven, but the final taste/measure process is the same.
 
I do not ever plan to rack to the bottling bucket from the primary for at least 21 days. Could be up to a week longer if I dry hop.

Beers fermented with Belgian yeasts will usually be in the primary longer than three weeks.

I have extra fermentors so I don't rush.
 
I generally use WLP001 for the majority of my beers. Usually pales, IPA's, blondes, cream ales, etc. For most of the beers I let them sit in primary for about 2 weeks (no secondary unless racking over fruit, oak, etc). 001 is a beast and always finishes up and cleans up in that amount of time so thats kinda the general guidelines I follow. Seems to work for me. I dont check gravity until I keg, which admittedly is kind of a gamble but Ive never had any issues doing it this way.
 
Almost all of my beers start out between 1.050 and 1.060, I use dry yeasts that have been rehydrated, use strict temp control, and never do a secondary. With that said, I ferment 10-14 days. I'll check at 10 days and if it's at target gravity and tastes correct then I cold crash and keg. If gravity still needs to drop a couple points then I will let it go a few more days in the hope that it comes in line. If it doesn't drop after those days I keg it anyway. I'm not counting cold crash time as fermenting time because of the low temperature but if you include it I am pretty consistently 14 days from grain to keg.
 
Ive noticed a trend of shorter and shorter times to do it especially with APA and IPA. Some guys will say they do this because they feel that IPA and APA is best drunk fresh etc. I don't dry hop my IPA till week 3 typically so when I package most of the aroma..is fresh and IMHO the beer has time to properly age to its desired profile. Whatever works for someone is their business in this stuff though. The truth is you should probably let the hydrometer tell you for a minimum amount of time. Personally I wait 4 weeks (no secondary) and package unless its a big beer or has specific lengthy aging and such for its style to allow the beer to age to its desired flavor profile and to let the yeast settle out.
 
Once the airlock activity slows down, that is when I check FG. Usually within about 4-7 days or so since pitching yeast. As soon as I confirm FG, I will cold crash and keg. I can go grain to glass in about 14-18 days or so pretty easily with most beers with the cold crashing. From kegging, it's fully carbed in 2-3 days with my carb method.
 
I look for airlock activity and/or visible.bubbles to stop. Then take gravity. If it appears completely stopped and FG is consistent with the target I will go ahead and bottle. If there is any question I will take a second gravity reading to confirm. Depending on the yeast and temp, I have bottled anywhere between 10 days and 4 weeks.
 
Generally, it's 7-10 days then it either goes into the keg or gets dry-hopped/oaked/etc. I used to wait 14 days, but started to realize there wasn't much of a point in waiting that long if FG had been reached.
 
1. For the given beer style/yeast strain combination (please disclose), how long do you usually ferment in primary?

10-14 days All styles of Ales and Lagers in Primary before Kegging

2a. Is it a static amount of time? I.e. I always rack from primary to secondary after X days?

No, it is not a static amount of time but always winds up at 10-14 days.

2b. Is it driven by a percentage of the difference in OG and FG? I.e. With a known OG and a calculated FG, I know to rack over to secondary once fermentation reaches X% between those numbers.

No, I do not take a gravity sample until my beer is in the keg. Just to determine the ABV%. I know it is "done" since I warm the fermentation at the end. It always reaches terminal gravity and never "stalls".

2c. Is it based on the visual appearance of the fermentation? I.e. As soon as the krausen falls, I rack to secondary. This is usually X days.

Yes, my process is all visual. I start at the lowest recommended ferm temperate for the first few days (usually 2-3 days) then I want to be ramped up to the middle of the recommended ferm temp just before the krausen falls. Then when the yeast is is flocking at the bottom I like to be at the max recommended ferm temperature and I hold it there for 2-3 days until the beer is bright (darker in color) and there is a big yeast cake. Then I cold crash, which puts me at 10-14 days. Hold at near freezing for a day or two and keg.

2d. It is based on airlock/blowoff tube activity? i.e. As soon as the airlock bubbles less than X times per Y time period, I rack over.

I never use an air lock. I only cover the hole in the bucket lid with a glass dish.
 
Small beers 10.55 or less 2 weeks, larger beers 3 weeks. for the most part I keg. when I bottle I like to check the gravity at 10 days and at 13 days. :mug:
 
The level of variation on this thread is amazing. So many ways to make beer.

One other note on my original post #2. I left that same APA in the primary for 5 weeks one time with no ill effects (or flavor differences) vs my standard 12 days to keg.
 
The level of variation on this thread is amazing. So many ways to make beer.

I agree. I'm glad so many people are participating in this thread. I have my process, which may or may not be best, and I'm loving all the insight from everyone participating. Gives me ideas for my own process.
 
My typical process on a moderate gravity pale ale has been: about a week at the low end of the temp range for the yeast, then about a week at the middle-to-high end (usually about 72°F) the last 3-4 days of which I dry hop, then up to a week of cold crash, then keg, then into the keezer, then usually takes a week or two to carb good and drop clean. Typically 4-5 weeks grain to glass.

(Back when I bottled, that 72°F step might have stretched to 2 or even 3 weeks for fear of bottle bombs...now I keg, who cares if I could have fermented out one or two more points?)

My next few brews I'm going to try 3-4 days at low end of yeast range, 2-3 days at about 72°F during which I dry hop, transfer into keg while still active and on top of 2/3 of a "normal" dose of priming sugar, purge headspace then room temp natural carb with a spunding valve set to 30psi for about 2 weeks, then into the keezer where I hope it'll only take about a week (or two) to drop clean. Should take about the same total time, I won't be stressing my mini-fridge ferm chambers as much, I'll use less CO2 from the tank, and most importantly I'm hoping this process will help reduce oxidation and loss of hop aromas. Basically, take a page from the LODO book. Might have to chuck the first pint, though.
 
Pretty much every ale beer gets 2 weeks @ 65, ramping to 68F over the 2nd week. Then the last 2 days i cold crash it to 30, gelatin it, then keg it.
Lagers usually go 3-4 weeks, same for really big Imperials or a RIS for example.
 
Ales are 3 to 4 weeks. If in a hurry we have kegged after 11 days but the beer is better if left on the yeast a little longer by my tastes. We do lagers for a month before we keg and then lager at least a month.
 
Because I'm lazy I ferment everything for 30 days. I figure this gives any beer enough time to do its thing.

Having said this I have one brewing now that I'm going to try after two weeks based on this thread...
 
Most of my beers are between 1.055-1.075. The yeast get 2 weeks to do their thing unmolested, then I do a gravity reading and taste. If everything checks out, I'll dry hop (or start the dry hopping processe if doing more than 1 addition), wait another week then check gravity again. If it's stable I package it up. No secondary.

Saisons (harvested wy3724) get a few days in the mid-60s before ramping up to the mid 80.

IPAs/APAs (varies, have used Chico nut currently playing with Conan) get a few days at mid-60s, a few days at upper 60s, then back to mid-60s.

EDIT: Added yeast strains
 
2 weeks is what I aim for now. I used to go at least 21 days. Now it can range anywhere from 14 days to a month or more if I get lazy about packaging the beer.

I almost never do a secondary so that timing is irrelevant.

Heavier beers or adding something like oak chips, fruit or dry hopping will add time to the primary fermentation, and occasionally a secondary.
 
I don't really have a rule. Whenever I feel the beer is done, I keg. Sometimes with lagers (typically use the 'quick' method) I'll keg after the d rest. That depends on if I have a keg laying around then or not though.

Typically, non-Belgian ales go a week or two (I'd say most hit 2 weeks). Belgians go 3-4 weeks. Bretts are a very minimum of 3 weeks, but really happen on their own timeline (especially if they have bacteria)...
 
I do all mine 3 weeks. Only time I open the fermenter is to dry hop, if the beer gets them. I take one final gravity reading, as I'm bottling.
 
Anywhere from 5 days to 3 years. It all depends on when it's ready.

Typically I'm at 10-14 days. Even if it's done sooner (my session beers are usually done and properly conditioned and ready to drink in 4-5 days) I usually don't rush more than that because I don't need to, but I have packaged at the 5 day mark before. I typically don't let it go longer than 14 days unless it needs it, which does happen sometimes with some of the slower Belgian strains or the occasional hybrid or lager. But most beers, even the fairly high gravity ones, are good to package at that point. When I dry hop, I'm usually doing that once the beer has dropped bright, which in most cases is around that 7-10 day mark, and then I'll give it 5 days or so and THEN package. Adding fruit or oak or other stuff I don't usually do, but then secondary is however long it needs to infuse whatever flavor to the right level. But the yeast do their thing, and don't have a calendar. Sours are obviously a different game. Most of those get anywhere from 1-3 years.
 
21 to 65 days in the fermenter. The one (only one, no patience) that spent 65 days came out the best tasting and least yeast in the bottles.
 
Usually, I will package a beer when it's done and clear, about 3 days after FG is reached in most cases. If I'm dryhopping, I will dryhop at that time and package 5 days later (or thereabouts).

So for me, it's 10 days in the fermenter for ales, give or take a day or two, unless dryhopping and then it's 15 days in the fermenter.

For lagers, it's still about 10 days in the fermenter, and then racked for lagering.
 
I'm a bit lazy usually. I ferment most beers with wlp090 which finishes up quick but I usually wait 21 days to keg. I am too busy on weeknights so everything happens on weekends. Two weeks is probably enough but I usually wait to keg, then quickly force carb. My house pale is about 1.054-1.060 depending on mild tweaks I make and is perfect at kegging. I also do not cold crash most of the time so that likely plays a roll. I've done things faster and despite my love for hops I think my beers benefit from a bit extra time.
 
I don't secondary. When the gravity is stable for several days I'll dump the yeast. Cold crash under positive pressure for 3-4 days, or until the samples are clear. Dump again (normally a quick one). Then keg.

Normally this ends up as 7-14 days dependent on beer and yeast strain, 3-4 days, keg. If the final gravity doesn't match expected or fermentation time is longer than standard on an established recipe then I have some difference in that beer than normal.
 
I don't secondary.

I'm seeing this as a trend. I've always racked to secondary, no matter what, and really thinking about it, I'm now not sure why I do it. Nearly everyone who has commented doesn't rack to secondary.

Keep them coming guys. I think this will help a lot of new & old homebrewers alike.
 
I let the fermentation dictate when I keg, but most of my ales will finish out in 3-5 days, then I do a diacetyl rest for a 3-4 days, then fine with gelatin and cold crash. After that, they get a closed transfer to a keg. On average, they stay in the fermentor for about two weeks. Oftentimes, due to my work schedule, they'll go for three weeks.

The standard when I started brewing in 1993 was you always used a secondary. Thankfully, these days we know better...you can do more harm than good, especially new brewers who aren't doing closed transfers.

I only secondary for fruit additions or lagers.
 
Outside factors apply such as work schedules, so I loosely plan my brew activities in 7 day cycles related to having the weekend to cut grass, brew beers, rack..etc. Unless I get an unexpected surprise, I'll plan racking to keg 14 days from brew date, but I typically brew 1.050 beers. I never rack to secondary.

Regarding secondary, I was taught ALWAYS to secondary. Of course folks telling me this are store owners SELLING secondary vessels, carboys, etc. I never secondary, but I treat my keg as a brite tank or secondary. Sorry for the rant!
 
Until it's done. I have a Brewometer so I just wait until gravity is stable for 3 days, then it's kegged and put on gas.
 
Until it's done. I have a Brewometer so I just wait until gravity is stable for 3 days, then it's kegged and put on gas.


Beskone, don't want to be a thread thief. Out of respect for the OP, would you mind PMing me with some links or info on your Brewometer. Very interested in your opinion. Thanks!
 
Beskone, don't want to be a thread thief. Out of respect for the OP, would you mind PMing me with some links or info on your Brewometer. Very interested in your opinion. Thanks!

Considering Brewometer is kaput, you might want to look at alternatives. The only one I know if is the Beer Bug, but it's gotten mixed reviews.
 
I'm never in a hurry. I usually don't make time-sensitive, hop-forward beers, so my beers sit anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple of months.

I only secondary if it's something getting an addition, like fruit, vanilla beans, etc.

My beers are typically 1.040-1.070, apart from the occasional big beer, 1.095-1.110.

I'm both old enough, and disenchanted enough, to not be rushing things along most of the time. I don't wait for the beer. The beer waits for me.
 
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