Bottle after 11 days?

[pwnshop]

I brewed a wit with S-04 hoping for a quick turnaround. I'm going camping on May 15th for the long weekend and wanted to have this bottled and carbed by then.

I took a reading 3 days ago and I was at 1.011 and I took another reading today which was also 1.011. I know S-04 is pretty quick to finish up, but I'm leery about bottling so quickly. I have left every other beer I have made in primary for 3 weeks before even touching it, and I have a saison that I want to bottle this weekend as well that has been in primary for 4 weeks..

Anyways, I'm nervous to bottle so soon, but other than potential bottle bombs if somehow it is still fermenting what other drawbacks might there be if I bottle this tomorrow and leave it to carb until may 13th then pop em all in the fridge til i leave for camping?

thanks!

 

[motobrewer]

If you are at final gravity the only drawback will be it'll taste like crap.

 

[IslandLizard]

If you are at final gravity the only drawback will be it'll taste like crap.

What makes you say that?

 

[motobrewer]

What makes you say that?

I should rephrase - "the only drawback is it could potentially taste bad"

 

[geouy0523]

It might be a little yeasty, but with a wit, probably not a big deal. If you are really worried you could cold crash it overnight and speed up the clarification.

 

[pwnshop]

OK,

well what exactly would make it "taste like crap". If I'm bottle conditioning for around three weeks won't it clear up in the bottle?

I have yet to outfit my wine cooler ferm chamber with a temp controller and bypass the thermostat. as a result I can only drop the temp to around 45*F. I can "cold crash" at the temp for a couple days. will it make a difference?

I can bottle on Tuesday which will be two weeks in primary, and that will give me two weeks of carbing in bottles before i leave. should I just wait and bottle it tuesday? is two weeks enough time to carb up?

thanks and sorry for all the noob questions. I have never tried to rush a batch before.

 

[TheHappyHopper]

I start drinking my beers at about 2 weeks in the bottle (not ideal, but I'm impatient) - it depends on the temperature you are storing them during that period - mid 70s, you would probably be good on carbonation; below that, you could end up with low or no carbonation...

I don't think you're in any danger of it "tasting like crap" from bottling now...

 

[ricshayne]

you should be fine just store those bottles in the mid 70's

 

[pwnshop]

ok I'm going to bottle on Sunday I think and drop the ferm chamber temp to the lowest it goes until then.

The bottles will be stored around 70-75 so fingers crossed.

thanks for the advice everyone

 

[Nerosync]

2wks in the primary sounds like you will end up with some cider tasting beer. I would let it go at least another week but if you are in a rush then letting it sit longer than normal in the bottles should help it clear up, not sure about the taste though.

 

[pwnshop]

2wks in the primary sounds like you will end up with some cider tasting beer. I would let it go at least another week but if you are in a rush then letting it sit longer than normal in the bottles should help it clear up, not sure about the taste though.

Can you explain why? If bottling @ two weeks will make the beer taste crappy then I won't. I just don't think I know enough to understand why?

What happens during that third week to make the beer taste better? As far as I can tell fermentation has been finished for like 5 or 6 days already. I drank my samples and I didnt taste any cider or anything like that. It seemed ok.

I could just leave it and not bring any camping if its going to ruin the whole batch, but before I leave it for another 7 days I'd just like to understand why it's so important.

Thanks for any clarification

 

[d3track]

U.S.-04 can work pretty fast, and it sounds like you are at FG, and if your sample tasted good, it's ok to move forward. You can crash for 24hours, bottle, store at ~70ish and be good to go for your trip.

Yeast don't work on a calendar, and there are many examples of quick turnaround brews out there.

 

[blizz81]

Can you explain why? If bottling @ two weeks will make the beer taste crappy then I won't. I just don't think I know enough to understand why?

What happens during that third week to make the beer taste better? As far as I can tell fermentation has been finished for like 5 or 6 days already. I drank my samples and I didnt taste any cider or anything like that. It seemed ok.

I could just leave it and not bring any camping if its going to ruin the whole batch, but before I leave it for another 7 days I'd just like to understand why it's so important.

Thanks for any clarification

In general terms, for a lighter beer, people are talking about yeast cleaning up after themselves which can have some definite benefits for flavor. If it tastes ok for the style in a sample you're probably ok. Could it benefit from being on the yeast longer? Possibly. Will it "ruin" the batch if it doesn't sit on the yeast longer? I'd say nah.


I'm more curious with S-04 producing a "witbier"!

 

[Nerosync]

Agreed, I have seen some beers that finish the primary phase quite quickly and then can be racked and bottled faster than others. The simple way to tell like blizz said is to test it and see for yourself. But every time you dip in there you run the risk of contamination. I just take the better safe than sorry method personally. Patience is usually rewarding when it comes to brewing beer.

 

[1977Brewer]

I only primary for two weeks, because I'm impatient. Check it at 7 days, 10 days, and 13-14 days. If gravities 10 and 14 are stable, into bottles it goes. Stays green for a little bit after it carbs. Last batch didn't change from 7 to 10 days, so I let it ride out to 14. Uncarbed sample was delicious, barely bubbly 4 day check was amazing.

 

[pwnshop]

In general terms, for a lighter beer, people are talking about yeast cleaning up after themselves which can have some definite benefits for flavor. If it tastes ok for the style in a sample you're probably ok. Could it benefit from being on the yeast longer? Possibly. Will it "ruin" the batch if it doesn't sit on the yeast longer? I'd say nah.


I'm more curious with S-04 producing a "witbier"!

OK that makes sense. I think I'll leave this one til 14 days and then bottle it.

as for the S-04 thing: It was recommended to use this yeast for quicker finishing time. I don't think the recipe is true to style. It's a clone of another recipe and apparently S-04 / S-05 get pretty close to the original beer. S-05 taking longer to finish I opted for S-04.

 

[Sailingeric]

I have bottle beer about that time, couple weeks to carb.. it was good but having a pipeline built up I am finding they are really getting great after a couple months in the bottle