Bottling Conundrum

[Sujeto]

I had planned on bottling my hefeweizen today and now I'm not too sure it's a good idea. So I thought I'd poll the audience.
It's been in the primary for 7 days so far. I checked the gravity on Thursday morning and it was at 1.014. Today it is at 1.012, borderline 1.013.
Looking at howtobrew.com's nomograph, the co2 levels for this beer range from 3.3 to 4.5. At 70 degrees, the amount of cane sugar ranges from 5 ounces to 7.2 ounces.
Before I checked the gravity, I thought 7.2 ounces was too much for me to risk bottle bombs and had settled on 6.5 ounces of cane sugar. Now, I'm concerned 6.5 is too much since the gravity is still changing.
I know I should bottle after 3 days of the same gravity but I really want to get this primary empty and ready for the stout I had planned for tomorrow.
So, should I scale back the amount of sugar, if so, to how much? Stick with 6.5 ounces and cross my fingers? Or try again tomorrow?

And hey kids! This is another reason not to rely on airlock activity since this hasn't been bubbling since Wednesday!

 

[beninan]

only 7 days? a lot of people on here let their primaries go for 1 month +. It really does help out the beer by letting it age and letting the yeast clean up what they started. If you really don't want to wait a month, I'd say wait at least another week, and make sure fermentation has stopped completely before you bottle. You wouldn't want to risk your precious beer by having it blow up or by having it taste too "green", would you?

As for the bottling, I've only ever used corn sugar (not sure how much difference there is between cane and corn), and 5 oz of corn sugar is usually all you need. Maybe there is a difference for cane sugar and someone else can elaborate.

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

Initial thoughts are that bottling after 7 days in the primary is not a good idea. I know that hefe's are supposed to be consumed while young, but I think that 7 days is really pushing the limits of kettle to bottle quickness.

Its probably better to buy another fermenter bucket for <$15 than to potentially screw up a batch of ~$30 beer.

Just my opinion.

 

[Sujeto]

I agree with the quick turn around time, 7 days. I normally do 2 to three weeks. I had planned on this being my session beer recipe. Something to brew quick between the other beer styles I care more about, which get a minimum 2 weeks in the primary and then 3 weeks to 8 months in the bottle.
I'd like a second primary, I just don't know if SWMBO would go for it.

The best laid schemes of mice and men...

 

[jonmohno]

Ive been reading that wheat beers are quicker than the rest. I bottled a wheat beer(extract recipe) after 11 days,but have since learned about a three week minimum. But im at a two week mark and i may test one. i also have an extract with crystal 20 beer and its still not ready after 3 weeks bottled probably because i bottled this at 9 days.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

It is not a good idea to bottle beer that is still fermenting. You need to wait until the gravity is stable. Once it is stable, I would not bottle with more than 5oz of sugar if you are using standard 12oz bottles. If you have weisse bottles, they are thicker and they can sustain more pressure.

 

[Sujeto]

Well, I don't like the answers I'm getting but it is sound advice. I will be waiting. I don't want to risk bottle bombs since they cost more than the ingredients! Maybe I can get it bottled on Thursday night, that will be 12 days. I'm going out of town for Christmas so next Saturday is out of the question.
I guess today's new goal is to acquire a free bucket from a local restaurant (no pickle buckets as per Revvy!) and stop by the LHBS for a lid and airlock.
I'm brewing that stout tomorrow come hell or high water! Mainly because I smacked the Wyeast last night. I'll suffer the wrath of SWMBO. Doing the laundry usually appeases her.

 

[Johnny_Crunch]

go buy another bucket...........

 

[Johnny_Crunch]

bottle it after you get back in town, I would.

 

[Andy_LV]

I made 2 batches of wheat beers so far, from my xp they were done after 12-14 days in primary and really good after 4 weeks in bottles - you still get a bit of that "green taste" that goes really nice with the wheat beer style, cant say about longer periods cause none lasted past 2 months... gotta brew it all the time to keep up the stock - swmbo tends to dry it up really fast.

 

[jonmohno]

go buy another bucket...........

or two... with this midset you definatly do . Im @ 3 weeks in bottle for a wheat and are still not ready so to keep my mind off drinking them i brew weekly,and drink good craft beers in the meantime along with designing labels.Calms my patience.ha

 

[mikeysab]

I'd buy another couple of buckets. It seems like you just want to turn that batch around quickly to start another one. That's not going to make you happy. You have to have patience. "Hefeweizens need to be drunk young" doesn't mean that you just drink them as soon as, or before, fermentation is over. You have to let your yeast do it's thing. They don't just ferment your beer, call it a day and sit back and watch you drink and enjoy. You need to give them time to clean up after themselves and make your beer better. As people have previously mentioned, 3 to 4 weeks in primary is pretty standard, depending on original gravity. Personally, I do 4 weeks primary, regardless of gravity. Unless it's a ridiculous OG, like 1.09 to 1.1 or above. Then I'll give it 6 to 8 weeks. I'm usually in no rush, unless there's a holiday, or party coming up, in which case I'll take time and gravity into consideration. I've gotten used to supplying myself with good craft beers while I wait, so it's really never a problem. And I'm up to 5 fermenters now, so I usually don't need to rush to clear something out.

 

[Brewer_Bob]

Buckets are cheap. You shouldn't have too much trouble convincing SWMBO.