How Long do YOU Ferment in primary?

[CJ-3]

Like most others who have posted I only secondary for fruit beers and recently I have stsrted experimenting with oak chips.

As for my fermentation cycle, I use home brewing to reinforce patience. I only brew ales and they sit for 2 weeks undisturbed. After the 2 weeks is up I start checking gravity. Once FG has been reached I bottle and wait 2 or 3 weeks before trying one. Except for stouts because I let them age in the bottle for 6 to 8 weeks to mellow out.

I primarily use dry yeast but I vary with each batch because I like to see what a different yeast style will contribute to a batch. The only constant thing I do with yeast is I ferment to the middle of the temperature range for the full 2 weeks and let the temp rise the last 3 to 7 days as I check final gravity.

 

[ericbw]

I ferment 3-4 weeks. Recently I did one for 10 days and kegged. It took another 10 days to get good.

 

[hagar]

As others have said, I let the beer tell me when it's done. Being done has meant 10-12 days for my blonde ales. I have only used a secondary for flavoring.

 

[schematix]

Shortest time possible. Unless your fermenting in sealed stainless your beer is oxidizing.

This past weekend I racked a lager to lagering keg 7 days after pitching and about 6 points above FG. Should carbonate naturally perfectly over next couple weeks.

 

[beersk]

Shortest time possible. Unless your fermenting in sealed stainless your beer is oxidizing.

This past weekend I racked a lager to lagering keg 7 days after pitching and about 6 points above FG. Should carbonate naturally perfectly over next couple weeks.

Your head is oxidizing with all this GBF talk. Don't get me wrong, I'm on board with the theory, but how do you know the beer is oxidizing if you leave it in the primary for 2 weeks instead of 1? I doubt it.

I do 2 weeks in primary, then to keg, for every beer. I make mostly 1.045-1.060 OG beers, pitch good healthy top cropped yeast, aerate with pure O2...doesn't need more time than that. I'd like to maybe cut the time a bit, to 10 days, then naturally carbonate in the keg with either spunding or priming.

 

[schematix]

Your head is oxidizing with all this GBF talk. Don't get me wrong, I'm on board with the theory, but how do you know the beer is oxidizing if you leave it in the primary for 2 weeks instead of 1? I doubt it.

The premise of my statement is:
1. If you're using a PET bottle or (worse) a bucket that you can't keep enough O2 out once fermentation finishes.
2. Racking towards the end of active fermentation will help consume some of the O2 picked up during packaging.
3. Fermentations (even for lagers), are finished by the 1 week mark for reasonable OG beers.

I made a series of small process changes starting about a year ago and I noticed an improvement in the long term flavor stability of the beer.

I got an incremental improvement from getting the beer into the kegs sooner (stepping from 4, to 3 to 2 and now 1). Each step I found was slightly better. But I now believe that Time is the wrong metric here. The real metric is the gravity.

I got A BIGGER improvement from water purging my kegs. Bigger than going from 4 week primaries to 1 week primaries.

I was already switching to corny fermenting and spunding when the GBF paper came out. Most of the cold side processes they recommend have been around for years. Their major contribution is on the hot side. Their process helps keep certain flavor compounds in the beer rather than becoming volatile and leaving the beer. I've tried it once and it was night and day difference in the wort.

 

[phyllobeddo]

Lately I've been using Conan for IPAs and one blonde, and WLP002 for IPAs and one blonde. I do have one S-04 IPA in the primary right now.

My general practice is 21 days in the primary. Breaking that down, they are in the fermentation chamber with temperature control for 5-7 days and the remainder of the 21 days is spent in the bathroom closet, which is probably around 72-73 degrees right now. I'm generally in no hurry to finish a batch. I try to brew one 2.5 gallon batch per weekend, which can be tough with work and kids.

 

[petrolSpice]

I do a minimum of 2 weeks in primary before either moving to secondary or cold crashing.

 

[psujeeperman02]

This is a great thread and has some great tips in it. I'll be kegging for the first time within the next weeks so my question is: how the heck do you guys cold crash in the primary with the airlock on? I'd assume it would suck the starsan into the fermenter? Or, if you remove the airlock, wouldn't you expose it to oxygen during the cold crash?

I'm trying to decide whether to cold crash while in fermenter, or, rack to keg, dry hop, and cold crash all of that at once before carbing

 

[TripelDubbel]

Two weeks in primary. Have too for two glass carboys in fermentation chamber, so I choose a temp that will stay in temp range for two different beers fermenting. Transfer to secondary and sit for 2-4 weeks depending on time and number of empty bottles. Then I try one bottle per week starting after week 2 until fully carbonated.

 

[brewbama]

If I am in a hurry, when the action is over in the airlock I take a hydro reading. If where I expect, I rack to a waiting keg (which is why I am in a hurry). That is usually 5-7 days for an Ale depending on the yeast strain.

If I am not in a hurry (for Lagers I don't get in a hurry) I let it ride up to two weeks and I raise the temp for a D rest when the gravity hits about 1.020.

 

[schematix]

how the heck do you guys cold crash in the primary with the airlock on? I'd assume it would suck the starsan into the fermenter? Or, if you remove the airlock, wouldn't you expose it to oxygen during the cold crash?

Don't cold crash with an air lock. If your other processes are sound it'll drop crystal clear in the keg by the time its carbonated.

 

[psujeeperman02]

Don't cold crash with an air lock. If your other processes are sound it'll drop crystal clear in the keg by the time its carbonated.

Awesome! Will try that with this batch. I'm thinking first couple of pours will be cloudy, but the pints thereafter should be perfect

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Clean ales (eg. APA, IPA): Normally two to three weeks primary only, then crash chill and gelatin (I like these beers clear) then keg or bottle.

Yeast driven beers (eg. Belgians, british ales, hefeweizens): Two days after fermentation is finished as confirmed by a fast ferment test (FFT). This is normally about 7 days after brewing.

Lagers: Ferment at 8C, Drop temp 0.5C per day at 50% gravity, then keg with 6 gravity points left (again, as confirmed by a FFT) - normally 7 days. Or, if bottling, finish fermenting at 4C then bottle with krausen (normally takes about 3 weeks).

 

[Hanglow]

I almost always have to brew/bottle at the weekends, so it's almost always two weeks or three weeks for me, very occasionally one week for a small beer and I never do monster beers so three weeks is more than enough for the bigger beers I do. If I could bottle midweek I would and shorten the length of time it's in the bucket.

 

[Chris_Primavera]

I used to primary for three weeks. Then I started to make large starters and use temperature control. Using 1272 slurry in a starter and O2 gets the fermentation done in about four days. Since I brew on the weekend, I wait seven days, dry hop for 4 and then use gelatin and cold crash for three days before kegging. Total time in the primary two weeks. I could probably dry hop on day 4 and keg the following weekend but why?

 

[psujeeperman02]

I'm going on almost 3 weeks.
I hit my target FG, and the activity has pretty much stopped. Krausen hasn't fallen yet. Good indication that it's still slightly active even after all of this time?

 

[ncbrewer]

I'm going on almost 3 weeks.
I hit my target FG, and the activity has pretty much stopped. Krausen hasn't fallen yet. Good indication that it's still slightly active even after all of this time?

Check the gravity again at least 2 - 3 days later to see if gravity is stable. That will be your answer.

 

[Dog House Brew]

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.

This is my process

 

[Dog House Brew]

Shortest time possible. Unless your fermenting in sealed stainless your beer is oxidizing.

This past weekend I racked a lager to lagering keg 7 days after pitching and about 6 points above FG. Should carbonate naturally perfectly over next couple weeks.

Is 6 points consistent, for the most part, across the board. I do think a beer producing its own carbonation is more stable. I'd like to scrub that O2 with this method. I purge my kegs, but long term storage tells me there is some oxidation going on.

 

[Dog House Brew]

Shortest time possible. Unless your fermenting in sealed stainless your beer is oxidizing.

This past weekend I racked a lager to lagering keg 7 days after pitching and about 6 points above FG. Should carbonate naturally perfectly over next couple weeks.

Is 6 points consistent, for the most part, across the board. I do think a beer producing its own carbonation is more stable. I'd like to scrub that O2 with this method. I purge my kegs, but long term storage tells me there is some oxidation going on.

 

[Jim311]

I love yeast-forward beers so I just drink the wort and then eat the yeast packet.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Is 6 points consistent, for the most part, across the board. I do think a beer producing its own carbonation is more stable. I'd like to scrub that O2 with this method. I purge my kegs, but long term storage tells me there is some oxidation going on.

I aim for about 6 points remaining, but the only way to be sure is if you do a fast ferment test. It doesn't really matter if you transfer a bit early (overcarbonation - you need to vent pressure a few times or use a spunding valve) or too late (providing there is still some fermentable extract; undercarbonation - you need to add some force CO2). It does (IMO) give a more stable product.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I'm going on almost 3 weeks.
I hit my target FG, and the activity has pretty much stopped. Krausen hasn't fallen yet. Good indication that it's still slightly active even after all of this time?

Krausen depends on the yeast strain - some top-croppers (eg. WY1469) leave foamy yeast on top of the beer well after fermentation has finished.

 

[MaplePaddle]

The only time I'd ever rack to secondary would be if the beer has been in the primary for three weeks and life is just too hectic to bottle within any reasonable time.

 

[Drk93TT]

I do minimum 14 days primary. usually keg after 18-24 days. Ideally you'd want to measure the gravity of the beer and check to see if its ready ... Ive never done that. Always wait at least 14 days before kegging and the FG is fine... 1.012 or lower for most yeasts depending on what temp I mashed at.. i.e the lower mash temp the lower the FG in most cases (1.006-1.010 usually... like I said after 18 days minimum.)

.. I suppose if I had a small sampling valve on my fermenter like some high end SS models I would check the gravity during fermentation... but I digress..

 

[DurtyChemist]

I ferment my beer until it's done and I have something to fill the carboy up with. Currently I have one batch about to hit three weeks and another hitting 2 weeks. I'm not brewing until next weekend at the soonest when I'll keg the current beer and ferment some more beer until my next brew day.