How long do you ferment?

[mrgrimm101]

Its been 7 days, the yeast is still swirling but im going to move it upstairs at about 66-68F and let it sit for another week or so. I might be able to manage an overnight outside cold crash before bottling

 

[poptarts]

Winter is awesome for free cold crashing.

 

[moreb33rplz]

2 weeks min for me, usually 3-4

 

[mrclean]

Stating what has already been said but this is generally my process:

Depends on the gravity of the beer but in general none of my beers go less than 14 days. I mostly brew in the 5-7% range and let it sit in primary for a month. Bigger beers I age in a 5 gallon glass carboy for usually 3months but that is the only time I use my secondary. All temp controlled in the 60s. I do however typically have the temp in upper 60s for first day or so....BUT big beers like 8-9% I usually keep cooler as to avoid spilage


Ohh...it also depends on how much beer I have on tap

 

[smizak]

Personally, I don't recommend the bulk aging thing.

Number one, beer is best fresh. Very rarely is a 5 month old beer better than a 1 month old beer.

Second, oxygen is the average homebrewers biggest problem. I don't care how careful you rack or tightly sealed you think your homebrew bucket or carboy is, your going to oxidize your beer. In my experience, bottle conditioning soon after fermentation is complete or carefully purging your kegs/vessels with CO2 is the best remediation available to homebrewers.

I can't tell you how many stouts and porters I've judged that were oxidized and would have scored much better had they been fresh samples. It's a shame that some of these homebrewers waited to enter them.

 

[mrclean]

That is usually why I rack into a 5 gallon glass secondary with as little headspace as possible.

Unless you are doing a pressurized transfer I am not sure that being to careful about oxygen is worth the effort as it's pretty unavoidable.

My big beers have always tastes better with time but than again I've never entered a competition to compare them

 

[mrclean]

How do you recommend purging a carboy with co2.

 

[Yooper]

Personally, I don't recommend the bulk aging thing.

Number one, beer is best fresh. Very rarely is a 5 month old beer better than a 1 month old beer.

Second, oxygen is the average homebrewers biggest problem. I don't care how careful you rack or tightly sealed you think your homebrew bucket or carboy is, your going to oxidize your beer. In my experience, bottle conditioning soon after fermentation is complete or carefully purging your kegs/vessels with CO2 is the best remediation available to homebrewers.

I can't tell you how many stouts and porters I've judged that were oxidized and would have scored much better had they been fresh samples. It's a shame that some of these homebrewers waited to enter them.

I agree. There are a few exceptions, but rarely is a 6 month old beer at its peak.

As a certified BJCP judge, I agree that oxidation is the most common flaw, and it's in the majority of the beers I've judged in competition.

Unless someone has a vessel-to-vessel transfer system and transfers under c02, just the act of opening/racking/closing will allow oxidation even if minimal. Oxidation shows itself more with age, and in fresh beers even a beer that was exposed to oxygen it won't be too bad. But with time, it will develop a "sherry" or "brandy" like flavor that is a hallmark of oxidation. You may see that in barley wines, and it is not a flaw there as micro-oxidation is expected and is a nice flavor characteristic, but it other beers, it is a fault.

As the late great Michael Jackson, the beer hunter not the pop star, said, "If you see a beer, do it a favor and drink it. Beer was not meant to age!"

 

[enkamania]

Three weeks, all in the primary.

 

[mrclean]

I agree. There are a few exceptions, but rarely is a 6 month old beer at its peak.

As a certified BJCP judge, I agree that oxidation is the most common flaw, and it's in the majority of the beers I've judged in competition.

Unless someone has a vessel-to-vessel transfer system and transfers under c02, just the act of opening/racking/closing will allow oxidation even if minimal. Oxidation shows itself more with age, and in fresh beers even a beer that was exposed to oxygen it won't be too bad. But with time, it will develop a "sherry" or "brandy" like flavor that is a hallmark of oxidation. You may see that in barley wines, and it is not a flaw there as micro-oxidation is expected and is a nice flavor characteristic, but it other beers, it is a fault.

As the late great Michael Jackson, the beer hunter not the pop star, said, "If you see a beer, do it a favor and drink it. Beer was not meant to age!"

Hmm, sounds like I need to do better

thinking this will be my next step and hopefully I get better beerthanks guys

http://www.love2brew.com/Articles.asp?ID=675

 

[smizak]

Hmm, sounds like I need to do better

thinking this will be my next step and hopefully I get better beerthanks guys

http://www.love2brew.com/Articles.asp?ID=675

Like Yoop said, if you drink it fast it might not be a problem, it takes some time to show up. But anything you mean to hold on to will certainly benefit.

 

[snowtires]

Yooper
I have been reading your comments on hbt for a while now and I agree with you 100%. As I have progressed in brewing and began using a ferm chamber I have found I can keg most of my beers in a week or two. As far as aging, perhaps extended time in yeast can help clean off flavours, but If there are no off flavours to begin with then most of the green beer flavour seems to be just suspended yeast which the cold kegerator temps help with within a week as it carbs. If the ferm was clean a week in the fridge can meld the flavours quite nicely and makes.for some nice clean pale ales in a glass within 3 weeks.

 

[jethro55]

After a couple of years of using the basic 2-4 weeks fermenting time, I made a recent try at a "quick" beer. A Pilsner Ale at OG 1.055 attenuated to 1.005 in 4 days with California Ale yeast. Then cleared for 5 days and bottled it.
Opened one yesterday and it is as good as I have ever done. 4 weeks grain to glass worked very well for this beer.

I just followed the advice given here. Listen to Yooper - a great source of knowledge for improving skills !

 

[ghohn]

10 days.

 

[jfk69]

I've gone as little as 7 for a blonde ale and as long as 4 weeks for an RIS, but usually 14-17 days. It's really more my work schedule and how whipped I am when I get home at night as to whether I feel like bottling or not. Now that I'm starting to keg more batches, 17 days is probably the max I go. As Yooper said, if you had good fermentation, and did well at controlling temperatures, there is no reason most beers aren't finished up and cleaned up in a couple weeks.

 

[beerkench]

One week fermentation, one week of dry hopping and then a few days to a week of cold crash. All in the primary. I use fermentation temp as an indicator. Once the temp starts to drop after a few days I know that it's peaked and slowing down.


Sent from hell
using Home Brew

 

[SippinSudz]

Hope someone can give me their two cents on this but,

I'm 6 brews in, and have only done coopers extracts. I didn't have a hydrometer for first 5, they turned out drinkable, but not 10/10. I did the two weeks ferment, then bottle for two weeks, drink.

I now have a hydrometer, and planned to wait 3-4 weeks in primary before bottling. Even if hydrometer is reading same result 2-3 days apart after 3 weeks. Will waiting a forth week help the yeast clean up, or will bottle conditioning for 3-4 weeks be enough?

Will this improve flavor at all if I leave in primary for say, 4 weeks before I even bother giving it a hydrometer reading.

 

[MXDXD]

In general :
3 weeks total.
7-to-10 days at initial temperature (colder)
Reminder at slightly warmer temperature.
Dryhopping done at day 15
Cold crashing at day 20.
Bottling at day 21.

 

[ncbrewer]

Hope someone can give me their two cents on this but,

I'm 6 brews in, and have only done coopers extracts. I didn't have a hydrometer for first 5, they turned out drinkable, but not 10/10. I did the two weeks ferment, then bottle for two weeks, drink.

I now have a hydrometer, and planned to wait 3-4 weeks in primary before bottling. Even if hydrometer is reading same result 2-3 days apart after 3 weeks. Will waiting a forth week help the yeast clean up, or will bottle conditioning for 3-4 weeks be enough?

Will this improve flavor at all if I leave in primary for say, 4 weeks before I even bother giving it a hydrometer reading.

I am completely qualified to give an opinion - it might or might not be correct. For average beers, I like 3 weeks fermentation. I just take gravity readings 3 days apart to be sure it's stable - I don't like to leave it any longer once I have opened it and dipped into it. 4 weeks is ok, but I doubt if it will improve the beer. Even the third week probably doesn't make any difference if all the fermentation conditions were favorable, but it might help clean up if necessary.

For conditioning, 3 weeks at 70 degrees is the general guideline for average beers. Then 7 days in the fridge. I don't have room in the fridge for 7 days worth of beer, so mine gets 2 days. Seems fine to me. Hope this helps.

 

[SippinSudz]

This beer has been fermenting 5 days now. I will forget about going 4 weeks.

I don't know what the yeast is that comes with Coopers Canned extract kits, but could it handle upping the temperature for the remaining time?
I'm currently fermenting at about 68-69°

 

[Psylocide]

This beer has been fermenting 5 days now. I will forget about going 4 weeks.

I don't know what the yeast is that comes with Coopers Canned extract kits, but could it handle upping the temperature for the remaining time?
I'm currently fermenting at about 68-69°

Personally, I wouldn't go any higher, though Coopers states that it can go up to 75° (Ale yeast).

 

[FatDragon]

I am completely qualified to give an opinion - it might or might not be correct. For average beers, I like 3 weeks fermentation. I just take gravity readings 3 days apart to be sure it's stable - I don't like to leave it any longer once I have opened it and dipped into it. 4 weeks is ok, but I doubt if it will improve the beer. Even the third week probably doesn't make any difference if all the fermentation conditions were favorable, but it might help clean up if necessary.

For conditioning, 3 weeks at 70 degrees is the general guideline for average beers. Then 7 days in the fridge. I don't have room in the fridge for 7 days worth of beer, so mine gets 2 days. Seems fine to me. Hope this helps.

For fridge conditioning, I notice a difference between a day and a few hours and a similar difference between two days and one day, but anything beyond two days brings diminishing returns. My fridge is similarly inadequate so even though I only drink a beer a day, I rarely refrigerate a beer more than three or four days because there's not much room for beer to sit around undrunk in there.