Hi all,
This is my first post, so I hope that you'll go easy on me. My wife got me a Mr. Beer kit for Christmas, and I have just gotten started in the world of brewing my own beer. I have read through many of the threads on this board, as well as over on the Mr. Beer forums, and I am very grateful for the collective wisdom that I have been able to absorb. I made and bottled my first batch, a modified Mr. Beer West Coast Pale Ale (added some DME and hops to my boil), and started a second batch that I hope will approximate an Irish Red ale (in time for St. Patrick's day). Thanks to the wise folks on these boards, I intend to try my hand at a partial mash Marzen using DeathBrewer's stove top method this weekend.
All of that by way of introduction, here is my question: the above-mentioned Irish ale has been in the fermenter for two weeks now. I pitched a whole pack of Safale S-04 and it has been fermenting at temps between 64 and 68. I took a measurement last night, and it is at or near the FG, as predicted by qbrew. It is also remarkably clear--at least as compared with my first beer using the Mr. Beer yeast--and it tastes like flat beer. If, as mentioned above, I would like to enjoy this beer for St. Patrick's day (a little more than 6 weeks away), should I bottle now, then carb/condition for the next 6 weeks? Or is the beer more likely to be better if it spends the next 2 weeks in primary and then has only 4 weeks to carb/condition in the bottle? If it's not clear from the above, I am using the regular Mr. Beer fermenter.
TLDR version: beer appears to be done with primary fermentation. With a goal of drinking in 6 weeks, should I bottle now and carb/condition for that time, or should I leave it in primary longer and then carb/condition for a shorter period?
Thanks for reading and for any opinions you can provide!
-Adam
This is my first post, so I hope that you'll go easy on me. My wife got me a Mr. Beer kit for Christmas, and I have just gotten started in the world of brewing my own beer. I have read through many of the threads on this board, as well as over on the Mr. Beer forums, and I am very grateful for the collective wisdom that I have been able to absorb. I made and bottled my first batch, a modified Mr. Beer West Coast Pale Ale (added some DME and hops to my boil), and started a second batch that I hope will approximate an Irish Red ale (in time for St. Patrick's day). Thanks to the wise folks on these boards, I intend to try my hand at a partial mash Marzen using DeathBrewer's stove top method this weekend.
All of that by way of introduction, here is my question: the above-mentioned Irish ale has been in the fermenter for two weeks now. I pitched a whole pack of Safale S-04 and it has been fermenting at temps between 64 and 68. I took a measurement last night, and it is at or near the FG, as predicted by qbrew. It is also remarkably clear--at least as compared with my first beer using the Mr. Beer yeast--and it tastes like flat beer. If, as mentioned above, I would like to enjoy this beer for St. Patrick's day (a little more than 6 weeks away), should I bottle now, then carb/condition for the next 6 weeks? Or is the beer more likely to be better if it spends the next 2 weeks in primary and then has only 4 weeks to carb/condition in the bottle? If it's not clear from the above, I am using the regular Mr. Beer fermenter.
TLDR version: beer appears to be done with primary fermentation. With a goal of drinking in 6 weeks, should I bottle now and carb/condition for that time, or should I leave it in primary longer and then carb/condition for a shorter period?
Thanks for reading and for any opinions you can provide!
-Adam