Secondary/Bottling Question

[TexasLonghorn]

Hi all,

Some friends of mine and I are entering a Pumpkin Ale brew-off at our local bar. Unfortunately, the contest came up spontaneously and we were only given about six weeks to prepare. Anyhow, we racked to secondary last Wednesday (9/15) and the contest is Wednesday, October 13th. We mainly did the secondary to clear the beer, knowing that we wouldn't get much in the way of aging due to the time crunch.

So my question is, since we've only got three weeks left, should we go another week in secondary and only two weeks in bottles, or should we go on and bottle to get three weeks in the bottles (even though secondary would have only been one week)?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[SoonerDoc]

In my limited experience, it takes at least 3 weeks to bottle condition properly.

 

[TexasLonghorn]

Thanks SoonerDoc (I guess we can set the rivalry aside temporarily in the name of beer). I should also have mentioned that the beer is fairly small...~1.050 OG, down to 1.013 when we transferred.

 

[Revvy]

You do know that you have no control over how long your beer is going to take to carb and condition, don't you? It's not like deciding how long you want to leave something in secondary. You can't declare that "2 weeks from today my beer will be magically carbed."

It's a living process, and the yeasts are in charge, not us. The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up..I have a 1.090 Belgian strong that took three months to carb up.

Temp and gravity are the two factors that contribute to the time it takes to carb beer. But if a beer's not ready yet, or seems low carbed, and you added the right amount of sugar to it, then it's not stalled, it's just not time yet.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience." it is like dealing with leftovers, flavors need to mellow and merge. And that is not a controllable process.

Since it's a pumpkin it is going to more than likely take more time for the beer to be ready, especially to taste good.

Now, When you enter a contest, you want to be entering the beer in the best state possible. That's the point of a contest to judge your beer in the best of light possible.

SO turning a green beer in is NOT a way to get good points.
The point of entering contests is to be judged by experts and experts can and will pick up any flaws in your beer.

So really, you don't want to do something that could render your beer in less than stellar or pristine conditions.

There are a million contests, and most of them are on an annual basis...this won't be the only contest, nor will it be the only batch of beer you make.

I subscribe to the notion that if my beer ain't going to be perfect, it's not going in. If a beer is not ready then don't bother......Don't try to compromise...you would be surprised at what the judges can pick up on.

Whatever you do you need to realize that your window for carbonation and conditioning is not something you really can control, so brewing for any kind of deadline, and bottling, you need to factor a cushion for carbonation and conditioning. For something like a contest I tend to factor in a 6 week room to "wiggle" so that if a beer is not carbed and conditioned in 3 weeks, then I have another 3 as an emergency cushion to let the yeast do their thing.

 

[TexasLonghorn]

Revvy - that's very, very helpful, and thanks for the link. Unfortunately, everyone in this particular contest is in the same boat...we just dreamed it up with the bar owner a few weeks back. I was hoping he'd give us all until November, but he wanted to do October 13th...agreed it makes for a less than ideal window for all the brewers involved.

 

[shecallsmeblue]

I lost my first homebrew comp because my beer was not carbed properly, and was still green. I rushed to make it, and the biggest thing that the judges told me was carbing was bad. I agreed. I bottled only a sixer, and kegged the rest. What was in the keg was absolutely amazing, but the bottled beer was only ok. Though I do think you might as well bottle it now and enter it, I agree with Revvy. In order to have the best chance possible, you need to offer the best you can make.

 

[JetSmooth]

So you're just hoping your beer sucks the least?

If you think there's a chance that there will be another competition, why not bottle this one and not enter it? You can monitor when it's at the peak and then convince them to have another contest around the same time and you can better plan for it?

 

[Revvy]

It's funny. this is the only hobby I have come across where people would try something like this before submitting their heart and soul to a panel of judges.......I mean you don't hear a painter say, "I want to enter my canvas in a contest, the rules say it can be no bigger than 8 x 10, mine's 9 x 12, so I guess I need to get out an exacto blade and cut my painting down to size." It only seems here that people want to compromise for a contest. And there are a million contests, big and small out there, and more every year.

 

[SoonerDoc]

Thanks SoonerDoc (I guess we can set the rivalry aside temporarily in the name of beer). I should also have mentioned that the beer is fairly small...~1.050 OG, down to 1.013 when we transferred.

Less than 2 weeks 'til the big game!

 

[CypressTop]

Why not just talk them in to holding the competition to a later date? Reading what Revvy has stated, as well as the other vast information within this site, you can't rush perfection. I would go back to the contest organizers as a group, and convince him/her/them that the time window is too short, and if everyone enters green beer, then the the judges will not be happy and not want another competition there in the future.

Just my thoughts...

By the way, since I am in the Houston area, where is this contest?

Primary #1 - Oktoberfest (Ale Version)
Primary #2 - English Bitter

 

[Revvy]

Why not just talk them in to holding the competition to a later date? Reading what Revvy has stated, as well as the other vast information within this site, you can't rush perfection. I would go back to the contest organizers as a group, and convince him/her/them that the time window is too short, and if everyone enters green beer, then the the judges will not be happy and not want another competition there in the future.

I was going to say the same thing. Since it's a pumpkin themed contest he could have it anytime between Devil's Night and Thanksgiving and STILL be in the whole pumpkin/fall season. Even if he made it for the day before halloween you'd at least have 2 extra weeks (16 days) as a cushion.

Heck, the last one I brewed I din on Labor day a few years back, and it was NOT ready on Halloween, it wasn't carbed at all. But was perfect on Turkey day.

 

[TexasLonghorn]

I think he's opposed to holding it later because he's not really a fan of pumpkin ales as it is...that and scheduling the judges is a bit of a pain. I'll ask him anyhow...maybe he'll move it.

@JetSmooth - pretty much...it's just our second all grain, so we're just looking for excuses to calibrate our system.

@CypressTop - the bar is Petrol Station...they have a facebook page with weekly beers on tap if you're not familiar with the place. It's a great bar if you love hops much more than the average person.

@SoonerDoc - indeed. I feel like y'all have the upper hand this year, but you never know in this game.