Steiner
Well-Known Member
Dear all,
I uncovered a homebrew contest entry just last week that will be held the first week of October. Fresh off a thrilling and quite honestly, surprising 1st place win at the county fair (it was my first contest entry), I figured it would be a fantastic opportunity to brew once again for another tourney. So I brewed it up last Tuesday with a few tweaks. Albeit rushed and considering the circumstances, I'm wondering what's the best approach for me to get my beer in the most presentable shape in 5 weeks (now 4, it's been fermenting for 5 days).
Because I bottle-carb and need to present bottles for the contest entry, I cannot keg and force-carb to shave off time.
Do I rack to a secondary (if so, for how long)? Skip secondary, wait three weeks in primary? Bottle after about 10 days and condition as long as I can?
I have two different beers that I'll be entering:
1. Brown Porter: brewed on 8/26, still in primary. OG: 1.081
2. Belgian Blonde: brewed on 8/14, still in primary (very vigorous fermentation, I experienced my first explosion, in fact). OG: 1.071
Please advise to these two different situations. Much appreciated folks. If a brew a winner, I'll ship yall some in appreciation!
I uncovered a homebrew contest entry just last week that will be held the first week of October. Fresh off a thrilling and quite honestly, surprising 1st place win at the county fair (it was my first contest entry), I figured it would be a fantastic opportunity to brew once again for another tourney. So I brewed it up last Tuesday with a few tweaks. Albeit rushed and considering the circumstances, I'm wondering what's the best approach for me to get my beer in the most presentable shape in 5 weeks (now 4, it's been fermenting for 5 days).
Because I bottle-carb and need to present bottles for the contest entry, I cannot keg and force-carb to shave off time.
Do I rack to a secondary (if so, for how long)? Skip secondary, wait three weeks in primary? Bottle after about 10 days and condition as long as I can?
I have two different beers that I'll be entering:
1. Brown Porter: brewed on 8/26, still in primary. OG: 1.081
2. Belgian Blonde: brewed on 8/14, still in primary (very vigorous fermentation, I experienced my first explosion, in fact). OG: 1.071
Please advise to these two different situations. Much appreciated folks. If a brew a winner, I'll ship yall some in appreciation!