Time frame for bottle fermentation

[BeerMe32]

Hey guys I'm new to this and just did my first brew which was a smoked porter. Used a bucket for primary fermentation then went to bottles. Used glass brown bottles. (22 12oz, 12 22oz, and 1 24oz) My question is hold long should i wait before chilling a few and giving them a taste and specifically will the different size bottles have different time frames?

Thanks in advance

 

[steinsato]

2 weeks is usually enough but I like to wait 3 weeks just to be sure. I don't think different sized bottles make a big difference, I wait 3 weeks for my 5 gallon kegs as well as 12 oz bottles.

 

[marubozo]

Give them a minimum of three weeks before thinking about getting a good idea as to how they are carbing up. You may begin to have some carbonation after a relatively short amount of time, but there's far more going on inside the bottle than just creating CO2 to give it some fizz. Especially with a porter, time is going to be your friend. If it were me, I'd let them sit at least a couple months before drinking if you really want to enjoy your beer at its best.

Different sized bottles won't really carb up any differently as long as your priming sugar was properly mixed and you have equal amounts of head space in all the bottles.

 

[Revvy]

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, and needed another 6 months to condition.

Everything you need to know about carbing and conditioning, can be found here Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. With emphasis on the word, "patience."

I have some pints, 22 oz bombers and other sizes that I often use, but since I enter contests I usually also do a sixer or two of standard 12 ouncers for entering. And inevitably the 12 ouncers are done at least a week faster than the larger bottles....some times two weeks ahead of time...

Also the rule of thumb is 3 weeks at 70 degrees for a normal grav 12 ounce bottle....to carb and condition....It takes longer for the yeasties to convert the larger volume in the bigger bottles to enough co2 in the headspace to be reabsorbed back into the solution...A ration I don't know how much...

Big Kahuna gives a good explanation here...

Simple. It's the ration of contact area just like in a keg. The c02 will need to pressurize the head space (Which takes LESS TIME) in a bigger bottle (More Yeast and sugar, roughly the same head space) but then it has to force that c02 into solution through the same contact area...thus it takes longer.

 

[monk420]

i just drank my 1st bottles 2 weeks they were realy flat waited another 2 wks and they are very nicely carbed

 

[Bassman]

Revvy, you say that a stout takes longer than an average gravity beer. Are you including dry stout, such as a Guinness clone, which is not that high in gravity?

 

[marubozo]

Revvy, you say that a stout takes longer than an average gravity beer. Are you including dry stout, such as a Guinness clone, which is not that high in gravity?

It's all relative and there isn't an exact answer. Generally speaking, the higher the gravity, the longer it will take. So, a dry stout may have a lower gravity than another type of stout and in theory could carb up faster. But in the end, you also have variables such as yeast viability and cell count at bottling time, temperature, and so on that will still determine how long it will take.

 

[Revvy]

It's all relative and there isn't an exact answer. Generally speaking, the higher the gravity, the longer it will take. So, a dry stout may have a lower gravity than another type of stout and in theory could carb up faster. But in the end, you also have variables such as yeast viability and cell count at bottling time, temperature, and so on that will still determine how long it will take.

Couldn't have said it better my self.

All the timeframes that we talk about on here, are just generalities, based on experience with beers. WHen you are dealing with bottle carbonation, like fermentation in general, you are dealing with living micro-organisms, so there is a huge wild card factor at play.

I never worry about when a beer is done. I figure a minimum 8 weeks from brew day for most beers, but I don't sweat it. When you brew a lot, you have a pipleine happening, and you have beers at various stages of the process. So if something's not carbed yet, I have other things to drink, or I buy micros. And when it is carbed it is carbed, when it is conditioned, it is conditioned, and not a second before.

 

[Bassman]

Thanks to both marubozo and Revvy. I was just confused about the stout reference.

 

[BeerMe32]

Thanks guys for all the answers. This sat. will be two weeks so i'll probably try at 12oz bottle with the assumption that it will suck and wait another month to try it again and see the difference

 

[TheWeeb]

Not to take away from any of the awesome advice here, but . . . it is your FIRST brew, so in the pursuit of KNOWLEDGE and the gaining of an UNDERSTANDING of how the carbonation progresses, I think it would be helpful if you would begin to sample NOW; knowning that you have set the proper expectation. I absolutely agree with what has been posted above, and can attest to the wisdom, but it is your FIRST batch, and there is a thrill in trying it for the first time, even if the beer is not ready.

My first batch was really horrible, but the second, well, by the time the third week rolled around I had already worked through an entire case. Yes, it can be that good, as long as you under stand the Truth about carbonation and are willing to accept the Consequences of drinking - er, "sampling" - too early.

Enjoy this cherry-popping!