When to bottle

[Philsc]

I should know the answer to this having already brewed and bottled 6 batches. The literature, however, is remarkably woolly on this subject, or more likely, my head is remarkably woolly as soon as I encounter this subject.

The way I understood it was that you proceed exactly as if you were kegging; let it ferment down to final gravity then leave it a couple of weeks (if it's a 1.045 or thereabouts), then bottle. The difference between this and kegging is that it's ready to drink sooner with kegging because you're force carbing it rather than waiting on the yeast to do that for you.

That's how I've been brewing since March - 6 to 8 weeks from grain to glass. What threw a spanner in the works and got me all befuddled was listening to a basic brewing podcast on cask conditioning where Benjy Edwards defined real ale as something along the lines of "naturally carbonated ale served from the container in which it matures". It mentions in the podcast about racking the beer when it's 2 gravity points away from final gravity in order not to have to prime it.

This suggests that the beer can mature in the bottle rather than in the secondary vessel, or in the primary after fermentation, which, in turn, suggests that I'm giving the beer longer than it needs in some cases, and in the case of mild, possibly a little too long.

Have I got this backwards?

 

[ifishsum]

Regarding bottling 2 points early - the big problem with that in a home brewing environment is that there are enough variables that you may not know when you're actually 2 points away from FG - even recipes that I've made exactly the same way several times can vary by 2 or more points in FG so I would not trust that method. It certainly works if you can be consistent enough, but if you're off by a point or two you get either flat beer or bottle bombs. It's just safer to give it plenty of time to finish up, then add the 2 points by using priming sugar.

7-8 weeks G to G is where I'm at for 90% of my beers. For most of them, any less time and they just don't taste quite right. Some styles (like a hefe or a mild) may very well be drinkable in 5 to 6, but those couple of extra weeks don't negatively impact the taste IMO. Even the quicker styles taste better to me on that time frame.

Kegging doesn't really shorten the time frame with most styles. Carbed green beer is still green beer - I age them in the kegs for 2-3 weeks before chilling and tapping them. Hefeweizen being the main exception.

 

[Philsc]

Thanks for the feedback. So I was right first time round. That's reassuring.

I wasn't going to try bottling 2 points away from FG for precisely the reasons you said - at the stage I'm at, I can't predict FG at all reliably. Also, I really honestly don't mind waiting, I just didn't like the idea of good beer going bad before I can drop it down my gullet.

Now that I know that it'll stay good, I'll take my time.

 

[Arkador]

letting it ferment out and sit, then priming will also give you a clearer product

 

[brian_g]

Regarding bottling 2 points early - the big problem with that in a home brewing environment is that there are enough variables that you may not know when you're actually 2 points away from FG - even recipes that I've made exactly the same way several times can vary by 2 or more points in FG so I would not trust that method. It certainly works if you can be consistent enough, but if you're off by a point or two you get either flat beer or bottle bombs. It's just safer to give it plenty of time to finish up, then add the 2 points by using priming sugar.

Agreed. Two points is only one line on my hydrometer. Even if your process is perfectly consistent, it's easy to be off by one hydrometer marking. Temperature, angle of reading, bubbles stuck to hydrometer etc.

 

[Malticulous]

We got no Reinheitsgebot. It can be done, but most likely will yield under or over carbonated bottles. In any case you wont be enjoying them any sooner. Kegging is not any different--three week old beer is still three week old beer. I think a totally different fermentation in the bottle actually helps clean the beer and generally once the yeast settles will leave a better final product.