6 weeks?

[Mr. Awesome]

My recipe (Irish red ale from northernbrewer.com) says that my beer will be ready in six weeks. However, the recipe that came with the kit (it was pretty general) said to ferment for approximately a week in the primary fermenter, then bottle it, then let it sit for another 2 weeks or so. It is a little longer for "Heavy ales" but I've never considered Irish Red to be a heavy ale, though maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, where is the extra time, to I leave it in the fermenter for longer than is called for, or do I keep it in the bottles for longer than is called for?
Thanks

 

[jfliv]

I'm not sure if you are listing all your steps... I would suggest that bottling the green beer while it is still fermenting is an advanced technique, and requires and understanding of the use of a hydrometer.

I would suggest that you err on the side of leaving it in the fermenter longer to ferment out completely. Then prime it with corn sugar and bottle.

It is possible to bottle the beer while it is still fermenting in order to achieve the proper carbonation, but in my opinion it is too risky... on one hand, you could have flat beer, on the other, exploding bottles.

 

[bradsul]

Most of those kits list the minimum time possible to have a beer you can drink. Taking 6 weeks will give you a nicely aged, good tasting beer. I'd suggest going for 3 weeks in the primary and then 3 weeks in the bottle and you will be very happy with your beer.

 

[BrianP]

If you had a secondary fermenter, you could follow the 1-2-3 rule: 1 week in primary, rack to a secondary (where it will clear up nicely) for two weeks, then bottle condition for 3.

Secondaries are optional, so if you don't do that, do what Bradsul says and go 3 weeks in fermenter and bottle for 3.