Bottling time?

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tgeary76

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My beer has been in primary for 10 days toda and FG of 1.014 two days ago. Going to check it again today. If it stayed the same is it ok to bottle? What would be the reason to leave in primary for longer? Not planning on secondary. I know one of the reasons is to let it clear but will it do this if it's sitting on the yeast cake? Thanks in advance! :mug:
 
You could bottle now if the gravity has been the same 2 or 3 days in a row. I leave my beers in primary for 3 weeks to let fermentation fully close out, longer if it's a big beer.

It'll clear out on the yeast cake just fine. I'd leave it another 10 days and during those 10 days, get another brew done to get the pipeline going!
 
Yea I second this. Just because fermentation is done dosent mean your beer is done. Give it a week or 2 more.
 
Yeah, ten days there is still stuff going on. I use times like these to start another batch, idle hands make beer!
 
I usually raise the temp about 5F for a diacetyl rest (1day), then drop it to 33F (2 days) before bottling. That helps the yeast drop out and hardens the yeast cake so it is easier to siphon.
 
At 10 days, if you had a healthy fermentation and you're at a stable FG, I say you are good to bottle. Fermentation was probably done by day 4 or 5 and it's taken the last 5 days or so to "clean up". I think the idea that we need to leave the beer in the fermenter for 3 weeks is over exaggerated here. It is good to give the beer time and it is fine to leave it in the fermenter for a month (or more), but that doesn't mean you have to....assuming, again, that you had a healthy fermentation and have reached a stable gravity....and that the beer isn't a high ABV or "complex" beer (lots of ingredients, oak, Brett, etc).
 
This is my first homebrew and I guess I'm just anxious to taste the fruits of my labor. I think I'll wait another 4-5 days and then bottle it up. And then wait again....damn I'm so impatient! Lol
 
I'm with Jlem here. I've never let any of my beers sit in primary longer than 14 days. I either move them to secondary or I bottle them at that time. My beers are plenty clear after 2 weeks.
 
bleme said:
I usually raise the temp about 5F for a diacetyl rest (1day), then drop it to 33F (2 days) before bottling. That helps the yeast drop out and hardens the yeast cake so it is easier to siphon.


Not to highjack the thread, and seeing this is the OP's first brew, hopefully this question will add some value in the bottling realm... I've been bottling brews for almost 2 years now (recently with automated temp control). Never cold-crashed. (FWIW - all my brews so far get 3-4 wks and always end up clear).

So when you bring up your temps towards the end of fermentation (say up to 70 deg), then cold crash, what temp do you input into one of the carbonation-calculators?

Do you use the highest temp you ramped up to during fermentation, or the cold-crash temp, or actual temp at bottling time? I ask because this seems to pretty dramatically change the recommended amt. of corn sugar to add. The calcs always seem to ask for highest temp reached during ferm, but I've read some conflicting info on the subject. Thanks for any feedback on what others do here!
 
BrewinBromanite said:
Do you use the highest temp you ramped up to during fermentation, or the cold-crash temp, or actual temp at bottling time?

Technically, it is the highest after fermentation is complete. If, for some weird reason, your temp peaked at 80F but then you got it under control and back down to 65F, and it is still bubbling away, you would put in 65F.

If you then do a diacetyl rest and let it rise to 72F, you use 72F. The calculator is trying to estimate how much CO2 is already in solution. That CO2 only gets in there during fermentation so cold crashing doesn't change the CO2 level at all. Raising the temp does release some CO2 though.
 
Yup. Warmer temp= less co2,colder temp= more co2 in solution. I don't cold crash,so I input the current temp. then if the vco2 number is a little low for my experience,I'll raise it to where I want it to end up vco2-wise.
 
Thanks, guys! Great info! This is one of the last major areas I'm trying to get dialed in. Arbitrarily going with a set amount of sugar for a 5 gallon batch, just because that's the amount that came in a pre-measured package from the LHBS (without measuring actual final bottling volume, using correct temp, adjusting for style, etc...) has yielded very inconsistent results for me (relating to final carbed up beer).

It's clear now that taking good bottling volume measurements, inputting the right temps into the calc, and measuring out appropriate amount of bottling sugar have such a big impact, and can easily be overlooked.
 
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