Cloudy IPA? 7 day fermentation?

[ANewrBrewr]

Hey guys so I've got a batch of PSA IPA it's only been in the primary for 7 days and the airlock bubbles once every five minutes or so....at this rate I'm thinking it will be done in a few days, however that would only be a week and a half of fermentation and I hear people talking about 3-4 week fermentation! If it's done its done right? Do I need to be more patient? It is also very cloudy as you can see in the picture. (I had an eruption so that is why there is gunk on the top of the carboy) I took a gravity reading yesterday and it was at 1.021. From what I hear the cloudiness will not affect taste, so if that is true it's not worth waiting weeks to clear it up. I dry hopped with pellets so this may help add to the cloudiness....(although the eruption put most of the pellets on my ceiling which I will post that pic as well)

To sum it up......can I simply rely on my gravity readings and airlock activity and then bottle. Or should I ferment for 3+ weeks as is often suggested?

Cheers

 

[norsk]

I would set it and forget it...for at least 2 more weeks. I have an IIPA going on week 3 and going to give it 2 more weeks.

When I dry hop I rack to secondary and place the hops in a weighted bag....less mess.

 

[E-Mursed]

I just finished an IPA myself and kegged it. Here is a link to my thread on it:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/first-kegged-beer-success-250861/

2-3 weeks is good if that's what you want. I went 3 weeks and then another 2 weeks in the secondary. Not all IPA's are clear, check the style guidelines. You can see through my IPA, but it is not crystal clear by any means.

As far as the blow-up is concerned, use a blow-off tube next time if you did not this time. I use a 1/2 inch one and have not had any eruptions.

 

[DansBrew]

LOL at the eruption.

What was your OG? I prefer to give my high OG beers a lot of time in the primary. I made an all grain IPA that came out to 9.5%abv(I forget my OG-FG numbers) that I let ferment about 3 weeks before I bottled it(12-16-10) and then gave it two weeks in bottle before I even thought about critiquing the color/taste/clarity. Its now June and it still has a wicked case of chill haze, but gets crystal clear in the high 40's. high 40's is where I like my heavy beers to be anyway. I think the flavors come out way better, at that temp.

You can cold crash it and see if that helps... I did that with a SMaSH pale ale that I had in secondary for 4 or 5 days. It was winter, and I put it in my walkdown stairs for my basement. I almost froze it. It was the clearest beer I've made to date.

I've made a saison that got very clear by letting it age for a year...

You have plenty of options, and like someone else said, the Ipas don't have to be super clear anyway.

 

[rycov]

bottling as soon as fermentation is over will not give you bottle bombs, but it will probably take longer for the beer to taste right. if you let it condition for a while (either in primary or secondary) it will taste better. the yeast have finished fermenting, but will clean up the flavor of your beer if you let them. it will eventually clear in the bottles, and no a little cloudiness will not affect the flavor much, but if you bottle while its still really cloudy then you will end up with much more sediment in each bottle. let it go at least another week, two would be better probably. you're beer will be better for it.

also airlock activity is not an indicator of anything other than gas escaping. if you don't have a tight seal it may never bubble, even though it will be fermenting (ask revvy). on the other hand it may keep bubbling long after fermentation is done. watching the bubbles is fun, but they don't really do anything.

 

[samc]

Which ever way you go, take notes on your tasting of the beer. Then next time switch and do it the opposite, then you have a basis for deciding how you are going to handle your beers in the future. Listening to a thousand voices teaches you nothing.

for the record, I usually keg around 3 weeks or so from yeast pitching, but that varies on beer style and dry hopping or not.