Conflicting information between my research and brew store

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nightrider

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Hello everyone! First post and first time brewer here. I was gifted a beginners brewer kit which was bought from a local brewery store. I chose to do a porter as a first beer and received the instructions sheet from the store owner.

As I am doing research on how others brew their beer, I have found some conflicting methods so I am a bit confused.

As per the instructions sheet:

First racking-- if the beer is left on the yeast longer than 6 days, it can stat to pick up a hash flavor from the dying yeast- so in most cases, racking is done 5 or 6 days after the fermentation started.

According some other methods on this, I should be looking at the specific gravity and note that its been stable for a couple of days (wouldnt this exceed that 6 day mark?) Also some members have their beer in their primarys for longer than 6 days!

Wouldnt want to mess up on the first brew!

EDIT: forgot to add that my yeast is safale-us-05 if that matters
 
Kit instructions are out dated. Not sure why they don't start to update them. You are correct you'll want to go by gravity readings. Once the gravity is stable (2 readings at least 3 days apart). Then you can either rack to a secondary or package. I personally don't rack to a secondary mostly because I am not adding fruit or dry hopping.

Good Luck on your first brew!
 
Hello everyone! First post and first time brewer here. I was gifted a beginners brewer kit which was bought from a local brewery store. I chose to do a porter as a first beer and received the instructions sheet from the store owner.

As I am doing research on how others brew their beer, I have found some conflicting methods so I am a bit confused.

As per the instructions sheet:

First racking-- if the beer is left on the yeast longer than 6 days, it can stat to pick up a hash flavor from the dying yeast- so in most cases, racking is done 5 or 6 days after the fermentation started.

According some other methods on this, I should be looking at the specific gravity and note that its been stable for a couple of days (wouldnt this exceed that 6 day mark?)

Wouldnt want to mess up on the first brew!
There are lots of opinions on if secondary fermentation is good bad or indifferent but 5-6 is not a too short a time for a medium ABV beer if you choose to do a secondary.

For my first beer, knowing what I know now, I certainly would not. "f the beer is left on the yeast longer than 6 days, it can stat to pick up a hash flavor from the dying yeast" this part is BS as it would take closer to 20-30 days than 6.
 
The instructions that come with kits are notoriously misleading. In most cases, there is no need to move to secondary. Certainly not after 6 days. Let the beer ferment for 2-3 weeks and then start taking your gravity readings. I personally ferment for at least three weeks (5-6 weeks for higher gravity brews) and then bottle. No secondary, the only time I did secondary, I got an infection.
 
Back in the old days of homebrewing, beer yeast wasn't very good and there was a good chance that your beer would suffer from autolysis (nasty off-flavors from dying, rupturing yeast cells) if you didn't move your beer off of the yeast cake into a fresh fermentor for further beer conditioning. Beer yeasts have greatly improved lately, so on a homebrewing scale this isn't a concern anymore.

You'll be fine leaving the beer in your primary fermentor for three weeks and then moving it to your keg or bottling bucket for bottling/kegging.
 
don't worry about "first racking" those are based on lod, out dated understanding of beer brewing.

The conventional wisdom today is to let the yeast do its' work in the fermenter until it is "done". This will likely take around 14 days. At that point, you can check the specific gravity with a hydrometer. If your gravity is near the point predicted in the kit, and it likely will be, close it up and wait 2 days. Take another gravity reading after waiting 2 days. If the gravity has not changed, you will be good to go ahead and bottle.

If you need to wait longer to bottle, this is no problem and racking to a secondary fermenter is not necessary. Secondary is really only needed for bulk aging big dark beers (barleywine for example). If you go 3-4 weeks, you will be fine. Follow the bottling instructions as given, they are fairly standard from there.

Additional advice: Try and keep your fermenter cool. If you have a cool basement, that is where you will want to place your fermenter. 60-65 degrees is best. If you can't manage that, keep it as cool as you can. You wil make beer one way or another. Good news for you, porters are fairly forgiving so you should do well with this choice.
 
I have a brett beer that is on its 4th MONTH of primary with no off flavors

Toss out all instructions in those kits. They are liek reading a science book from the dark ages
 
Awesome! I think I will still drop it into a secondary but I will leave it into a primary for a bit longer and take a measurement after the 7 day mark!

EDIT: also had a quick question about the porter. So as I have also been reading, it will take a bit longer to mature. and given the extended period of the fermentation process, I should be looking at 6 weeks total? (2 weeks in the fermentations +/- 1 week, 2 weeks for secondary (maybe not even necessary) and 2 weeks in the bottle to carbonate?
 
FWIW, I've had batches stay in the primary for 8+ weeks with no ill effects. I'm sure many people here have gone longer...
 
Awesome! I think I will still drop it into a secondary but I will leave it into a primary for a bit longer and take a measurement after the 7 day mark!

EDIT: also had a quick question about the porter. So as I have also been reading, it will take a bit longer to mature. and given the extended period of the fermentation process, I should be looking at 6 weeks total? (2 weeks in the fermentations +/- 1 week, 2 weeks for secondary (maybe not even necessary) and 2 weeks in the bottle to carbonate?

Three weeks in the bottle to carbonate is a better estimate.
 
should i reduce the time in the secondary (if even needed at that point) or just go straight to bottling.

Personally, for a porter, I'd leave it in primary for three weeks, then bottle it for three weeks and then enjoy. I'd put a label on a couple of bottles with the date that I brewed and bottled them and then let them sit in a dark place for maybe three more months and then drink one of them and take notes on how much the flavor has changed, for better or worse, and then wait three more months and drink the last bottle and take notes on how the flavor has changed for better or worse.
 
First off, when the rapid bubbling slows or stops, only initial fermentation is done. It'll then slowly, uneventfully creep down to a stable FG from there. When a stable FG is measured 2 or 3 days apart, I let it sit another 3-7 days to clean up any by-products of fermentation & settle out clear or slightly misty. Then bulk prime & bottle.
Then put the bottles in a dark place or in covered boxes & leave to carb & condition for three weeks on average @ 70F or a lil more. Then a week in the fridge to allow any chill haze to form & settle like a fog. It'll get more equilibrium of Co2 between the head space & liquid during that time. Giving longer lasting carbonation & better head.
 
EDIT: also had a quick question about the porter. So as I have also been reading, it will take a bit longer to mature. and given the extended period of the fermentation process, I should be looking at 6 weeks total? (2 weeks in the fermentations +/- 1 week, 2 weeks for secondary (maybe not even necessary) and 2 weeks in the bottle to carbonate?

I have a 6% ABV coffee stout I did and it was in the fermenter for a couple weeks and then bottled for a couple weeks to carb up and now living in the chilly garage. At 2 weeks it was yummy and now about a month later it is only getting better.
 
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