I was at Stone last year and on the tour I heard something I’ve wondered about ever since. At the time I’d made a couple MrB kits and didn’t know a whole lot about brewing. I know a lot more now, but I still wonder about this statement I heard.
The tour guide talked about how long it takes to make a batch of beer (ale). She said they ferment their beer under optimal conditions and it is done fermenting in 4 to 7 days.
Up until now I have used somewhat arbitrary guidelines for my fermentation times. I brew on weekends, so my intervals for working in my brewery are generally based on that time span – every 5-7 days I do something, whether it is rack a beer, bottle one, brew one. Like everybody I’ve heard lots of input on fermenting times.
I first heard 2 weeks primary/2 weeks secondary/3 weeks bottle. Later I heard secondary isn’t necessary. In my experience, 3 weeks is not long enough for good carbonation/conditioning. I've noticed racking seems to help a beer attenuate more. I sorta just go with 3 weeks minimum, taking gravity readings, and follow the flow of my brewdays, and be as patient as possible with my bottled beer.
But I am starting to want to be more efficient, basically. I want to package my beer when it is ready. I want my beer to be as fresh as possible, and see if I can tell a difference. I want to maybe brew more often. I want my beer to done in 4-7 days. If Stone can do it, I can do it.
So, what do you think that tour guide meant? Do you think they go from pitching to bottling/kegging in 4-7 days? How do they do it? Are ‘optimal conditions’ temperature and pitch rate? Oxygenation? Anything else? Do you think they take samples often when it has been fermenting a while, like a few times a day, until they know it is done just by gravity? Do all commercial breweries do this?
The tour guide talked about how long it takes to make a batch of beer (ale). She said they ferment their beer under optimal conditions and it is done fermenting in 4 to 7 days.
Up until now I have used somewhat arbitrary guidelines for my fermentation times. I brew on weekends, so my intervals for working in my brewery are generally based on that time span – every 5-7 days I do something, whether it is rack a beer, bottle one, brew one. Like everybody I’ve heard lots of input on fermenting times.
I first heard 2 weeks primary/2 weeks secondary/3 weeks bottle. Later I heard secondary isn’t necessary. In my experience, 3 weeks is not long enough for good carbonation/conditioning. I've noticed racking seems to help a beer attenuate more. I sorta just go with 3 weeks minimum, taking gravity readings, and follow the flow of my brewdays, and be as patient as possible with my bottled beer.
But I am starting to want to be more efficient, basically. I want to package my beer when it is ready. I want my beer to be as fresh as possible, and see if I can tell a difference. I want to maybe brew more often. I want my beer to done in 4-7 days. If Stone can do it, I can do it.
So, what do you think that tour guide meant? Do you think they go from pitching to bottling/kegging in 4-7 days? How do they do it? Are ‘optimal conditions’ temperature and pitch rate? Oxygenation? Anything else? Do you think they take samples often when it has been fermenting a while, like a few times a day, until they know it is done just by gravity? Do all commercial breweries do this?