First Brew

[eddynretz]

hey me and a mate just did out first brew and everythings looking good.
We are real new to all the brewing business but we are loving it. We use kit beer and we started by using Aussie Draught and added a Victoria Bitter Glucose and Malt hopp mix extra. I just wanted to no everyones view on how long to leave it before bottling and then finally drinking?
Advice would be greatly appreciated.

cheers.

 

[Dark_Ale]

Well depends on your fermentation temp and how "Big your beer is" High gravity beer or low gravity.....1.050 ale @70F 7 to ten days.........1.070 -1.080 4 days in primary 2 to three weeks in secondary.....I dont think there is no exact answer to this question because their are differant factors that contribute to fermentation times. So I guess when there is no airlock action(No bubbling) and no signs of fermentation I would bottle. But just because their is no action does not mean yeast are still working it just might be slow. If you are doing a single stage I would not leave the beer on the yeast cake for more than 7 to 10 days. If you are using a secondary...(Glass Carboy) then 2 to three weeks should be ok.

 

[Catfish]

The fermentation is done after:
-the krausen (thick bubbles) has fallen
-hydrometer readings haven't changed for 3 days
This will usually take 4-7 days, sometimes 1 or 14; ya never know.

Since it sounds like you're bottleing after primary, I would wait until it has been in the fermenter atleast 10 days. This will give extra time for things to settle out and your beer to relax.
Do you have a bottling bucket?

 

[AHammer16]

Post the recipie for us. type of malt and or sugars and the weight of them along with what hops you used and when.

 

[El Pistolero]

If you are doing a single stage I would not leave the beer on the yeast cake for more than 7 to 10 days.

Respectfully...is this really very good advice? Can you point to any source that suggests that autolysis is going to be a major problem in anything under 4 weeks?

Particulary if one isn't doing a secondary, a certain minimal amount of time is needed for the beer to begin to clear, and 7 to 10 days just isn't enough, IMHO.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

I second El P. Especially if the temp is below 17Cish you should be fine for a while.

 

[Truble]

I agree with El P too. My first batch, I didn't do a secondary. I went with a 2 week primary, THEN to bottles. I still had airlock activity up until around day 10 or so, then it was just positive pressure inside, but no real gurgling. 7 days might not be enough before botting.

 

[Sasquatch]

I completely disagree with whatever El Pistolero said (I never read his posts anyhow), just to be different. And Cheyco quit being a "yes" man.. you'll never get anywhere, dude.

I find those kits ferment pretty fast, and you should be fine to bottle somewhere along the ten day mark. I have bottled beer after 1 week of fermentation, and I have bottled after 8 days in primary, and 20 in secondary. Same exact result. I got beer.

Ordinary procedure around here is to brew the mess up in some kind of primary vessel, being a bucket with a lid, or a carboy, and have the stuff in there for around a week. Then when the foam settles, you move it into a carboy via syphon, and put an air lock on. Come back in two weeks. You'll have flat beer, ready to be primed and bottled. Once in bottles, I think 3 weeks is the magic turning point.. it's like the beer goes from being green and almost sour to just being perfect. Happens overnight, but it does seem to take almost exactly three weeks. So, it's a happy 1, 2, 3 cycle, and in a month and a half, you can have a major piss up and drink the whole thing. So brew more right away!!!

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

And Cheyco quit being a "yes" man.. you'll never get anywhere, dude.

You're totally right.

 

[eddynretz]

Thanks for all the advice- i think we will bottle after 10 days if the airlock has stopped bubbling by then. Also, how is a hydrometre reading to be taken whilst fermentation is taking place?

 

[Dark_Ale]

I agree with sasquatch....I bottled a brown this morning 7days in primary thats it....1.050 start, 1.014 end....not that I take gravity reading or anything....

 

[El Pistolero]

Thanks for all the advice- i think we will bottle after 10 days if the airlock has stopped bubbling by then. Also, how is a hydrometre reading to be taken whilst fermentation is taking place?

Do yourself a favor and give it two weeks...respecfully, taking this particular piece of advice from Sasquatch or Dark_Ale is NOT the way to learn to make good beer.

 

[Sasquatch]

The longer you wait, assuming you have an airtight primary fermenter, or have a secondary to transfer into, the happier you'll be. EP is right.

HOWEVER, you can make perfectly acceptable beer, which clears right out in the bottle, by bottling as soon as fermentation is more or less finished. I have bottled from primary after 8 days (using Cooper's nuclear-aggression super-yeast) and the beer came out fine. Is it my preferred method? No. And I suspect that EP and I would both rack and bottle similar beers at similar times if left to our own devices.

At the end of the day, you'll have beer, and there's lots of fine-tuning to do, but that's up to the brewmaster.

 

[boo boo]

Thanks for all the advice- i think we will bottle after 10 days if the airlock has stopped bubbling by then. Also, how is a hydrometre reading to be taken whilst fermentation is taking place?

Why muck around in your beer before it is done? Many beginners mistakes are due to infecting your beer, aerating it, or otherwise just screwing with it. Go with the 1 week primary, rack and secondary for 2 weeks if you secondary, and bottle/keg and leave for 3 weeks. If you don't secondary than leaving it in primary for 2 to 3 weeks won't hurt before bottling. Use your hydrometer to take OG readings and when you are about to bottle take your final readings. You will make beer, but do you want to make the best beer you can? If you bottle before fermentation has finished you'll end up with a lot of "bottle bombs" Best thing is to read this site http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html . A lot of good info here by an experienced brewer that has helped countless brewers perfect their brews. Cheers.

 

[eddynretz]

I think we will just go staright ahead with the ten days- too many different opinions to choose from. We are planning to let it mature in the bottle for three months, this should help? This is only our first brew so i guess we will just keep going with it and learn from our mistakes and eventually have our own style to defend to new comers.