General fermentation

[pran69]

I just brew my first batch and planning to keep it for fermenting for two weeks and bottling one week. Is that good enough or I should increase the duration for either of the two ? Yeast is Safale 04 and only bittering hops and extract brew with caramel tinch .??

 

[MattyIce]

Fermenting for two weeks is a pretty standard time-frame for low-average gravity brews. I would do three weeks in the bottles followed by two or three days in the fridge before drinking though.

 

[pran69]

Cooll

 

[C-Rider]

I do 3-4 weeks fermenting, 1 week cold crashing and 3 weeks in the bottle to carbonate. I'm in no rush, my fridg is full of beer ready to drink.

 

[JimRausch]

Mattyice and C-Rider are correct, of course. But.... remember that the yeast don't read and they ferment at whatever rate THEY decide, depending on many variables, especially pitch rate and fermentation temperature. One time you might have visible fermentation finished in 4 days, and another time it might take 2 weeks.
So, the only way to know if your fermentation is done is to take a series of SG(Specific Gravity) readings, which should stay stable before you think about packaging.
One little trick at bottling time; Bottle one in a soda bottle. Squeeze out the excess air before capping. When the bottle is hard, the yeast have produced a good amount of CO2, and the rest of the batch should be carbonated as well.

 

[aprichman]

I'd give the beers at least 10-14 days in the bottle but I always like to try one at 1 week to see how they're setting up For primary I usually do 19 days and then cold crash for 2 days for a total of 3 weeks in my fermentation chamber.

 

[pran69]

You guys really helped will note and apply

 

[unionrdr]

It depends on health of yeast pitch, which also depends on whether you pitched it dry or rehydrated it. Then of course, you have to make sure you pitch the rehydrate with 10 degrees of current wort temp to prevent shocking the yeast. The keeping the fermenting wort in the yeast's " sweet spot" or favored comfort zone. I've had rehydrated S-04 fully ferment & mostly settle out in 10 days flat. Other times, some 2 weeks or so. Other yeast might take 3 to 3 1/2 weeks to creep down to FG after initial fermentation.
Then 3 weeks in the bottles @ 70F or better is the norm for carb/conditioning time for average gravity ales. Then 5-7 days fridge time to give any chill haze a chance to form & settle while getting Co2 into solution from the headspace till it reaches an equilibrium. This will also help compact the dregs on the bottom of the bottle to allow pouring off more clear beer.