Has my brew finished fermenting?

[Phegan]

Hello all, my Rapt pill has been at a steady 1.08 gravity for a 2
days now, total fermentation time has been 6 days, instructions say to let the brew ferment for 2 weeks? Should i wait the full 2 weeks or is it ready for dry hopping?

 

[pvtpublic]

1.08? That's an incomplete reading. Is it 1080, 1082, 1084, 1086, 1088? That's a big range. If it's anywhere in that range, it's not even started. Maybe you meant 1008, not 108. If that's the case it seems as if you finished the main ferment. Let it sit for 3 weeks total. Don't even think about it until then. Just because the yeast aren't converting fermentables, doesn't mean that they're done cleaning up after themselves.

What are you making?

 

[hotbeer]

1.08 or 1.008?

2 days really isn't enough to tell if SG is still falling. This last batch I did with a RaptPill went 4 days between a single point drop in SG. All but the last 3 points were finished fermenting in just over 2 days.

And as previously mentioned, just because a beer is finished fermenting doesn't mean you have to rush it out of the fermenter. I routinely leave beer in the FV for a week or two longer just to let it get clean and clear. Sometimes it takes a while for everything to fall out of suspension.

 

[brewbama]

I reside in the ‘when it’s done, it’s done’ camp. IOW, a steady FG = done. Package it.

My beers routinely take 5 +/-1 days SG to FG. IMO letting it sit in a fermenter without CO2 generation leads to O2 pickup.

Additionally, I prefer to close transfer into a CO2 purged keg with yeast still in suspension so they can consume any O2 I inadvertently allow during the xfer. Allowing it to sit for a cpl weeks allows more complete flocculation which I don’t want until it’s in the keg for lagering/conditioning/maturing.

 

[Phegan]

1.08? That's an incomplete reading. Is it 1080, 1082, 1084, 1086, 1088? That's a big range. If it's anywhere in that range, it's not even started. Maybe you meant 1008, not 108. If that's the case it seems as if you finished the main ferment. Let it sit for 3 weeks total. Don't even think about it until then. Just because the yeast aren't converting fermentables, doesn't mean that they're done cleaning up after themselves.

What are you making?

sorry yes 1.008, its an all grain west coast IPA, thanks for the advise

 

[odie]

probably but I'd give it a couple more days and check gravity again.

 

[AlexKay]

It's probably done, and you should wait -- maybe the full two weeks, maybe a few more days, but gravity totally notwithstanding, extra time in the fermenter does good things.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Hello all, my Rapt pill has been at a steady 1.08 gravity for a 2
days now, total fermentation time has been 6 days, instructions say to let the brew ferment for 2 weeks? Should i wait the full 2 weeks or is it ready for dry hopping?

What yeast did you use? What fermentation temp? Are you bottling or kegging?

As far as dry hopping goes, there are different opinions on the "best" time to dry hop. There is probably no harm in adding them now, or waiting closer to time to package. If you don't have the ability to cold crash, I would plan 4-5 days before packaging to give the hops time to settle out...maybe not needed if you are adding them in a hop sack.

Some ale yeast will ferment pretty fast and and be mostly dropped clear in 7 to 9 days (say Nottingham). Some ale yeast ferment a bit slower and take longer to drop out (say US-05). Kveik is a different beast! I might keg a non-dry hopped beer by day 8 to 10, but I generally always give my bottled beers at least 2 weeks. This helps to ensure fermentation is complete and gives time for the beer to settle out. It is better to have sediment in the fermenter than in every bottle.

 

[brewbama]

… extra time in the fermenter does good things.

I respectfully disagree. I believe extra time with unfermenting beer sitting in the fermenter does bad things. Fermentation routinely finishes in days, not weeks. Once the beer has flatlined or even a cpl points shy, the beer should be packaged in my opinion. I like to get the beer off the settled yeast/trüb, package with yeast still in suspension, and let the beer secondary in the package at about the same temp of the primary. There it can sit for weeks if desired but I recommend ~7 days then cold crash and keep it cold until served.

 

[AlexKay]

I disagree. I believe extra time with unfermenting beer sitting in the fermenter does bad things. Fermentation routinely finishes in days, not weeks. Once the beer has flatlined or even a cpl points shy, the beer should be packaged in my opinion. I like to get the beer off the settled yeast/trüb, package with yeast still in suspension, and let the beer secondary in the package at about the same temp of the primary. There it can sit for weeks if desired but I recommend ~7 days then cold crash and keep it cold until served.

By good things, I mean the yeast will clean up any diacetyl and acetaldehyde created during the fermentation -- you really do risk these off flavors if you package the beer too soon.

As for bad things, my understanding is that getting the beer off the yeast to avoid autolysis is relevant for a commercial cylindroconical but the hydrostatic pressure just doesn't get high enough for it to matter at the home-brew scale.

When you say you package with the yeast still in suspension, do you mean you're adding priming sugar and conditioning in the bottle (or keg)? I could definitely see that working just as well to eliminate diacetyl and acetaldehyde.

 

[brewbama]

I don’t add a primer but I do xfer to keg with a cpl extract points left for the yeast in suspension to consume (ΔEs 1-2.5%). pitfalls can include incomplete decomposition of by-products including diacetyl, acetaldahyde, and inadvertent O2 pickup during the closed xfer during a poorly conducted secondary phase. I am much less concerned with autolysis.

 

[hotbeer]

If you are kegging a beer right after it finishes with fermentation, then I don't see that as much of an issue for the reasons I leave my beer in the fermenter longer before bottling.

It's not any different perhaps than a commercial brewer moving beer to a bright tank prior to packaging. Your kegged beer will allow everything to drop clear. It will probably do much of the same in the bottles. However who wants to see a thick trub layer on the bottom of the bottle? And perhaps that layer will be looser and easier to disturb as we pour the beer from the bottle than the nicely thin layers we hope are pasted to the bottom of our bottles after they carbonate.

Still, after a beer is bottled or kegged, there is too much temptation to drink. And if it still has all that stuff suspended in it, then it's not likely to be something I want to learn how to appreciate or be swayed that they actually taste good.

So for me, leaving it in the FV longer does it some good.