How fast can you really get through a batch?

[bmbauer]

Hey guys,

So I have been brewing small batches (1 gallon), and only started about a month ago. I have done a cider, a norther brewer kit, and a wheat beer recipe I found on this site. Basically, I am getting tired of waiting and I am wondering how long do I have to wait?

I bottled the norther brewer kit after 10 days, but the gravity had stopped moving for 3 days....It has now been bottled for a week (17 days since brew day). I know its probably too soon, but when can I start trying it? My wheat beer is in the same boat....it has been in the primary for 14 days and the gravity has stopped and I am wanting to bottle.... Is it really going to be much better if it is given extra time in the primary or in the bottles? Is 10-14 days in a primary enough? Is a week in bottles too short? I know patience is good....but I am just ready to start trying my beer!

 

[masskrug]

I give it 3 weeks in the fermenter and 3 in the bottle. You could probably get by with 2 weeks in the fermenter and 2 in the bottle, but it does get better after 3-5 weeks in the bottle.

 

[Munchkin]

I do a 2 week minimum on my primaries after the advice on this forum and it seems to be working great. High gravity beers get a 4 week minimum. After that it depends on style and preference, some beers are better green, some are better older. There also seems to be mixed reviews on bottle conditioning or batch conditioning. From what i understand more complex and/or high gravity beers can benefit from batch aging together in a carboy. Personally I just bottle age to get another carboy available.

As far as bottling times one week is pointless IMO. Ive had some carb up to drink nicely after 2 weeks but ive recently been sticking to 3 weeks before trying any bottled beer. Of course carb time once again will depend on style and sugar added, which could take months.

Another thing to add is I found carb tabs take nearly twice as long to carb up my beer than corn sugar ever did.

 

[dobe12]

There are way too many factors to give you exact answers, but smaller beers (under 5% ABV) will generally finish up quicker. Bigger beers will take longer. But really OG, yeast strain, fermentation conditions, beer style... they all play a role in timing. Yes, you can turn around certain beers in 10-14 days if not faster. My SOP is to let most beers sit for 2-3 weeks then keg.

For bottle carbing... same rules apply. Conditioning temps will play a big role. When I bottled, I feel like my bottles were carbed within 1-2 weeks. Some can take longer. But aging rules apply again. Bigger beers usually need some more time to condition and mellow. In general, you want to drink certain beers fresher, like hoppy beers and personally, I like Saisons fresher. Some prefer them more aged.

It really comes down to personal taste, but patience is usually the best practice when it comes to brewing.

 

[brewkinger]

Patience youngling.... You are rushing the process and you may get away with it a few times, but when it catches up to you, the results can be disastrous (and possibly painful).

Bottling too soon can cause "bottle bombs" and they can hurt and make an awful mess.

Most, if not ALL, beers will benefit from at least 2-3 wks in a bottle (at the appropriate temps) to allow the carbonation to occur and flavors to mellow and meld together.

It is beer either way... but patience makes for better beer.

Pick yourself up a couple of sixers of good craft beer to hold you over (and brew again to get that pipeline going)

 

[WayFrae]

You can start trying the bottled beer whenever you want. If you do drink one tonight, it will probably still taste green so don't be disappointed if it isn't as good as you were hoping. It is probably good to drink one now so you can see for yourself how a week or two will change the flavor. I think the 2 weeks in the primary ought to be good enough, especially if it is finished fermenting.

 

[harebearva]

I've always been a minimum of 3 weeks in the fermenter, sometimes 4. I feel that a bit of aging on the yeast cake gives the beer more opportunity to clean up any off flavors. I also do a minimum of 2 weeks for carbing, but I find the magic number for my pales and ambers is 3 weeks and darker brews 4-5 weeks. Homebrewing is really a game of patience. If you were a pro brewery... then it would be a game of dollars, there time IS money

 

[hophop]

Depends on the beer. I made a blonde ale (1.045) and had it grain to glass in 9 days. I pitched a large batch of yeast and fermented a few degrees warmer than normal. Kegged and carbed at 25 psi for 24 hours. Beer was perfect. Primary for most beers is 12-14 days. Bigger beers need more time. Bottling really slows down the process.


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[johnmac22]

why wait at all? tasting them along the way will allow you to see how the flavors change as it ages. i like to take flavor notes throughout the entire process so if i brew the recipe again i have notes to reference.

 

[judsonp]

If you make low abv, hoppy beers, you don't have to wait much at all. But really want you want to do is work up to having a deeper queue so that you have something to drink while you're waiting. Patience is good.

 

[rodwha]

With maybe 10 twelve ounce beers i wouldn't want to begin tasting beers early.

 

[Puddlethumper]

Like most have suggested above, bigger beers take more time. Hoppy beers need to be finished and consumed earlier. I've gone from flame to glass in as little as two weeks. Other beers weren't ready for 10 months. Most beers (kegged) go from flame to glass in about 3-4 weeks. Bottle carbonation adds about a week to the process.

I'd suggest you consider going to a 5 gal. batch size. At least when it is finally ready to drink you have enough beer on hand to last a while. At one gallon per batch you have consumed the product of your efforts in a few evenings and then you're back to the beginning.

 

[RPCidery]

You could also use a faster (more aggressive) yeast. I've made ciders and beers with T-58 that were fully carbed within three days after bottling. However, they still tasted green and needed to age out to become tasty.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

I'd suggest you consider going to a 5 gal. batch size. At least when it is finally ready to drink you have enough beer on hand to last a while. At one gallon per batch you have consumed the product of your efforts in a few evenings and then you're back to the beginning.

If OP is able to do this, this is solid advice.

I've noticed a huge difference between my first few brews (beer and wine alike) and my "2nd generation" brews because they had more time to condition. Once you get one (or as many fermenters as you have room for) 5 gallon batch bottled, the next batch can wait longer.
Folks around here call that a "pipeline"

 

[peterj]

"Wine is fine and brandy is dandy, but liquor is quicker"

Sorry this has absolutely nothing to do with the OP, but I just saw your signature and felt I needed to say that brandy is a liquor. For some reason that just really bothered the obsessive compulsive side of me. Carry on!

 

[aslander]

I'd suggest you consider going to a 5 gal. batch size. At least when it is finally ready to drink you have enough beer on hand to last a while. At one gallon per batch you have consumed the product of your efforts in a few evenings and then you're back to the beginning.

I agree with you for the most part, but I think if he is doing 1 gallon currently, then he should step up to 3 gallons. I do both 3 and 5 gallon batches, in order to manage my pipeline effectively. My wife and I are the ones that drink 80% of the beer I brew. The other 20% tends to be for events like parties and get-togethers.

I brew 5 gallon+ batches for parties, or brews that I know my wife and I will drink faster.

I brew 3 gallon batches for recipes I am not entirely confident with, experimental type batches, or styles that are more niche and less drinkable like high grav, stouts, etc.

If the OP steps up to 3 gallon, they will be able to start building a pipeline without having excess. It's also a lot cheaper if you screw up, which would be a plus since the OP sounds fairly new to brewing.

 

[teleplucker]

I've done one gallon batches since March. It became pretty clear early on that I would need a second fermenter to come anywhere close to a pipeline (and I don't drink very many per week). Recently, the idea of getting a third fermenter is becoming appealing or purchasing a larger kettle and doing two-three gallon batches to supplement the 1 gallon batches. At this point, I have no interest in making the extra investment to go to five + gallons or to moving outside/garage.

To answer your question, "it depends." Patience is key. Right now, I ferment for two-three weeks (all 4-5% ABV brews). I try the first bottle at two weeks to see how the carbonation is going. Then, I don't touch another for two more weeks - one more at room temperature and a full week in the fridge. After three months, I've completed eight batches, two are in primary, two are in bottles carbonating, one is in the fridge nearly ready to drink (although I've tried a few), and three are gone. I haven't noticed much difference between one and two months in bottles, in fact, one batch seemed to be going south, flavor-wise. This weekend, any beer I drink will be purchased.

*Opinions expressed are those of a noob, so grain of salt and all that...*

 

[bernardsmith]

I am just coming to brewing from wine and cider making and in my opinion patience is the secret fifth ingredient. Fermentation is a living process and it dances to its own drum beat. You can drink the beer (or wine ) you make any time you want but if have invited the yeast to perform and you have assembled your grains you might want to wait for the show to end and the curtain to come down before you crack open a bottle and call it a day.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Sorry this has absolutely nothing to do with the OP, but I just saw your signature and felt I needed to say that brandy is a liquor. For some reason that just really bothered the obsessive compulsive side of me. Carry on!

Indeed it is! That's one of the many sort-of-makes-sense-but-not-really things my grandfather used to say.

 

[Malty_Dog]

Yep, I'll just echo some of the good advice:
-Step up to larger batches (3 or 5 gal)
-Build a pipeline of multiple beers. I really like having 4-6 brews of various styles to choose from depending on mood, company, etc
-Patience is required initially, but having the pipeline makes waiting a lot less painful. If you've only been at it a month and have brewed multiple times, you'll have a nice pipeline going in no time.

 

[Mirilis]

Theres a thread around here where someone made English mild from grain to glass in 10 days. Thats about the quickest ive ever seen.

 

[peterj]

Indeed it is! That's one of the many sort-of-makes-sense-but-not-really things my grandfather used to say.

Haha, nice! Well as long it has some history behind it then it sounds good me!

 

[j1n]

Theres a thread around here where someone made English mild from grain to glass in 10 days. Thats about the quickest ive ever seen.

That requires a kegging system though which it seems the OP does not have. I've done 14 days grain to glass before.

 

[Tapout]

I'm sure you've seen the term 'pipeline' out here. If you don't know what it means, it's the total beer you have fermenting, conditioning and ready to drink. The first couple of batches are the worst to wait through if you're like me and like a brew or four every night. You just have to brew often enough to get a good stock and then brew often enough to keep it at a specific level. I was brewing every three to four weeks at first and it took me about 5 batches to get a comfortable stock. Then, wouldn't you know it, I ended up supplementing a few friend's parties and now I'm back to trying to build up the stock again. Woe is me! I'll just have to keep doing what has become my favorite past time...brewing!!!


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[bobeer]

It's tough to plan out as you get more and more busy with life. Since I started kegging I can obviously turn out a "normal" beer faster-- in about 14 days or so. When I bottled every batch it was way longer due to carbonation/conditioning time though I brewed more often.
I try to brew every pay period, which is every 2 weeks, but I brew 4.5 gallon batches due to my pot size so I don't have as much as the 10 gallon guys. I have a baby due in early July so I'm trying to brew every weekend since my free time will be scarce for a while when she's finally here. I try to tailor my drinking based on how often I can brew but that's hard to do if you're used to drinking a certain amount or if friends decide to stop by. Now that summer is here I'm sure there will be more bbq's and other outings to go to which will require growlers so my beer will be gone quicker. Idk, it's a hard thing to figure out unless you're strict about your consumption or you don't mind buying commercial beer while you wait on your good stuff. You can rush beer either so if something takes longer than you had planned it might screw up your pipeline plans and push everything back. I just try to brew and not worry about it. If I'm out of brew for a few days it's not a huge deal or I'll just go get one my cheap go-to's from the store.

 

[rodwha]

Sorry for the sidetrack...

Having a little one is certainly a game changer. You may want to brew two or three times a week to make up for what you're about to go through for a while. And make some standard strength and some strong!

Been there not too long ago (mine just turned 5).

It's a crazy road, but I wouldn't trade it either. Daddy's little girl...

 

[Puddlethumper]

It's tough to plan out as you get more and more busy with life. Since I started kegging I can obviously turn out a "normal" beer faster-- in about 14 days or so.

I have a baby due in early July

Congrats on the new one Bud! That's some of life's best stuff!

And +1 to kegging to speed the process along. If you are no longer concerned about bottle grenades from incomplete carbonation, you can package the beer as soon as FG is reached and drink it a week later (or even sooner if you force carb). It is conceivable that with a very active and quick fermentation and force carbing the keg a person could go flame to glass in 8-10 days. Not too sure what it would taste like, though.