How soon is too soon

[rpolzin25]

So I just recently started kegging my homebrews. I am wondering how soon is too soon to keg a beer. I brewed up a peanut butter hefeweizen about 8 days ago and I am about 99% sure its done fermenting (no more airlock activity). All my previous beers I have bottled/kegged somewhere between 14-21 days after brewing and they have all turned out great. Is kegging after at 8 days in the primary too soon on a hefeweizen or should I give to the end of the week before kegging. Obviously I would check the gravity to be sure but if gravity is good what do you all think? I used wyeast w3068 which gave a krausen within 4 hours of pitching. Thanks

 

[Pariah3j]

Airlock activity is not an indication of fermentation. 8 days seems very short imo but I've never brewed a hefeweizen so maybe they finish quickly...

 

[rpolzin25]

I am just getting antsy to try it but I will probably just wait till the weekend to keg it anyways as I am sure the yeast could clear up the flavors in the beer.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

So I just recently started kegging my homebrews. I am wondering how soon is too soon to keg a beer. I brewed up a peanut butter hefeweizen about 8 days ago and I am about 99% sure its done fermenting (no more airlock activity). All my previous beers I have bottled/kegged somewhere between 14-21 days after brewing and they have all turned out great. Is kegging after at 8 days in the primary too soon on a hefeweizen or should I give to the end of the week before kegging. Obviously I would check the gravity to be sure but if gravity is good what do you all think? I used wyeast w3068 which gave a krausen within 4 hours of pitching. Thanks

You know you should check the gravity to be sure it is done fermenting
Also, once fermentation is done the yeast cleans up after itself so I'd give it some time after it is done too, but that's just me. Taste your sample when you check the gravity that can tell you a lot.

 

[UndeadFred]

Please wait three weeks, especially if you are new. I don't drink most of my brews until after 6 weeks.

At the very least, if you are in a rush, check the gravity every day for 3-4 days and make sure it is stable.. Waiting the extra week is a better idea though...

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I agree with UD Fred, I do 3weeks in primary then 3 weeks after bottle priming. Kegging you don't need to wait a second 3 weeks since you haven't started up fermentation by adding sugar.

 

[Gameface]

So I just recently started kegging my homebrews. I am wondering how soon is too soon to keg a beer. I brewed up a peanut butter hefeweizen about 8 days ago and I am about 99% sure its done fermenting (no more airlock activity). All my previous beers I have bottled/kegged somewhere between 14-21 days after brewing and they have all turned out great. Is kegging after at 8 days in the primary too soon on a hefeweizen or should I give to the end of the week before kegging. Obviously I would check the gravity to be sure but if gravity is good what do you all think? I used wyeast w3068 which gave a krausen within 4 hours of pitching. Thanks

There really isn't such a thing as too soon in a general sense.

You want fermentation to be complete (at FG) and you do want to give the beer a few days after it reaches FG to clean up. Then it's a matter of personal preference. For instance, you might want to cold crash or otherwise wait for all the yeast to fall out. That can take days or weeks depending on yeast strain and several other factors.

If your beer is at FG plus a couple days and you want to keg it go ahead. Especially for a hefe where your not concerned about suspended yeast.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Honestly...I have kegged plenty at the 2 week mark..but 8 days and no gravity reading is just reckless...you don't want to take it off and ruin a perfectly good beer...especially if you are excited about it man.

 

[Sourz4life]

It all really depends when you fermentation is done. YOu could of course stop it by cold crashing and then racking it to the keg once you like the taste. Only way to tell is to take a FG reading and taste it. Just keep in mind that it takes about 2-3 weeks of carbing right after kegging a recently fermented batch before it looses that "green" flavor that a new beer has.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Once the Krausen begins to clear, give it a few days to finish up and then check the gravity and taste the sample for off-flavors (if done right, you shouldn't have any). If it's within a few points of expected FG and the yeast has pretty much dropped out, you can keg it. If it drops a few more points while in the keg, which could happen, it's not a big deal, which is definitely not the case if bottling. One of the nice things about kegging is you don't need to confirm stable gravity readings for fear of having bottle bombs.

 

[rpolzin25]

Lol, I am not so new to brewing that I wouldn't check gravity before kegging/bottling. I'll just give it a minimum 13-14 days before checking it and kegging. Just was curious what everyone's experience was kegging on the shorter end.

 

[LLBeanJ]

What I was trying to convey in my previous post is that there is no minimum fermentation time. The beer tells me when it's ready and then I keg it. I've kegged beer in as little as 6 days and as many as 30. My typical timeframe, however, is 10-14 days. When the Krausen begins to clear (I check it daily), I know I'll be able to keg it in about 3 days.

 

[rpolzin25]

What I was trying to convey in my previous post is that there is no minimum fermentation time. The beer tells me when it's ready and then I keg it. I've kegged beer in as little as 6 days and as many as 30. My typical timeframe, however, is 10-14 days. When the Krausen begins to clear (I check it daily), I know I'll be able to keg it in about 3 days.

Yea the krausen fell a several days ago and it looks like the beer has been clearing. Typically I have started cold crashing around now but given its a hefeweizen I wasn't going to cold crash this one. Thanks

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Hefe's are quick beers and better young.At eight days your most likely at FG even you didn't check.Its going to take a few days to carb even force carbing.Then a day or 2 to balance out.So by the time your drinking balanced beer your already at 12 days or so.Plus it will be conditioning in the keg for however long it takes to finish it..I say go for it..I don't shake the keg. 48 hours at 30 psi and then dropped to serving psi will get you where you want to be without shaking..I routinely go grain to glass in 2 weeks or less for IPA/APA

 

[rpolzin25]

Hefe's are quick beers and better young.At eight days your most likely at FG even you didn't check.Its going to take a few days to carb even force carbing.Then a day or 2 to balance out.So by the time your drinking balanced beer your already at 12 days or so.Plus it will be conditioning in the keg for however long it takes to finish it..I say go for it..I don't shake the keg. 48 hours at 30 psi and then dropped to serving psi will get you where you want to be without shaking..I routinely go grain to glass in 2 weeks or less for IPA/APA

So if I check FG and its where it needs to be I could keg it, run psi at 30 for 48 hours, then drop to serving pressure, and it should be ready (if not close to ready) to drink? And am I seeing right that serving pressure for a hefe is 19.6 PSI? I keep my keezer at 38 degrees and the brewers friend calculator states 19.6 PSI for a C02 volumes of 3.3. Thanks

 

[LLBeanJ]

As far as the 48 hours @ 30 PSI, you should be fine. It'll likely be around 2/3 of the way carbonated after that, which is good enough to drink and enjoy. However, I think you'll have a big mess of foam in your glass if you attempt go to 3.3 vols unless your serving line is 20' long. Even with flow control faucets, 3.3 vols would be quite a stretch without longer lines. A better target would be around 2.5 vols @ ~11-12 PSI, assuming you're running the standard 10-12' length of serving line.

 

[rpolzin25]

As far as the 48 hours @ 30 PSI, you should be fine. It'll likely be around 2/3 of the way carbonated after that, which is good enough to drink and enjoy. However, I think you'll have a big mess of foam in your glass if you attempt go to 3.3 vols unless your serving line is 20' long. Even with flow control faucets, 3.3 vols would be quite a stretch without longer lines. A better target would be around 2.5 vols @ ~11-12 PSI, assuming you're running the standard 10-12' length of serving line.

Currently running 11 ft lines (3/16 ID). So basically your saying that it wouldn't be a good idea carbonate my Hefeweizen to the recommended CO2 volumes? If this beer turns out good I had thought about submitting it to a competition so I would want the higher carbonation.

 

[LLBeanJ]

You can certainly try to carb it to your target volume. Worst case is that it doesn't pour well at that level and you have to de-carb it down to a more reasonable level. You won't know until you try, but my own experience tells me that it will be carbed beyond the level that most people's systems can handle without excessive foam and I highly doubt you'd be able to bottle it at that level. For the competition entries, I wouldn't be concerned too much with hitting 3+ vols, but if you really feel like you need it, then you might want to bottle condition some portion of the batch. I believe standard beer bottles are only rated for about 3 vols max, though (you might want to research that, as I'm just going off the top of my head regarding that little factoid, and may be wrong).

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I haven't checked the chart but but 19 psi seems way high.I've never gone over 13 and that's with flow control..I would think 19 would need some seriously perfected line length.

 

[Froyd]

Seems like the conversation has moved on, but here's one more vote for kegging as soon as you are ready, especially for your beer style. After the beer reaches FG, a little extra time aging in the primary might help you transfer clearer beer to the keg, but if your beer style is already on the cloudy side of things and/or you don't mind the possibility of a little extra turb when you pull the first pint, then you might as well keg right away, and age at low temps.

Personally, I carb and age at the same time. If trying to get the beer ready for an event I'll do the 48h at 30psi, but normally, I just let the beer sit at serving pressure for a week. So for wheat beers, pale ales etc, I'm sipping 21 days after brew day.

 

[Yooper]

Lol, I am not so new to brewing that I wouldn't check gravity before kegging/bottling. I'll just give it a minimum 13-14 days before checking it and kegging. Just was curious what everyone's experience was kegging on the shorter end.

A beer like a hefeweizen is fine to keg once it's done and it has been at FG for 24 hours or more. That "yeast clean up" that everyone is talking about is finished within about 24 hours of the beer reaching FG so it doesn't take all that long. A hefe won't be clear anyway, so no need to wait for it to clear but you could wait a few days for suspended solids to drop out if there are any.

So if I check FG and its
where it needs to be I could keg it, run psi at 30 for 48 hours, then drop to serving pressure, and it should be ready (if not close to ready) to drink? And am I seeing right that serving pressure for a hefe is 19.6 PSI? I keep my keezer at 38 degrees and the brewers friend calculator states 19.6 PSI for a C02 volumes of 3.3. Thanks

19.6 seems HIGH to me, but I carb most beers to 2.4 volumes. I'd go with something like 2.7 volumes at first, but then I'm not a spritzy beer fan.

I generally go with 30 psi for 24-36 hours, to avoid overcarbonation and keep at 11 psi after that (my preferred volume).

 

[KRASHED]

I went the too soon route on a cream ale I made not too long ago. After drinking the majority of the batch I think I broke the toilet.

Best to wait.

 

[rpolzin25]

Ended up kegging last night. 12 days of fermenting and gravity was at 1.008 (original was 1.048) a few days ago. Tasted fine so not terribly worried. Thanks

 

[BrewChaCho]

Checking the gravity is the only way to be sure. I usually get paranoid and leave it a couple days once I'm sure it's done.