just a quick question

[spriggan486]

I would just like to know... How should my beer look when it is ready to bottle? I know the batch I have fermenting is no where near ready because It's only been going for 4 days. I'm gonna give it atleast another week. I would just like to know if the beer should clear up. right now it is a deep brown color and I can't see into it at all. It is also a Coopers Bitter kit, if that helps.

Thanks for any replies!

 

[Yooper]

Some people bottle early, but I wait until my beer looks like, well, beer. It should be pretty clear (unless it's a wheat beer) and taste pretty good. It will improve after conditioning, but if it's murky and cloudy, I'd wait to bottle. The stuff will eventually fall out of suspension, but I'd rather it do it in the fermenter than in my bottles!

 

[Bobby_M]

IMHO, a beer will just START clearing up after the krausen layer has fallen out. You'll need at least another week after that but I wouldn't bottle any beer sooner than 3 weeks.

 

[spriggan486]

thanks. there's only about 1/8 of an inch of krausen on top. so I think ill be seein it clear up in the next few days

 

[Yooper]

thanks. there's only about 1/8 of an inch of krausen on top. so I think ill be seein it clear up in the next few days

I usually think about bottling or kegging a beer after about three weeks with no fermentation activity. That might seem a bit long- but my beers are crystal clear and pretty tasty. If I was going from fermenter to bottles, I'd wait at least 14 days before bottling.

 

[toasted]

what if you have a 2x choc. stout, and there is no hope of really ever seeing any clear,

And there is nothing on top?

 

[BarleyWater]

what if you have a 2x choc. stout, and there is no hope of really ever seeing any clear,

And there is nothing on top?

If you used cocoa powder or bakers chocolate, you should let it set about 3 weeks before bottling. Don't worry about getting a little in the bottle either, it only adds to the choclatiness.

 

[toasted]

This is what it looks like