One gallon fermenting

[gallonbrewer]

Good evening everyone,

I've had a brown ale sitting in primary for nine days now. The recipe came with with my one gallon starter kit. I haven't taken OG readings or temperatures, just pitched my yeast and let her go.

I've been all over every forum and recipe I can get my eyes on here at HBT. There seems to be variations on how long to leave it in primary, anywhere from one week to over four weeks. My question is does time in primary change depending on batch size? For example, would the same recipe for a five gallon need longer in primary to clean up? For that matter is there such thing as leaving it in primary too long? (not including hop flavor and aroma loss).

Thanks in advance for all the advice I've already received!!!

 

[barleywhore69]

You can probably bottle it if there's been no activity for a few days. Or you could leave it for a month more and it would be fine. I rarely take hydrometer readings and just let it sit for like a month to be sure it's done.

 

[dkennedy]

Fermentation and cleanup time depends on a lot- the recipe, the yeast, temperatures, seismic activity, etc.
I'd guess that you pitched a higher yeast count than you'd normally see in a 5 gallon batch, so they got the work done quicker than they would have if they'd had to chew through 5 gallons of wort. If it's been quiet then I'd take a sample, taste it, and go from there.

(In short, what my neighbor said)

 

[gallonbrewer]

Thanks for the advice! Taste tested and my first batch is bottle conditioning as we speak!

 

[kombat]

To answer your question, no, batch size does not affect fermentation speed. Your 1 gallon batch was mostly finished in a week, as was the 900 liter batch your local craft brewery just made. The "correct" answer is, take a series of gravity readings, and when the gravity is unchanged for 3 days in a row, it's done. However, if you were to actually do that with 1 gallon batches, you wouldn't have any beer left to bottle! Unless you have a refractometer, but I'm assuming you don't.

If you let your beers ferment for 3 full weeks, and there's no sign of infection, you're almost certainly safe to bottle.

 

[bernardsmith]

Brewers really do not return samples back to the fermenter? Wine makers do that all the time.. with no obvious ill-effect and we age our wines for many months if not years... but then we are liberal users of K-meta (SO2) to sanitize our tools and measuring cylinders and the like.

 

[fuelish]

I never took gravity readings when I used to brew beer other than OG and FG .....I'd let it sit for a few weeks (never brewed huge beers, just the run-o'-the-mill), let it clear, it was done, in my book, and never had bottle bombs or whatever, was all good.....making mead, I do take more gravity samples towards the end of the ferment...lets me know how it's going/has gone, and (no, I don't return gravity samples other than OG), I get a "free sample" of the beverage-to-be.

 

[kombat]

Brewers really do not return samples back to the fermenter?

I don't, no. It's not worth the risk. And with a refractometer, the sample is so small (half an eye-dropper's worth) that there's not really anything to "return" anyway.

 

[bernardsmith]

I don't, no. It's not worth the risk. And with a refractometer, the sample is so small (half an eye-dropper's worth) that there's not really anything to "return" anyway.

Is there a simple way to calibrate a refractometer to read the brix if there is already alcohol in the liquor? I thought refractometers were designed to be able to be able to read the amount of sugar in a must (the juice) but once there was any alcohol in the liquor then the sugar reading would be unreliable...

 

[kombat]

I thought refractometers were designed to be able to be able to read the amount of sugar in a must (the juice) but once there was any alcohol in the liquor then the sugar reading would be unreliable...

That's correct. Once fermentation has begun, you must apply a conversion factor to the Brix reading to get an accurate translation to degrees Plato or points of specific gravity. I don't recall the particular formula offhand, but I just use the conversion tool built-in to BeerSmith. Under "Tools," there's a "Refractometer" item. You just enter the original gravity reading, and the current (uncorrected) % Brix reading, and it tells you the actual gravity reading.

 

[bernardsmith]

That's correct. Once fermentation has begun, you must apply a conversion factor to the Brix reading to get an accurate translation to degrees Plato or points of specific gravity. I don't recall the particular formula offhand, but I just use the conversion tool built-in to BeerSmith. Under "Tools," there's a "Refractometer" item. You just enter the original gravity reading, and the current (uncorrected) % Brix reading, and it tells you the actual gravity reading.

Thanks Kombat. That is really helpful.

 

[flugelizor]

I am an airlock watcher.
On a 5 gallon batch when the bubbles are more than a minute apart, FG has been reached. Shoot for 90 seconds if you are concerned about it.
If you know your yeast and temperature it should be a good indicator.
I have never had a stuck fermentation in my life (over 20 years home brewing)

So with 1 gallon ... multiply by 5 - 5 minutes between bubbles?
But I have never done a one gallon batch, so use your judgement.

 

[kombat]

On a 5 gallon batch when the bubbles are more than a minute apart, FG has been reached.

Or the barometer is dropping.

Or the temperature is rising.

Or a heavy truck just drove by.

 

[gallonbrewer]

Thanks for the advice!!! Beer turned out great!!!

 

[Jessee]

Related to his topic I'm having a slightly similar deal while in fermentation. I brewed 1 gallon of ale and it's been in fermenter for 52 hours and it was working hard and bubbling a lot until now. All the yeast has settled and it doesn't bubble but once every 4 minutes. It still is murky, any advice?

 

[gallonbrewer]

Related to his topic I'm having a slightly similar deal while in fermentation. I brewed 1 gallon of ale and it's been in fermenter for 52 hours and it was working hard and bubbling a lot until now. All the yeast has settled and it doesn't bubble but once every 4 minutes. It still is murky, any advice?

On this batch I had absolutely zero airlock action after the initial blow off settled down. I still gave it around 10 days and from everything I've read here it could have gone longer with no ill effect.

 

[Jessee]

So how long would you suggest I wait til I bottle it?

 

[gallonbrewer]

I've read here a lot of brewers leave it for three weeks minimum. I've also read a few threads about minimizing the time between brewing and drinking. Browse through the threads on fermentation and yeast, that's where my worries were settled. I'm still new to brewing but patience is key to this hobby.