Question: bottle or more time in primary?

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adman

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Hi all,

This is my first post, so I hope that you'll go easy on me. My wife got me a Mr. Beer kit for Christmas, and I have just gotten started in the world of brewing my own beer. I have read through many of the threads on this board, as well as over on the Mr. Beer forums, and I am very grateful for the collective wisdom that I have been able to absorb. I made and bottled my first batch, a modified Mr. Beer West Coast Pale Ale (added some DME and hops to my boil), and started a second batch that I hope will approximate an Irish Red ale (in time for St. Patrick's day). Thanks to the wise folks on these boards, I intend to try my hand at a partial mash Marzen using DeathBrewer's stove top method this weekend.

All of that by way of introduction, here is my question: the above-mentioned Irish ale has been in the fermenter for two weeks now. I pitched a whole pack of Safale S-04 and it has been fermenting at temps between 64 and 68. I took a measurement last night, and it is at or near the FG, as predicted by qbrew. It is also remarkably clear--at least as compared with my first beer using the Mr. Beer yeast--and it tastes like flat beer. If, as mentioned above, I would like to enjoy this beer for St. Patrick's day (a little more than 6 weeks away), should I bottle now, then carb/condition for the next 6 weeks? Or is the beer more likely to be better if it spends the next 2 weeks in primary and then has only 4 weeks to carb/condition in the bottle? If it's not clear from the above, I am using the regular Mr. Beer fermenter.

TLDR version: beer appears to be done with primary fermentation. With a goal of drinking in 6 weeks, should I bottle now and carb/condition for that time, or should I leave it in primary longer and then carb/condition for a shorter period?

Thanks for reading and for any opinions you can provide!

-Adam
 
My general rule of thumb is 3 weeks of bottling will get the trick done, but 4-6 weeks is better. My other general rule of thumb is that the longer you can leave your beer in the fermenter at a stable temp, the better your beer will be. If it were me, I would do 2 more weeks in primary and then bottle - YMMV!
 
I would let it ferment for another week or two and then bottle. 4 weeks in the bottle should give you good carbonation. I would also set 3 or 4 bottles back so you can enjoy one at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after bottling so you can get a feel for what happens to these beers as they age...
 
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