Questions about bottling and fermenting times.

[quantim]

Superbowl weekend, a good friend showed me how he brews using a really cool fly sparge system. He gave me 5 gallons of a Stone IPA clone that we made together in a fermenting bucket to bring back home from NJ to OH. I've had it sitting since then, so 3 weeks.

So, a couple of questions. (I'm completely new to this)

1. I've read the process for bottling, and I'm curious as I head to buy the equipment, is there a list of recommended items/brands somewhere you would suggest?

2. Is there a video you would suggest I could watch as I bottle that takes me step by step.

3. This being the third week of fermenting (dry hopped it last weekend), how much longer can I leave it in the bucket before I threaten the integrity of the recipe/beer?

Thanks so much in advance!

-Tim

 

[GroosBrewz]

First off, welcome to the hobby!

1. Any bottles and/or caps (crowns) sold at your local homebrew store will suffice.. To my knowledge, there really is no difference in brands, unless you start getting into oxygen barrier caps which are more expensive, but not necessary (in my own opinion). Any bottle capper will work, though I personally prefer a bench style capper. They are more expensive but I think they are easier to use than the wing style capper.

2. Really, it's a simple process that just seems scary.. It's pretty hard to screw up bad enough to ruin a batch (unless you add too much sugar).. But this is a great vid and very thorough


3. Depends on the original gravity of the beer.. If you don't have that information, it's fairly typical to leave the beer in the primary fermenter for 1 week and the secondary for 2 weeks.. I am assuming you racked it another bucket since you dry hopped? If not (if it's in the same bucket it's always been in) then I would give it another week to clear up since you dry hopped.. Then bottle.. Just my own opinion.

 

[tmeier45]

Just did a Stone IPA clone myself 3 weeks ago. My first real batch. Did primary for 9 days and secondary for 7. Dry hopped oak chips with it and people are raving about it!
Just bought the ingredients again today to perfect the recipe. This time i did my first ever yeast starter. We'll see how it goes. Gonna let the starter do its thing for 18-24 hrs, then make the batch.

 

[theredben]

If you dry-hopped it a week ago, then I would bottle it now. The hop aroma will slowly fading.

 

[quantim]

Thank you for the replies, folks! Unfortunately, due to "life" circumstances, I haven't been able to bottle until this weekend. I hope I didn't wait too long!