Secondary Ferment?

[goldenguy55]

Hi all, I'm brewing a Portland Pale Ale LME kit and have had it in the primary fermenter for a week now. During the last 4 days, I've taken SG readings and have gotten all of them right around 1.01. Today might have been slightly lower, but it appears as I'm near the end of fermentation. My questions are the following:

How much longer should I leave it in the primary? (assuming SG remains at the 1.01 area)

Should I secondary ferment it?

Would leaving it in the primary for an extended period (say another 7 to 10 days) make a material difference?

Note: My OG was 1.049

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

 

[MalFet]

Don't secondary ferment it. It's not necessary for this type of beer.

Keep it in as long as you can. Most people around here leave their beer in the fermentor for 3-4 weeks. Your beer will likely taste cleaner.

 

[goldenguy55]

I have a business associate that is the masterbrewer for a regional microbrewery. He claims that I should bottle now. Any reason in particular why he might have said that?

How much difference does the flavor of the beer gain by sitting in the fermenter for 3 more weeks versus sitting in a bottle for 3 weeks?

Thanks again!

 

[MalFet]

There are many, many, many threads here debating this issue, often very heatedly. The overwhelming consensus, though, is that 1 week is just way too short. Pretty much everybody does 2-3, and many do 3-4.

If you bottle now, you'll likely get a lot of intermediate compounds that the yeast hasn't finished processing. That means off flavors and a general "green" taste to the beer. Count on at least three weeks for priming properly, as well.

You could bottle it now and be drinking it in a week if you wanted. Maybe you wouldn't even notice the difference. But, especially when you are just starting out and are getting your techniques dialed in, I bet you would.

Your associate is operating on very different equipment, at several orders of magnitude more volume than we see as homebrewers. The hydrostatic pressure of a 500 gallon fermentation tank, for example, causes the process to go quite a bit more quickly. He is likely using mechanical filtration, as well. These things make a big difference.

The best advice is to get your second batch going as soon as this one comes out of the fermentor

 

[storunner13]

When the beer sits on the yeast after fermentation is complete, it's not dormant. The yeast continue to change certain fusels, esters, and other compounds into new ones, resulting in a "conditioned" beer. This is done more effectively in the fermentor, rather than the bottle, and the resulting product will be consistent from bottle to bottle. I keep nearly all of my beers in the my primary for at least 3 weeks, usually 4, and I find them to be cleaner (fewer "off" flavors) and definitely better tasting.

I'm not sure why your friend suggested to bottle now, except perhaps that he's unfamiliar with homebrewing and doesn't trust the homebrew method, to be equal to the craft level...I'm not sure.

 

[goldenguy55]

MalFet, your analysis has won me over. I'm going to keep it in another 2-3 weeks. Does it even matter if I continue to take SG readings until I'm ready to bottle? In other words, do the intermediate SG readings actually matter? I realize the FG will help me calculate my alcohol %.

Storunner13, I agree with you as well. I think my friend is disattached from the homebrew scene.

 

[MalFet]

MalFet, your analysis has won me over. I'm going to keep it in another 2-3 weeks. Does it even matter if I continue to take SG readings until I'm ready to bottle? In other words, do the intermediate SG readings actually matter? I realize the FG will help me calculate my alcohol %.

Storunner13, I agree with you as well. I think my friend is disattached from the homebrew scene.

Nope, intermediate gravity shouldn't really matter. Typically, I take a reading soon as it hits the fermentis but then not again until two weeks have passed (unless I suspect something has gone funny). Once you get a few more brews under your belt, you can always experiment with ways to speed up your cycle, but you may have a pipeline down by that point and may not care. Time takes off rough edges from most beers.

The other reason homebrewers ferment longer is because we can. Micros are trying to maximize production for a fixed capacity, and likewise sometimes make decisions that maximize economics rather than quality. It's mighty hard waiting for that first batch, though