Time to Bottle?

[Casey26]

Hi,

I forgot to take an original SG, but the target SG was 1.038 - 1.058, and I just took a FG reading of 1.008 (this is in the target FG range). The beer is done fermenting, but it only fermented for 7 days.

Should I let it sit in the primary for another week, and then bottle? Or should I bottle now? I don't have a secondary.

I'm kind of confused because the first brew I ever batched fermented for 2 weeks I think. That was a 60 min clone though, so I'm thinking the higher gravity and dry hopping had something to do with that? This brew (Blonde Ale) is my second batch.

Do most beers ferment this fast?

Thanks a lot for any advice you can offer.

-Casey

 

[Airborneguy]

I usually let them sit in the primary for 3 weeks, but that's just a personal preference. If the beer is at 1.008, you can bottle.

 

[mattmuir]

I am still a noob but this is mho. I dont take an SG "BUT" I leave the beer in the primary a min. of 2 weeks with most being 3. If I want to hurry a batch I will start taking readings.

Buy the way, the beer is sooo much better after 3 weeks in the bucket.

 

[Bizoune]

Yeast will clean up after they're done, that is after fermentation as finished. You can bottle now or wait another week or two. Beer will be tasty in either case.

 

[BeerJorge]

I would leave the beer sitting another week at least...

The beer is probably done fermenting, but that doesn't mean you should bottle right after that... yeast eat sugar during fermentation and that's why your SG reading drops... this stage is called attenuation...

When they eat the sugar they convert the sugar into ethanol and produce other by-products like diacetyl, acetaldehyde, Ethyl acetate, etc...

When there is no simple sugars left, the yeast will start eating these by-products... if you bottle now, you may taste some of these by-products... if you leave the beer sitting longer, they will clean up and you'll get a cleaner, crisper beer.

Some styles like Hefeweizens are actually better off bottled earlier, so it really depends on what you are brewing...

You don't need to transfer to a secondary for this to happen... in fact, I think it's better to leave in the primary and skip the secondary, unless you are dry hopping or planning on aging the beer...