to bottle or not to bottle

[mike1978]

ok, so i've had a stout that has been in the primary for 2.5 weeks and is finished fermentation, i.e. said the hydrometer. i would like to drink this beer by xmas, so should i bottle it now and let it bottle condition for a few weeks or leave it on the yeast cake for another week, then bottle? What are the benifits of both???

 

[Beezer94]

If it was not a higher gravity beer, you should be safe to bottle now. Either way the beer will need to rest, but I think the yeast should have cleaned up most their junk by now, and if you want carbed and remotely conditioned I would bottle soon.

 

[IrregularPulse]

If you want to drink carbonated beer at xmas, you need to bottle this week(end).

 

[mike1978]

what i'm really asking is, is this beer better off NOW in the bottle or in the primary??

 

[Teacher]

Bottle now.

 

[Revvy]

I hate to break it to you, but don't get your hopes up that the stout isn't still going to be green at Christmas, if even fully carbed.

The higher the grav or more complex the grainbill, the longer it's going to take both to carb and condition.

The 3 weeks at 70 degrees, that that we recommend is the minimum time it takes for average gravity beers to carbonate and condition. Higher grav beers take longer. As do beers with more complex grain bills, like with darker grains.

Stouts and porters have taken me between 6 and 8 weeks to carb up and come into their own.

I've written about the process here. Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning.

I mean you can bottle it now, but there's really no gaurentee, and in my experience, the odds are against it not being green in 3 weeks. Of course you could always see if it's any better on New years.

Like I said I hate to be a downer, but when I am planning to have something done by a certain date, I try to have a minimum of 4 weeks in the bottle before hand. And even then that much is cutting it a little close, and I'll have a backup plan.

For Example last year, I brewed my Pumpkin Ale for Thanksgiving on Labor Day...figuring at 8 weeks, I MIGHT have some ready for Holloween...But they were still green, so I only brought a couple to my annual Halloween thingy, along with a sampler of commercial pumpkins...BUT come Turkey Day the beer was fantastic, and was a hit at the holiday.

This year with my mother in the hospital most of the summer, I wasn't able to brew as much as I wanted, and knowing that I wouldn't be able to have a good Pumpkin in the fall, I skipped brewing one.

Rather than forcing something into your timeframe, and being dissapointed, I would leave it in primary for a couple more weeks, then bottle, and let it go. And drink some nice commercial stouts at Christmas instead.

Personally I would rather make a good beer, than a fast one. But that's my take on it. I'm only saying it so come Christmas if it's not to your liking or carbed, you won't be too dissapointed.

 

[Revvy]

what i'm really asking is, is this beer better off NOW in the bottle or in the primary??

If you want really good beer...Blow off the idea of having it ready by Christmas, and leave it alone for a couple more weeks.

If you want to cut it really close, and probably still end up having it green on Christmas, bottle now...You MAY get to enjoy it on New Year's Day...That one week could make a difference.

But still there's no gaurentee.

We get variations of this all the time, someone wanting to rush the process so people at a party or gathering can taste the beer....And we usually tell them the same thing...BUY BEER, or bing something else...they will survive, but your cred as a brewer may NOT if you serve them green beer.

It does noone any good, whether they are knowlegable about homebrew or just like MBC's to serve them green, or sub par beers.

If you are serving green, yeasty, and nasty tasting beer to people who have never tasted homebrew then they won't understand..what it's supposed to taste like....

They will think that EITHER you suck as a brewer, ALL HOMEBREW SUCKS (and you'll prolly go blind anyway) or those BMC commercials were right, anything other than fizzy yellow beer, especially homebrew taste like a$$, and we should stick to bud light..."THat's what TV says, so it must be true, right?"

You won't be a great ambassador to the world of homebrewing beer you tried to rush through....and saying "Heh, it's just green, and not fully carbed yet, it will get better with time, really won't fly to someone who drinks bud with their born on dates."

Just something to consider, if you wanted to share it with folks on Christmas.

Whatever you decide, good luck.

 

[IrregularPulse]

If you want really good beer...Blow off the idea of having it ready by Christmas, and leave it alone for a couple more weeks.

There you go.

 

[Revvy]

Hey there's the old Irregularpulse AV I know and love.

 

[mike1978]

Screw it, its gonna stay in the primaryu for a couple more weeks. Your right, i shouldn't rush it, whats the point if it isn't gonna be TRULY ready. Thanks for the input!

 

[Revvy]

Screw it, its gonna stay in the primaryu for a couple more weeks. Your right, i shouldn't rush it, whats the point if it isn't gonna be TRULY ready. Thanks for the input!

Good plan!!

Hey, I'm not immune to this. I finally managed to brew 4 batches in November. First time since june/july (whenever it was). I'm planning on bottling two batches this weekend in the hopes (though slim) that they will be ready. The thing with mine are that they have been in primary for a month, and they are relatively low grav beers, without overly complex grain bills.

In fact one of them is a Single malt/double hop, Marris Otter/Centennial/Cascade Ipa. So there's hope that if it carbs by then it will be ready to go, and won't really need bottle conditioning since most ipas are consumed relatively young.

But it's a crapshoot. If on Christmas eve it's not ready, then I'm making a bottle run for the next day's dinner.