Too soon to bottle?

[JakesDad]

I made a "kit" last Sunday (the 4th) - and was hoping to be able to bottle it tonight...

Too soon?

The kit was a Contiental Light Ale, and I added some citrus juices to it. The bubbling in the lock has stopped, so I was hoping I may get away with it. The reason being I have a buddy coming over tonight who wants to get another batch started, and we've just got the 1 fermenting bucket between us.

Thanks in advance for any feedback...

 

[homebrewer_99]

Let me say that it's possible, but I don't recommend it.

When you got interested in brewing you did it for a reason. (There are many so I won't go into any of them.)

When you brewed this batch you had a specifc flavor/style/whatever in mind that you wanted to brew. If you do not allow the brew to ferment out and become the beer you planned then you are wasting your time and money because you are trying to rush a natural process and are not giving it the time it demands.

Whenever you fool with a natural process you are going to lose. Simple.

I admire your zeal in your new hobby, but you have to be properly prepared in any project. If you are not then you are doomed to fail before you start, but you just don't recognize it. For insantce, if you were to built a model and had no glue...if you build a car and don't have tires, etc., what have you accomplished?

Do yourself ad your beer a favor and go buy a beginners set-up, or better yet the deluxe model because you may end up buying all those gadgets in the end anyway.

Good luck!

 

[magno]

The fermentation is probably complete. You are now waiting for the sediment to fall out. You can bottle today with little risk of bottle bombs, but the beer will benefit from a little patience.

Bottling and brewing a new batch will take a chunk out of your day. Not entirely unenjoyable though.

-magno

 

[JakesDad]

Thanks for the reply - even though it wasn't what I wanted to hear.



To clarify, though - I do have a starter set-up. You'll have to pardon me not being 100% familiar with the right terminology, but I've got a primary bucket, and a bottling bucket, as well as everything in between. I don't have a secondary.

The reason I even thought I might be able to get away with bottling is because, based upon what I've read in the instruction book, it sounded like the fermentation takes place within the first 48-72 hours, and then the next few days were just to let things settle. 5 days felt a little to short, but that's why I asked. My intention, as you said, is definitely to have the best tasting beer I can - I'm certainly not trying to cut corners...just trying to learn.

 

[Fatabbot]

Thanks for the reply - even though it wasn't what I wanted to hear.



To clarify, though - I do have a starter set-up. You'll have to pardon me not being 100% familiar with the right terminology, but I've got a primary bucket, and a bottling bucket, as well as everything in between. I don't have a secondary.

The reason I even thought I might be able to get away with bottling is because, based upon what I've read in the instruction book, it sounded like the fermentation takes place within the first 48-72 hours, and then the next few days were just to let things settle. 5 days felt a little to short, but that's why I asked. My intention, as you said, is definitely to have the best tasting beer I can - I'm certainly not trying to cut corners...just trying to learn.

Well, another plastic bucket fermenter for a primary is cheap, just buy another one. Airlocks are a dime a dozen as well.

I kind of rushed my first batch (bottled @ 7 days with no secondary). It turned out ok (and gets better with age), but I'm definitely practicing a more patient routine with my subsequent batches.

 

[the_bird]

Go to Hennessy and drop $25 on a glass carboy (you're over in Albany, right?). You'll want one before very long, anyway, and it should last you forever. Then, rack over to the secondary and clean out your primary, and you'll be all set. Next weekend, you can bottle knowing that the beer has both fully fermented and that you've given all the trub a chance to fall out. Ought to be a far superior result in th eend.

 

[rcbrew]

I dont know what equipment you have now or have access to, but at this point, me personnally, I would transfer this to a 5gal, glass, secondary fermentor and let it rest for a couple of weeks. This will free up your primary to brew again this weekend! I am finding that the more secondary fermenter you have, the more flexible your brewing schedule can be. IMO

 

[Fatabbot]

Go to Hennessy and drop $25 on a glass carboy (you're over in Albany, right?). You'll want one before very long, anyway, and it should last you forever. Then, rack over to the secondary and clean out your primary, and you'll be all set. Next weekend, you can bottle knowing that the beer has both fully fermented and that you've given all the trub a chance to fall out. Ought to be a far superior result in th eend.

Ah, better advice. Disregard my post

 

[homebrewer_99]

Thanks for the reply - even though it wasn't what I wanted to hear.



To clarify, though - I do have a starter set-up. You'll have to pardon me not being 100% familiar with the right terminology, but I've got a primary bucket, and a bottling bucket, as well as everything in between. I don't have a secondary.

The reason I even thought I might be able to get away with bottling is because, based upon what I've read in the instruction book, it sounded like the fermentation takes place within the first 48-72 hours, and then the next few days were just to let things settle. 5 days felt a little to short, but that's why I asked. My intention, as you said, is definitely to have the best tasting beer I can - I'm certainly not trying to cut corners...just trying to learn.

...and that's why we are slapping your hand young man and telling you to be patient!

The terms will come. I think there is a thread on terminology here somewhere and I posted a link yesterday or today of some important definitions. Look for that one.

Patience is one of the keys to brewing. We've all been there and telling someone to wait is a lot easier than doing the actual waiting, but you'll learn. That's what we're here for.

 

[chask31]

Get a glass carboy...then u can have the two brews going at once...i concur with whoever said that! By the time this batch has been in ur carboy for a week and the new batch in the primary for the same week...u can move the carboy to bottles and the primary to the secondary. GOLDEN

 

[homebrewer_99]

I have 3 brews in carboys right now with 1 empty, 5 primaries, and 2 bottling buckets.

I just did a starter for Sat or Sun...another Hefe Weizen coming up!

 

[BrewstersMillions]

I am a very impatient person as well and if I have learned nothing else since I started brewing.... patience IS what makes a good beer.

One very good method I have figured out, the hard way I might add, is to keep tabs on the gravity of your brew. I do not know all the formulas but most "kits" have a reccomended final gravity.

Just make sure your "bobber" is clean before you go dropping into your beer.

Which actually brings up a question/comment on my part:

What is a good final gravity (in general) for a Hefe as I have one in the primary which I pitched on Wed. 06/07 and it seems to have slowed down.... in fact I never even noticed ANY bubbling in the airlock at all.

I used a yeast starter (~3/4 cup of wort and 1 vial of white labs Hefe yeast)
which was very active after 8 or so hours. I pitched it and then I was gone for 48 hours so I do not know if it simply did a speed ferment or what.

Unfortuneatly I did not take a starting gravity reading.

Hey I am still in the learning mode, some of my own tecniques have worked, some have not.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Weizens FGs are usually 1.008-1.016. I try to get mine down to 1.10 or 11.

If your fermenting temp was about 70-72 then your beer's probably done time for a gravity check...

 

[JakesDad]

Well, the obvious answer in this thread - and what I ended up doing - was to buy a glass carboy. So the Continental's in the secondary, and we were able to brew a honey-raspberry wheat.