when to bottle

[johntdwalker]

I got a youngs brew buddy kit for Christmas. Followed the instructions very carefully and did it last Tuesday. Everything seems to be fine, nice colour, smells like beer. I took a peek inside the bucket and there are still small bubbles popping up to the surface every second or so, so not furious. Is it done? Can I bottle? It's been 8 days since I started. I never took a og reading. I'll take a reading on my next batch. Any input?

John. Fife

 

[GoCrew]

Do you have a hydrometer? Fermenting is done when the reading is the same for 3 days in a row. 8 days is too early to bottle no matter what. I am not familiar with your kit, but I would wait at least two weeks if you have no way to check the gravity.

If you bottle to early, they are going to continue to ferment and eventually burst the bottle.

 

[JimRausch]

If you have a hydrometer, take a SG reading now, and another in a day or two. If they are the same, then it's OK to bottle. Personally, I would probably wait another week or two. When the visible signs of fermentation are done, the yeast are still working to clean up by- products, etc. If you leave the beer on the yeast cake, they will do that more efficiently, and ultimately you'll get a better tasting beer. With yeasties, patience is a virtue.

 

[johntdwalker]

I have a hydrometer. I'm waiting on the testing jar coming from eBay, then I'll take a reading.

 

[TopherM]

Spray the hydrometer with sanatizer, and take the reading right in the bucket. Make sure you spin it to get any bouyant CO2 bubbles off the hydrometer.

BTW, don't make a habit out of opening the fermenter to check on it. The more times you open it, the higher the probability of infection or oxidation.

Get in the habit of just leaving almost every beer in primary for 2-3 weeks. Don't rush it, there are many more processes that take place in a beer besides fermentation that have to be complete before the beer is done, and you can't really speed those processes up.

For example, for about 3-5 days AFTER fermentation is complete, the yeast will start eating their byproducts that contribute to off flavors, like esters and phenols. They also eat the dead yeast that are still in supension. If you let this process take its course, you end up with cleaner, better beer.

After that process is complete, the beer begins to bulk condition, just like it would in bottles, so you aren't gaining much by rushing it to the bottles.

For most ales, 2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in bottles, 2 weeks in the fridge before serving are pretty much MINIMUMS. Any given average ABV ale (5-6%) won't PEAK until about 2-3 months after brew day. There are some style exceptions, but that's about 90% of styles.

Patience is one of the top ingredients to making good beer. If you rush it much faster than the timetable above, you are going to end up drinking green, unconditioned beer that won't taste quite right. Just get used to letting the beer take it's time.

 

[johntdwalker]

Thanks people. I can't get a proper reading if I dropped the hydrometer in the bucket because I can't get my eyes level with the top of the liquid. I'll wait till my test jar comes and take a reading. Should get it tomorrow. I'll probably leave it for two weeks regardless. The instructions said 4-6 days.. that's obviously crap.

 

[TopherM]

It's not entirely crap. I think some of the mass kit makers assume that the average newbie brewer doesn't have the patience for a 6-8 week process, so they shorten it down to the bare essentials to make drinkable beer in order to get newbies hooked on the hobby. It's a sample of their crack rock, they aren't going to give you the good stuff right off the bat It's better for business!

The active fermentation is typically complete in 4-6 days, so they aren't really misleading you, we are just telling you a better way to make better beer.

Good luck!

 

[johntdwalker]

Thanks again for the advice.