You may hate my answer but: It depends.
Most beers once you have two matching gravity tests at the Target (or near enough) over the course of a few days are ready to bottle, but not always drink. I generally leave my ales 3-4weeks unless they are wheat ales in which case it is 2-3 before bottling. I personally find the ale "cleans up" better and faster in the carboy with all the yeast as opposed to the bottle where it undergoes a secondary fermentation and has much less yeast doing the job. (But this is all unscientific speculation based on my own experiences and taste).
Just a heads up, the longer you store before bottling, the longer to bottle carbonate after awhile (5+months I find)
Congrats with your first post!
Kit instructions are notoriously outdated and tenaciously contain process errors.
For example, secondaries can be omitted in most cases, which shaves 2-3 weeks off your schedule, while at the same time you reduce a good amount of oxidation and chance of infection due to (novice) racking errors.
You can bottle when 2 gravity samples taken 3-5 days apart are matching AND are close to your expected FG. IOW, when your beer is done. This is typically 2 weeks from pitching yeast. In some cases it may take longer or shorter, depending on many factors.
After visible fermentation has stopped (kraused has dropped, 7-14 days in), leaving your beer at a few degrees higher for a few days to a week helps with conditioning the beer, and perhaps knocking it a few more points down.
After bottling it takes 2-3 weeks to carbonate (at room temps ~68-74F). After 2 weeks, put a couple (2) in the fridge for a day or 2 (or 3) before opening, and check carbonation. Drink it, and enjoy!
So 4-5 weeks after brewing. Can be a week shorter.
I would say that most of the responses given so far are longer than necessary (depending on style) For a mid ABV pale ale 2 weeks primary is plenty. Some will cut that to 7 days or so.
Look for the beer to get pretty clear. You can further clear the beer by cold crashing for a couple of days. You can also use gelatin to fine the beer speeding up the clearing.
Bottle conditioning for an average ale will take 2-3 weeks. I find that the beers taste better at 3 weeks or longer. Much longer for dark heavy styles.
So you should be able to trim at least 3 weeks from the 8 weeks suggested.
If you keg you can be drinking your ale in about a week. But again longer is probably better. But no need for 8 weeks. (at least many styles)
I would say that most of the responses given so far are longer than necessary (depending on style) For a mid ABV pale ale 2 weeks primary is plenty. Some will cut that to 7 days or so.
Look for the beer to get pretty clear. You can further clear the beer by cold crashing for a couple of days. You can also use gelatin to fine the beer speeding up the clearing.
Bottle conditioning for an average ale will take 2-3 weeks. I find that the beers taste better at 3 weeks or longer. Much longer for dark heavy styles.
So you should be able to trim at least 3 weeks from the 8 weeks suggested.
If you keg you can be drinking your ale in about a week. But again longer is probably better. But no need for 8 weeks. (at least many styles)
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