7 days past recommended bottle date

So got watermelon ale. said to bottle after 14 days. It took a gravity reading when I put in 2ndary to add flavoring. It was within finish range. It is now 21 days and I am just now getting to bottling. What can I expect if anything?

Beer?

Better beer most likely, beer with less sediment and off flavors. I usually leave my beers in the primary fermenter for at least 3 weeks.

So why are instructions always seem to be so off?

Because they're trying to make it easy by making beer that will be drinkable but not at its prime ready as soon as possible. They're designed for people who've never brewed, and as such they try to make it seem as easy and as fast as possible so as not to scare people away. That's my theory, at least.

In reality, your yeast do not keep a calendar and will finish on their own time (not just reaching final gravity but also cleaning up intermediary compounds). And in almost every case that ends up being longer than the directions tell you.

I dont understand how instructions can tell you when to bottle your beer. It all depends on fermentation time. I have bottled a couple batches after leaving them in secondary for more than a week and they came out great.

The instructions aren't exactly off, just incomplete. 14 days is plenty of time for an average gravity ale. However, they don't usually tell you that nothing bad will happen if you let it go longer.

Bleedsblue said:

So why are instructions always seem to be so off?

Click to expand...

Companies want you to buy more beer kits, so they don't list accurate turn around times. Those guys, most not all, don't care if your beer is the best it could be; they only want more money. The shortest time possible for fermentation equals you buying more kits.

Thanks guys. As usual this place is absolute awesome resource.