Quick fermenting question

[mtrogers14]

I now have a few all grain brews under my belt. All have come out pretty decent as far as I can tell. My question is how long do I need to ferment in my carboy. I have been going with 30 days then bottle or keg but is it necessary to go that long or generally will 2 weeks do it ?

 

[WildHopHunter]

I have found that primary fermentation wraps up in 7 - 10 days if brewing an ale. I usually wait 3 weeks when fermenting lagers in the low 50's.
I think that 30 days is excessive, it's not necessarily a problem just a long time to wait. Ultimately you can take a gravity readings over time to determine when fermentation is complete.

 

[2thGuy]

For ales I usually go 10 days then cold crash or use finings as needed. That way I usually have the batch kegged in 2 to 2.5 weeks.

 

[Yooper]

As the others said, active fermentation should be finished in +/- 5 days or so for ales. The beer needs to be at FG at least three days, to ensure fermentation is finished and to give the yeast time to finish up their "clean up" process. When the active fermention ends, the yeast will go back and digest other non-preferred things like diacteyl. Once that happens (within 24-48 hours of hitting FG), the beer will start to clear. Once it's clearing, it's fine to keg.

I keg most lower OG beers at 10-14 days old, depending on whether I"m dryhopping or not.

 

[julioardz]

I've bottled ales in as little as 5 days and as much as 24 days. Most of mine are ready to bottle 10-12 days after I pitch the yeast. They ferment in 5-7 days, I cold crash, and if needed or desired, I add gelatin then bottle a day or two later. If the pitch rate and temp control are taken care of, there's little need to condition for extended periods of time. My beers with fruit, oak, spices, or the ones with many speciality malts benefit from longer conditioning after fermentation is complete.