Bottling

[S.R.S]

As I am new on the forum, please excuse me if I should be bringing this up on my previous post and thank you for responses so far.
I started the brew on 10th March and the general consensus is to bottle after 2 weeks and not the 1 week suggested by Coopers.
2 weeks takes me to 24th March but I am away on 23rd for a week.
If I do bottle before I go, I am worried left unattended some might blow as I will prime them and there will be secondary fermentation and co2 produced.
So how likely is this to happen or could I leave the brew in the fermenter a further week and bottle when I get back?
Total time in the fermenter would then be just over 3 weeks.
Many thanks

 

[Jako]

leave it in the fermenter for the yeast to clean up. then bottle once you get back.

i have rushed beers along in the past and it never turned out well for me.

 

[ncbrewer]

Absolutely no problem with waiting another week - or longer. I've bottled after two months without any problems. Two weeks is normally ok, but it's safer to check gravity twice, three days apart, to make sure the gravity is stable. Not everybody does this, but it you don't have experience with this particular yeast, I would recommend it.

 

[BrewInspector]

Or, if you just can't wait and want to have it almost ready when you return it is fine to bottle as long as it is finished fermenting.

Check the gravity for the same reading on different days. Fermentation usually only takes a few days but there is benefit to leaving it longer than that which is why you are heading for 2 weeks goal. There is no magic number of days that works for every beer every time.

It is NOT likely that any would explode while you are away unless it
1) is not finished fermenting
or
2) you seriously over prime.

I like to store carbing bottles in a plastic tub. Should protect from flying glass and contain any liquid

 

[balrog]

Yeast is living thing and will finish when it finishes, depending on the recipe and your fermentation situation and temps.

You can absolutely leave it be. patience in this hobby is the hardest thing to learn

 

[mongoose33]

You could also bottle and put them in a tub with a lid so if there was an incident, the results would be captured by the tub.

But waiting a week more is a better alternative, IMO.

 

[Jag75]

Just like was said wait and do it. I always leave my beer in the fermenter for 3 weeks then keg or bottle. Imo patience is right behind cleanliness and fermentation temps on the list of important brewing rules.

 

[kh54s10]

Take a gravity reading on the 21 and another one on The 23 if the readings are the same go ahead and bottle it. That way you are a week into bottle conditioning which should be 3 weeks at room temperature, shaving a week of waiting for carbonation.

If the gravity numbers are not the same do not bottle it. If the beer is still cloudy, wait, there is no reason you can't wait and bottle when you get home.

I will sometimes bottle on day 14 but usually procrastinate about bottling and the beer sits there for 3,4 or 6 or 8 weeks. Unless it is a real hoppy beer longer does not hurt and for some styles it is better.

 

[Calder]

You can bottle before you go away (after 10 or 12 days), and the beer will be ready for you when you get back.

Yes, adding priming sugar will initiate more fermentation in the bottle (to create the fizz). provided you add the right amount of priming sugar and the beer has finished primary fermentation, you do not have to worry about the bottles.

My recommendation is to leave the beer for an extra week or so and bottle when you return. Leaving the beer longer gives more confidence the beer is finished fermenting (which is usually complete in about 5 days), and will allow more clearing of the beer.

I will sometimes rush heavily hopped beers through the process, but most of my beers get 4 weeks in the fermenter before bottling as my standard process. I don't give it a second thought about leaving the beer in the fermenter for 4 weeks. Sometimes it gets delayed even longer and I don't worry about it. I wouldn't be concerned with the beer being in the fermenter for 8 weeks. Where would I get worried??????? .......... Maybe if I was getting close to 6 months.

 

[Gravity]

You can do both
however, I would bottle before you leave, if your gravity readings say its done, then its done -
That way when you get back you can enjoy a beer
2 weeks - depending on your yeast is fine, especailly if you made big starter
perhaps ease up on the priming sugar and do 2-3 oz vs the recommended 4

 

[RM-MN]

I started the brew on 10th March and the general consensus is to bottle after 2 weeks and not the 1 week suggested by Coopers.
2 weeks takes me to 24th March but I am away on 23rd for a week.
If I do bottle before I go, I am worried left unattended some might blow as I will prime them and there will be secondary fermentation and co2 produced.

You will use your hydrometer (every time) to determine if fermentation is complete by comparing 2 readings a couple days apart. If the readings are near the expected reading and the same the bottles won't blow whether you are there or away provided you use the correct amount of priming sugar. If those reading are the same on day 10 as day 8, you could bottle at day 10.....or you could bottle on day 42 if you wanted. Once the fermentation is complete, the particles stirred up during the ferment start to settle out and the longer you wait, the more settles out. There will still be sufficient yeast in suspension on day 42 to create the carbonation.

 

[S.R.S]

You will use your hydrometer (every time) to determine if fermentation is complete by comparing 2 readings a couple days apart. If the readings are near the expected reading and the same the bottles won't blow whether you are there or away provided you use the correct amount of priming sugar. If those reading are the same on day 10 as day 8, you could bottle at day 10.....or you could bottle on day 42 if you wanted. Once the fermentation is complete, the particles stirred up during the ferment start to settle out and the longer you wait, the more settles out. There will still be sufficient yeast in suspension on day 42 to create the carbonation.

thanks very much all. for priming, I will be using 2 coopers carbonation drops per 740ml bottle, as instructed by coopers

 

[Nubiwan]

My experiences has been that most ales/ IPAs are pretty much done fermenting in under 12 days. This is reflected in data available on the Fermentis web site, where you can find kinetics charts showing typical fermentation cycles for each of their yeasts. There are of course variables that wiill alter this cycle. Higher temperature will speed up the fermentation process, but might not always provide satisfactory results in end product.

My typical conditions have been 60-64 degrees room temp. I don't use a bath or any heating elements to keep temp consistent, so cannot comment on the benefit. My basement temp might fluctuate 1 or 2 degrees F either way. I do have a heater baseboard heater which i used this time to get it up to 64. Once the ferment was near complete, I drop the heat off altogether.

What I do make sure to do is take regular gravity readings. Don't need to, but I just like doing it anyway. I do it, sometimes daily, via a spigot on my pale. So not opening up the top, as to introduce contaminant. My results reflect those of fermentis.

As an example my current red ale had an OG of 1.048. In 5 days this became 1.032. Day 6 1.022, Day 7 1.016, Day 9 1.012. Last two days been around 1.010. So it started fast and then slowed down. It's currently hovering - after 10 days - at 1.010, and I doubt it is going to drop much more than that. I'll leave it to see if it does. That is all at 62-64 degrees.

I reckon I could easily bottle it now, without concern. Long as I make sure I use the right amount of priming sugar. If I was a first time brewer, and did not already have 60 plus pints of hone brew sitting in my cool room, then I'd bottle. As it is, I have a supply, so I will let it sit and condition, and even cold crash it, to help it clear a little. I am also on vacation next week, so it may sit in the primary for a month before I bottle it. Longer you can wait, better it will taste.

If your hydrometer readings are steady, and at the expected range (1.008-1.012 for my red ale) then it's done, and ready to bottle. Any other time you can afford after that is just bonus.

Note: should point out here that lager yeasts typically take longer than ale yeasts to ferment. Again, hydrometer readings arethe best judge of when they are done.

 

[Ninoid]

It is not good that beer is too long for fermenters because it comes to autolysis because dead yeast begins to eat itself. It needs to be shifted to secondary, bottled or in a keg. My practice has shown that two weeks in fermenters for medium heavy Ale beer (up to 7%) are enough.

 

[kh54s10]

It is not good that beer is too long for fermenters because it comes to autolysis because dead yeast begins to eat itself. It needs to be shifted to secondary, bottled or in a keg. My practice has shown that two weeks in fermenters for medium heavy Ale beer (up to 7%) are enough.

This has been debunked long ago. You can leave beers in primary on the yeast cake for many months depending on style.. I know because I have done it.

 

[Ninoid]

This has been debunked long ago. You can leave beers in primary on the yeast cake for many months depending on style.. I know because I have done it.

One my beer sit in fermenter five weeks and go bad (fusels). I read that five weeks is too long for beer with 5% ABV. Maybe stronger beer can sit on the yeast cake longer. Never before or later I had fusels, but beer did not sits in fermenter longer than three weeks.

 

[deadwolfbones]

I have a cider (~6.5%) that's been in primary for about 4 months and definitely has fusels at this point. It was fine at 2 or 3 months, though.

 

[kh54s10]

Fusel alcohol and time sitting on the yeast are unrelated problems.

Fusels are most often produced by fermenting too hot.

A lightly autolyzed product will have yeasty or brothy aroma and flavor. Moderate autolysis will be perceived as a more meaty aroma and flavor. ... Soapy flavors will result from the break down of fatty acids in the trub when leaving the beer on the yeast too long after primary fermentation is complete.

 

[Ninoid]

Maybe my beer that sit in fermenter five weeks have fusels for some other reason, but I never before and after this not have fusels.

That's some of my experience.

 

[kh54s10]

Maybe my beer that sit in fermenter five weeks have fusels for some other reason, but I never before and after this not have fusels.

That's some of my experience.

Again you probably are getting fusels. But that is not from sitting on the yeast for 5 weeks or for several months. I have done many for about 2 months and one for almost a year sitting on the yeast and no fusels. The one where I did, it was fermented too warm.

 

[Ninoid]

I do not have temperature control and I almost always have temperature above 20'C, and in the summer until 33'C and I have never had fuses until then. I agree that autolysis was not wrong with my beer, but I know I will not leave beer too long in the fermenter.

 

[kh54s10]

I do not have temperature control and I almost always have temperature above 20'C, and in the summer until 33'C and I have never had fuses until then. I agree that autolysis was not wrong with my beer, but I know I will not leave beer too long in the fermenter.

At 20C and 33C ambient I am not surprised that you get fusels. What does surprise me is that you are not having more problems than you are. Most Ale yeasts do best at 18 - 20C WORT temperature. Fermentation is exothermic so your 33C temperature could easily exceed 37C and that is well outside of the temperature range that is good for fermentation.

Too long in the fermenter is not a set time and much longer than a lot of people would quote. Several months is not going to give you autolysis problems in most cases.

 

[Ninoid]

I mostly use US-05 up to 26'C (ambient) and BE-134 up to 33'C and beers is great. This is daily temperature. One time try S-04 on 20'C and beer is not good, but drinked somehow.

I learned that if the oxidation decreases to a minimum and the fermenter is well isolated so that it only releases on the airlock there is no problem with the beer.