bottle conditioning question

[Tinlife]

Hi Everyone - Tinlife here!

A quick question I hope one of you can help me with please.
I'm brewing from kits at the moment and the ones I've done say to brew in fermentation vessel for around 6 days and then bottle condition for 2 weeks.
Can I ask, if I keep it in the fermentation vessel for 12 days, does this cut down the bottle conditioning time, or are the two unrelated?

Thanks!

 

[DavidDetroit]

Can I ask, if I keep it in the fermentation vessel for 12 days, does this cut down the bottle conditioning time, or are the two unrelated?

it will not cut down on bottle conditioning time. Bottle conditioning time would only start to be affected if you keep the beer in the fermenter for months.
Do measure your final gravity a couple days apart when determining if the beer is finished fermenting.

 

[The Baron]

No keeping it in the FV longer will not shorten the bottle carbing time.
I would ferment for 2 weeks so that the yeast has time to ferment out and clean up any impurities created by the ferment then bottle with priming sugar and put in a warm place for about 2 weeks too.
The kit people want you to believe it takes less time than it does so 2 weeks to ferment and clean up 2 weeks to carb up in the bottles then if you can wait a further 2 weeks to condition, this is the normal advise given out on this forum of 2+2+2

 

[Stevieboy]

Leaving the beer in the FV wont shorten the time you need to condition, but it will ensure your fermentation will be finished properly. 6 days is way too short IMO.

 

[Tinlife]

Brilliant! Thank you for the advice everyone, much appreciated. Best get myself a slab of tins from the offy then to keep my mind off the bottles for a few more weeks!!

 

[Michael Burnley]

Brilliant! Thank you for the advice everyone, much appreciated. Best get myself a slab of tins from the offy then to keep my mind off the bottles for a few more weeks!!

And order your next kit, as soon as your FV is empty you can get it filled and that batch should be ready when you've finished the current bottles...... and then repeat

 

[damienair]

I’ve done 2+2+2 for all of mine and results have been great. Good luck. Some will be even better after a few extra weeks.

 

[obscure]

I’m a 2+2+2 brewer as well, (beer spraying everywhere due to a beer not being fully fermented when bottled, once was enough to teach me that.)

 

[FirebladeAdam]

I'm afraid I agree; two weeks for fermentation, two weeks for carbing in a bottle, two weeks to condition. Lots of beers I make I don't even measure OG/FG I just know it'll be done and I know it'll be good because of the time.
Other beers, and new recipes I do! The ones I make very regularly I don't measure

 

[Nicks90]

Yep as above, 2+2+2 is pretty much the default for the vast majority of beers.
Plus if you are making 23l kits and are a moderate drinker, as soon as your FV is empty get another on.
That way you are essentially producing 90 bottles of beer a month (with a 6 week lag time)

So that's a 12 pack every week for your supping pleasure.

Obvs if you are a total lightweight, brew every 3 or 4 weeks. Or get a second FV and brew WAYYYY too much beer..... Coughcough

 

[Twopan]

I've become a bit obsessed with this subject. Using an ispindel shows you that fermentation does continue very slowly in the FV long after the initial furious bubbling subsides. Some I have left for three weeks in the FV as they have still been creeping down, contrary to the kit instructions. Bottled one too soon once - pints of whipped cream and two bottle grenades went off on the garage...

 

[Twopan]

Initial temperature control also seems to play a part. I have found that keeping the temperature down to 21° in the FV makes for less violent initial fermentation and a more steady decline to final gravity over 2 - 3 weeks.

 

[moto748]

This 2+2+2 business: I don't know how different it is between AG and kits, but of the 46 beers I've brewed this year, only one was fermented for 14 days, and only four for longer than ten days (this is prior to bottling). 8 or 9 days is much more usual. By then, gravity is normally 1010 or lower, and all action in fermentation locks will have stopped. I realise that doesn't mean that fermentation has stopped completely, though, of course. Once bottled, I will expect to leave the beer for at least three weeks before first taste. As Twopan says, I'm sure ambient temp is a factor here too. All my beer, whether 'fermenting' in a bucket or a demi-john, or 'conditioning' in a bottle, is stored at the same temperature.

It's called 'room temperature'! if you brew in a shed or suchlike, as many do, I suppose you're talking about temp several degrees cooler.

 

[obscure]

This 2+2+2 business: I don't know how different it is between AG and kits, but of the 46 beers I've brewed this year, only one was fermented for 14 days, and only four for longer than ten days (this is prior to bottling). 8 or 9 days is much more usual. By then, gravity is normally 1010 or lower, and all action in fermentation locks will have stopped. I realise that doesn't mean that fermentation has stopped completely, though, of course. Once bottled, I will expect to leave the beer for at least three weeks before first taste. As Twopan says, I'm sure ambient temp is a factor here too. All my beer, whether 'fermenting' in a bucket or a demi-john, or 'conditioning' in a bottle, is stored at the same temperature.

It's called 'room temperature'! if you brew in a shed or suchlike, as many do, I suppose you're talking about temp several degrees cooler.

I agree it is not necessary per say however a major reason for doing it it is simple, most of my beers finish fermenting about day 6 to 8 however I only really have time to bottle on weekends, While it is true that some beers have likely finished on day 7 I.e, I brew in Saturday and it has finished by the following Saturday I am never quite certain and an extra week doesn’t seem to do it any harm.

Secondly with the two weeks to carb and two weeks to condition their is a limit to how much beer I can keep in the house hence it is given two weeks in the relatively warm house then moved to the garage (which can be pretty damm cold) for a few weeks generally when I have tried beer at the two week mark it is carbonated but it tastes better after a few more weeks hence the two plus weeks in the garage.

Their are beers you can literally drink almost straight out of the fermentor, i.e. Weissbier I find you can pretty much ferment out in about five days move to a keg force carb and be drinking that night. Other Beers i.e. English Bitter I find you can ferment for a week keg, and force carb and drink a week later (The advantage of course with kegs is you can vent excess CO2 if needed).

However for most beers I find following the 2+2+2 rule gives good consistent beer that is crystal clear, tastes good, is properly carbonated and is just all round decent. I should add that when it comes to shorter conditioning times generally I find all grain will be ready to drink far sooner while beer made with hopped malt extract really does need time to condition, this is of course purely anecdotal but is a reflection on my own experience.

 

[moto748]

Whilst appreciating, as noted upthread, that other folk may have time constraints that I don't suffer from, would I get a better beer by leaving it in demi-johns for a further week or so past the point where I would have previously bottled it? Well, I haven't thought so, but perhaps I'll check it out and see!

 

[labrewski]

I've become a bit obsessed with this subject. Using an ispindel shows you that fermentation does continue very slowly in the FV long after the initial furious bubbling subsides. Some I have left for three weeks in the FV as they have still been creeping down, contrary to the kit instructions. Bottled one too soon once - pints of whipped cream and two bottle grenades went off on the garage...

A lot if my beers go 3 weeks as with nearly every kit I did u can notice it slowly creeping down in the 3rd week

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I've never followed the 2+2+2 rule as brewing is not a one rule fits all. I usually ferment for 7 days if the FG is at 1010 or less then I transfer to my bottling/secondary and cold crash for a couple of days. I then bottle and leave for 14 days at about 20C. The rule for conditioning that I follow is 1 week for every 10 points of OG, I.e. For an OG at 1040 it should be conditioned for a minimum of 4 weeks.

 

[bobukbrewer]

I ferment for 4 to 7 days, then bottle, leave 2 weeks then drink. I do not see any change in taste from first bottle to last bottle. Also I see no difference between 500 ml bottles (glass) and 2 litre PET bottles. Mainly 3.8% SMASH beers. Up to now SO4 yeast but have now switched to Nottingham.