Can a beer reach FG in a week?

[gamekeepa]

Last Monday I brewed my first all grain beer. It's been in the fermentation fridge at 19 degrees and today I took a gravity reading and it's already at 1.012. I've never had a beer I've brewed from kit get so low so quick. It's usually two weeks. Can it really be finished fermenting. The target FG for the recipe was 1.014. My plan is to transfer to secondary and dry hop for 5 days at 14 degrees. I think I'm going to leave it for another week still but will take another reading tomorrow and the day after.


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[hoptoit]

Yes, I had my first ag wiessbier ferment in 4 days. But you're best leaving it two weeks for the yeast to clean up. Some say to raise the temperature slightly to allow the yeast to do that.

 

[Hoppyland]

Yes, absolutely. Much depends upon the OG & fermentability of your wort - plus the type of yeast you used, its viability & the pitching rate. I've had a lot of lighter, drier beers pitched with vigorous yeast pretty well ferment out well inside a week. :thumb:

 

[gamekeepa]

My OG was only 1.044. Recipe target OG was 1.050 so I was short of the target. Something else I've got to work on


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[TheRedDarren]

Yup as said above, easy within a week!
But also to echo above its a good idea to leave it for 14 days for the yeast to 'clean up' precursors for off flavours.
It's does depend on several factors though, I have had some beers take a bit longer.
Within that 14 days you can also dry hop (once most of the activity has dropped of) if you like.

 

[gamekeepa]

My gut feeling is to leave it another week then transfer to secondary and dry hop.


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[gamekeepa]

I think it tastes good already though [emoji3][emoji481]


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[Hoppyland]

I think it tastes good already though [emoji3][emoji481]

Yep, but it's only going to get better with dry hopping!
If it's damn near fermented out, personally I'd dry hop now & let it sit for a while. Like TheRedDarren I wouldn't lower the temperature at this stage (mind you, I never do anyway! :) )

 

[gamekeepa]

The brew is a 5am Saint recipe from brewdog. I emailed a brewer there and he advised me to dry hop for 5 days at 14 degrees. He says that's what they do. That's the only reason I have it in my head to do this. I have never lowered the temperature for dry hooping before.


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[Budgie]

The brew is a 5am Saint recipe from brewdog. I emailed a brewer there and he advised me to dry hop for 5 days at 14 degrees. He says that's what they do. That's the only reason I have it in my head to do this. I have never lowered the temperature for dry hooping before.

I'm planning a 5am Saint clone in the not too distant future. I'd be interested to hear how it turns out.

 

[TheRedDarren]

According to Brewdog (and I have no reason to question it) is that dry hop effectiveness is optimised at 14c, it's probably worth it in huge quantities but at home I'd just stick a few more grams in.
I always cold crash after 14 days, straight down to 0.3c for a week, then bottle.

 

[gamekeepa]

I always transfer to secondary after fermentation and then cold crash at 3.3c for 5 days and then bottle. This has always given me very clear beer. I have only brewed from kit before this though.


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[gamekeepa]

I think You're right about what Brewdog say, they believe this optimises hop effectiveness.


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[Brightonnik]

Wheras stone brewery say to dry hop for 3 days. There's more than one way to skin a cat. Would be an interesting experiment to do a split batch with various lengths of dry hopping.

 

[gamekeepa]

Next dilemma. Do you just chuck the hops in or put them in a bag? Does a bag inhibit any effectiveness of the hops? I tend to put them in a bag.


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[TheRedDarren]

Whole hops? Definitely in a bag! Otherwise syphoning is a nightmare. You can but nylon hop bags from homebrew suppliers or get some muslin from somewhere.

 

[gamekeepa]

I've just taken another reading and it's now down to 1.010 so I guess it's still going. I've never had a beer go below 1.014!


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[geetee]

I always transfer to secondary after fermentation and then cold crash at 3.3c for 5 days and then bottle. This has always given me very clear beer. I have only brewed from kit before this though.


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Most of my beers are fermented out within 4 days , 5 at most although I then reduce thetemp to 14°C for a day or so to allow the yeast to clean up and then chill to 2-3 °C. Although fermentation may be finished the yeast cleans up after itself but can't do that if you decant all of the yeast off the beer.
Would recommend leaving at 14- 18°C for at least a couple of days before chilling, leave for a week and then consider bottling.

 

[Hoppyland]

Most of my beers are fermented out within 4 days , 5 at most although I then reduce thetemp to 14°C for a day or so to allow the yeast to clean up and then chill to 2-3 °C. Although fermentation may be finished the yeast cleans up after itself but can't do that if you decant all of the yeast off the beer.

Very interesting - especially since its not what I do at all! Do you think that reducing the temperature to 14°C helps in the clean up of the beer? I normally let it sit for a week (or two if I use 2 FVs for a "double-dropping" technique) at around 20°C, when the fermentation is pretty well over and whilst the yeast gradually settles down, before casking ("plasticking"??) it for up to a fortnight before bottling.
Can't say I've ever been tempted by this new-fangled cold-crashing idea! (OK, I am closer to 70 than 60 :-() Would my old-fashioned English genuine top-fermenting yeasts be OK with this? Why shouldn't I just wait a bit longer? Is it preferable to finings? (gave up on these decades ago!)
Obviously, since I've never tried it, I don't know the answers!

 

[BeerisGOD]

if you leave it Youl prob get a few more gravity points knocked off which will be the equivalent of you reaching (near enough) the target FG albeit not the exact match

..and +1 to the temp raise idea. but Tbh it sounds like Ur yeast are doing a great job already.
like you say give it another week and Im confident ul get a 1.008 ish reading.

I missed Ur second reading at 1.010. I wouldn't keep opening the lid daily. its clearly doing the job. maybe do the dry hop this Monday. sure itl be a consistent reading by then and would have had time to clean up