From brew-day to bottling, what's your average elapsed number of days?

[moto748]

I say bottling, because for those who keg their beer, have to some kind of pressure system etc, I'm not sure it's a fair comparison. So really I'm talking about/to fellow members of the English Bottling Collective.

The reason I ask is that I get the sense that others have a longer brewing period than I do, and wanted to see if that was true. Of course, if you ask people when they bottle their beer, they may say things like "When the FG hits its target" or "When the gravity remains unchanged for several days", or similar. I say the same myself! And, of course, 'it all depends'on the beer'. I can understand that higher strength beers may take longer. I don't brew them, though. I keep a crude spreadsheet of my brews. I have a column for DIPV (days in primary vessel and another for DISV (days in secondary vessel), and the total.

For me, the average total is about 9 days. Longest I've done was 13 days, that was a saison.

 

[Cwrw666]

Probably about 10 days.

 

[MmmBeer]

I try to aim for about 10 days, but it often ends up being longer. I've a bitter thats been in my FV now for 10 days and won't be able to rack it until Sunday at the earliest. At least I had planned for this and fermented cool at 18 C.

We can be a bit hypercritical, as we often advise rookie homebrewers to ignore kit instructions and follow the 2+2+2 rule, yet we undercut these timings and most professional brewers work to 4 - 7 days.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I usually stick to 2 weeks but have left it for 3 weeks sometimes. For no reason other than that's what I've always done.

 

[Nottsbeer]

The recent brews I've done have ended up being 14 days, probably due to me forgetting to take readings early enough to ensure fermentation has finished, or dry hopping for 4 days, thus pushing back my bottling day. I've recently put a stout on - think 4 days in now. May do a reading in a day or two to see how it's getting on and possibly bottle earlier this time.

 

[johncrobinson]

Us winemakers talk in terms of months or even years.

How I envy you beer brewers that can have something decent to drink after a few weeks.

 

[Davvy]

My brew day to bottling day is on average six days for normal bitters / ales. This varies considerably, the longest I have in recent months is ten days for IPA / dry hopped beers, and the shortest was a Californian common with Kveik as the yeast @ four days.

 

[moto748]

... and the shortest was a Californian common with Kveik as the yeast @ four days.

It's funny you say that, because it was a Cali Common that prompted the thread for me. I started one the other day, and thought I was pushing my luck with a yeast whose recommended pitching temp was 18-20 deg, when the ambient temp a fair bit warmer than that. I did make a rather half-assed gesture towards cooling by putting the bucket in a water bath and bunging a few ice-cubes in from time to time , but I didn't kid myself that made an enormous amount of difference. Anyway, the thing of it was, it took off like a train, and after 3 days a very healthy krausen had been and gone already, and it smelt great, and I was thinking, better get this into demi-johns quick. So I did. The gravity is now around 1011, and it's still plugging away slowly, I think. No harm in giving it few more days now, I reckon. Plus, I suppose all this time it's clearing a bit more, so it's that much less clearing has to be done in the bottle, so as to speak. The yeast in the Cali was MJ M54.

Either way, it seems my timings are not so different from other posters, which is reassuring.

 

[Davvy]

everyone has their own opinion as to when to bottle, but faster is always better for me....I ferment a lot of the time in an "open" bucket (yes I do have a lid !!)... but consider that leaving it too long would only lead to wild yeast infections or oxygen ingress if the beer had not enough CO2 to give a protective headspace....
Thanks for the tip on MJ M54 - will have to have a go.....

 

[moto748]

Yes, I ferment in an 'open' bucket too, and has never given me problems, because it seems once you've got a good krausen going they should be a healthy layer of CO2 lying on top. But the corollary if that is, as soon as it slows down I want to transfer it to demi-johns. I realise it's a stage that some brewers leave out these days, but I like the idea of keeping it under fermentation locks after the initial action has slowed., Plus, I can see the beer clearing and the sediment forming, and the locks 'plinking'. Rather better for dry-hopping, if you are going there too, I would have thought. Also, the beer is kinda 'safe to be left' for a few days when under fermentation locks, if you know what I mean.

As for the M54, well, the proof will be in the pudding, but all I can say is that despite the ambient temp probably being 3 or 4 deg above their recommended max, it went like a train, and smelt and looked great.

 

[dad_of_jon]

given the usual strength of my beers 2 weeks for the weaker one 3 weeks for the strong 'uns

 

[Redwulf]

I work on 14-18 days from brew day to packaging. I normally check the gravity on day 10 and do any dry hopping unless something is wrong. I move to cold crash on day 13-15 for a couple of days and then package at some point after that.

 

[samale]

I usually stick to 2 weeks but have left it for 3 weeks sometimes. For no reason other than that's what I've always done.

I am similar, anything from 10 days to 3 week's. It all depends on work and life in general.

 

[AlDaviz]

Lately anywhere between 6 - 10 days, i dont use temperature control so only room temps and using a tilt. Checking OG & FG with a hydrometer.

 

[AXW123]

I guess I still basically follow 2+2+2 so so around two weeks even if it finishes much quicker - I like to let the yeast clean up after itself. I used to brew in an open bucket but have recently got a stainless steel conical which allows me to dump yeast on day three or four to help clear. Then straight to bottle. I went through a phase of cold crashing but my beer always clears anyway so I stopped bothering.

 

[BridgeBrew]

3 weeks. 2 weeks. Then dry hop for a week. If I don't dry hop just leave it for 3 weeks, then barrel. Not had any grassy flavour due to leaving dry hops in for a week, think this applies to leaf hops, I only use pellets.

 

[Kveik Freak]

4-7 days, (I use kveik) but I haven't tried dry hopping or other post boil additions yet.

 

[moto748]

I guess I still basically follow 2+2+2 so so around two weeks even if it finishes much quicker - I like to let the yeast clean up after itself. I used to brew in an open bucket but have recently got a stainless steel conical which allows me to dump yeast on day three or four to help clear. Then straight to bottle. I went through a phase of cold crashing but my beer always clears anyway so I stopped bothering.

It's interesting that some posters go with allowing the beer to 'sit' on the yeast for longer, like this, whereas myself and others bottle much sooner.

I actually set to and bottled the Cali Common I made just now. Because of the weather (I suppose) it went off like a train, has been at 1009 for a few days, was starting to clear 'a little'...

But just now, sat down with a cup of coffee, I'm thinking, I missed a trick there. I had two demi-johns. Why didn't I just bottle one, and leave the other 'sat on the yeast' for another week, and then bottle that, to see if I could detect any advantage? Oh well, too late now! Maybe another time.

 

[Moe]

Generally about a week, but a few days longer if I cold crash

 

[chthon]

Average will be 14 days, most of the time this is it, but with weizen yeast 1 week fermentation, and with some stronger beers 3 weeks.