How long do you ferment?

[ssashton]

How long do you wait from pitching yeast in wort to transfer to bottle or keg for conditioning?

I'm particularly interested in IPA styles.

I ask because I think I might be rushing it. I usually wait about 1 week and I find that gravity has stopped gown down around the 1012 or 1014 mark. I'll then give it 2 more days at a warmer temp as I've heard this lets the yeast reduce esters.

 

[Stu's Brews]

How long do you wait from pitching yeast in wort to transfer to bottle or keg for conditioning?

I'm particularly interested in IPA styles.

I ask because I think I might be rushing it. I usually wait about 1 week and I find that gravity has stopped gown down around the 1012 or 1014 mark. I'll then give it 2 more days at a warmer temp as I've heard this lets the yeast reduce esters.

Slightly difficult question to answer directly as what people refer to as 'fermentation time' can mean different things. I think what you are specifically asking, is how long do you leave the beer in the fermenter before transferring?

In my case that is usually two weeks or less for an IPA. Timeline is something like this:

On brew day, pitch yeast at a couple of degrees below fermentation temperature for 'adaptation' phase then after ~24hours, raise temperature for 'fermentation' phase.

From about day 4 onwards I'll start checking the gravity of the beer to determine when fermentation is almost complete (within 2 gravity points of final gravity). When it's reached that point then I'll raise the temperature by 2-3 degrees for the 'maturation' phase (also called a diacetyl rest).

I'll let the 'maturation' phase have 3 days before performing a forced diacetyl test; if that comes back ok then I'll drop the temperature to 12degC for dry hopping, otherwise I'll give it another 24 hours and test again.

24 hours after dry hopping, I'll cold crash for 3 days before transferring to keg.

So all told, I can be done in about 10-11 days if I have a quick fermentation but that seems to be dependent on yeast strain. Wyeast 1056 (which I use for 'West Coast' styles) seems to be done in about 3-4 days, whereas Wyeast 1318 (which I use for hazy styles) takes closer to a week.

 

[obscure]

I typically bottle at two to three weeks, most of the fermentation is done on the first three or four days (I use a Tilt) but it seems to then take another week or so to get through those last few points.

As an example my recent batch was an Oatmeal Stout:

OG 1.061
FG 1.013

Brew date 27th December
Specific Gravity 30th December 1.019

It then took another 10 days to drop the final six points, and in the end spent 19 days in the fermentor.

 

[samale]

Depends how busy my life is, minimum 2 weeks. I have a tripel ready to bottle, hopefully get the time midweek. That will be over 3 week's. For IPA's I would like to keg 2 or 3 days after dry hopping.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I leave mine for a minimum of 12 days and sometimes quite a lot longer.

You have to remember that yeast feasts on the sugar in your wort and that initial fermentation is quite short but leaves lots of by-products in the beer many of which are regarded as off-flavours. Most of these compounds are still useful to the yeast and once the easily digestible sugars are gone the yeast returns to these fermentation products and cleans up. This can take a lot longer than the initial feeding frenzy.

 

[MrJay83]

With my IPA's it can be fairly quick. I've been using kveik in my last 3 brews and I've bottled at day 5 for each. Normally I wait until it's stable and then give it a few more days (8-12).

 

[Rodcx500z]

I have a Jester smash in the fv, started on the 12th so on day 8, i will check gravity on Sunday day 10, if it is near 1010 i might dry hop it for 3 days then cold crash it and then keg it, yeast is CML5 for a nice neutral beer so i can taste the hops, to answer your question i think a lot depends on style, time of year ie ambient temp and yeast, i have no temp control yet so have to go with ambient which, give's you options and yeast choice, in summer i use a lot of kviek CML voss or Hornindal as they cope well with summer temps, when it starts to cool off i will use wilko Gervin, cml midland or cml 5 cml atlantic and cml haze, i have a fridge which i use to cold crash and my kegs, i plan this year at some point to make space for a small under counter fridge which i can put a heater in and inkbird and ferment in that, overall don't rush things i am guilty of that in the past,

 

[AJA]

Timetable for an AIPA for me
Primary ferment - until its done. Typically 5-7 days, sometimes less
D-rest 48 hours day 8-9
Soft crash to 14oC day 10
Dry hop day 10-13 (max 3 days)
Cold crash 1oC day 13-14, a bit longer if I'm using gelatine.
Transfer day 14
Force carb - either 1 day at mega psi if I'm in a rush, otherwise a week.

So two weeks is best case scenario. More likely 3

 

[ssashton]

I just realised this should be in General Brewing Discussion, rather than General Beer Discussion.

 

[RichK]

I'll bottle two week-ends after pitching. As many of my beers are only 3.5%, I could probably do it after a week, but I've tried a couple of times & think there's something to be gained by not rushing it.

 

[ssashton]

Okay I'm not exactly rushing it then. I'll usually give it about 7 fermentation, 2 days rest then dry hopping for 2 more. 11 days or so total. I'll extend the resting period and go for 14 days total in the next one.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Ferment 5-7 days
Cold Crash 2-3 days
Package therefore 7-10 days

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I just realised this should be in General Brewing Discussion, rather than General Beer Discussion.

Moved.

 

[Agentgonzo]

All of the above. Anywhere between 7 days and 6 weeks. Depending on how it's doing and how busy I am.

 

[Skippi]

Slightly difficult question to answer directly as what people refer to as 'fermentation time' can mean different things. I think what you are specifically asking, is how long do you leave the beer in the fermenter before transferring?

In my case that is usually two weeks or less for an IPA. Timeline is something like this:

On brew day, pitch yeast at a couple of degrees below fermentation temperature for 'adaptation' phase then after ~24hours, raise temperature for 'fermentation' phase.

From about day 4 onwards I'll start checking the gravity of the beer to determine when fermentation is almost complete (within 2 gravity points of final gravity). When it's reached that point then I'll raise the temperature by 2-3 degrees for the 'maturation' phase (also called a diacetyl rest).

I'll let the 'maturation' phase have 3 days before performing a forced diacetyl test; if that comes back ok then I'll drop the temperature to 12degC for dry hopping, otherwise I'll give it another 24 hours and test again.

24 hours after dry hopping, I'll cold crash for 3 days before transferring to keg.

So all told, I can be done in about 10-11 days if I have a quick fermentation but that seems to be dependent on yeast strain. Wyeast 1056 (which I use for 'West Coast' styles) seems to be done in about 3-4 days, whereas Wyeast 1318 (which I use for hazy styles) takes closer to a week.

Had not heard of 'forced diacetyl test' before and had to look it up. Seems like a very simple test to confirm if diacetyl is still present or not.

 

[Stu's Brews]

Had not heard of 'forced diacetyl test' before and had to look it up. Seems like a very simple test to confirm if diacetyl is still present or not.

Yep, pretty straight-forward to do on the hob and only takes about 15 minutes minus cooling.

I posted an explanation of what I do here in case anyone wants to know more: January Brew and Swap

 

[damienair]

Same as most above, I leave my beers a minimum of 2 weeks in the FV and sometimes 3. I just brewed a Blonde Ale today which I’ll bottle in 2 weeks.

 

[Sandimas]

Depends on the yeast, some of the MJ ones seem to have a long tail-off.

 

[Brewshed]

I generally use Nottingham ale yeast which is quite fast, high attenuating and high floculation. As a result my timetable is: 3 - 4 days in fermenter, and then transfer into a second air locked container for 5 - 10 days (I use a polypin sat on its base with an air lock in the hole where the tap would normally go. That way any air can be removed before sealing it). Bottled from the polypin so about 8 - 14 days from pitching yeast.

 

[The Baron]

Generally 2 weeks but circa 10 days if using Kveik. I like my beer to be somewhat clear before kegging so 2 weeks for standard yeasts but if not clearing I have been known to leave it longer