What's your brewing process ?

[JordanB]

Just been sniffing around google looking at people's opinions on secondary fermentation and crashing lengths etc. and having seen there is so much variety out there with really no right or wrong answer. With my first brew going down the sink i wondered if there was any holes in my method. so my fellow brewers how do you do it ? My current method is as follows : - Primary for 2 weeks at around 21 - 23 - Rack to a secondary ( or leave in primary depending how lazy i feel )after stable gravity for 1 week of cold crashing at around 14'c. - Transfer to bottling bucket and batch prime. - Bottle the brew leave 1 week somewhere warm. - move it to somewhere cool for around 8 weeks.

 

[anthonyUK]

I'm constantly changing but generally it is 2 weeks in primary, rack to secondary and batch prime THEN cool to 10°c or less and allow to clear for a few days depending on when I have time to bottle. If it is going in a keg I skip the racking and batch prime keg and transfer still cooling for a few days.
I've had no issue with carbonation with early priming due to the temperature drop. The yeast spring back to life during conditioning.

 

[Baz Chaz]

After the brew in the FG has been stable for 3 days, drop into secondary and either batch prime & bottle immediatly or store in secondary for up to a week, then batch prime and bottle. After bottling keep warm for a week then into storage for as long as I can resist :whistle:

I tend to keep things simple ... it avoids too many cock-ups :wha:

 

[pittsy]

primary for 10 days at 18/19c max is 20c (important above all else Imo ) then remove FV to a cooler place for 2 days then transfer to a 2nd fv that has sugar with water dilution , then bottle straight away , leave in warmth for around 10 days then somewhere cooler (with 1 bottle popped in fridge for testing in a few days or so ) Of course i check with hydrometer before moving etc , crappy taste apart from infections and not rinsing sterilising solution enough comes from too high a ferment temp and also for not allowing yeast long enough to clean up brew after fermentation has finished

 

[kwakamat]

Ok I'll throw mine in here for a giggle since I'm new and have read some things which have changed my approach slightly:

Ferment in coopers Vessell (non-airlock type) for 10-14 days at temperatures between 20-23 degrees in this weather.

Bottle via a wand and measure out sugar individually.

Keg directly from coopers Vessell and seal/carbonate with co2 cylinder.

I mostly do lagers and blondes from the coopers range so still learning but have had earlier temps up to 26/27 degrees with no problems and still very tasty beer.

I was going to try batch priming with my latest run but on consulting my LHBS he advised against it, citing that by the time you've gotten through so many bottles the last however many numbers would likely have a liquid where the yeast had eaten the sugar.....

I'm no genius here but I think I know what he means and he's won competitions over the years for his brew so I didn't challenge him!

 

[evanvine]

Primary for 1 to 1 1/2 days (rocky yeast head achieved) then into screw top fermenter with air lock till end of ferment!

 

[theboytony]

At the moment mine is primary at 19/20c till fermented, then usually after about 2 weeks crash cool to 2c for a few days then straight into a corny, force carb and leave for a while to condition. Although i sometimes leave the crash cooling out if i want to get something else into the fermenting fridge.

 

[jonewer]

Primary for a couple of weeks then into the keg.

KISS. :thumb:

 

[JordanB]

Primary for a couple of weeks then into the keg.

KISS. :thumb:

I have that on the wall of my brewing cupboard mate ! Keep it simple stupid :thumb:

 

[dennisking]

7-8 days in fermenter, into polypins 3-4 weeks venting occasional, drink, smile then burp.

 

[lagerlout]

Primary at 18-20C for 10-14 days, then into secondary to batch prime and immediately into bottles, bottles at room temp for 2 weeks then under the stairs at around 12C for a few weeks until i drink :

 

[brizleciderarmy]

Primary for a couple of weeks then into the keg.

KISS. :thumb:

This. If i bottle i measure out the sugar individually. I will get into the habit of batch priming eventually.

 

[abeyptfc]

I put my brews in primary for 2 weeks in a water bath, constant water temp of 21.5 degrees then bottle or stick in the cornie. when I brewed kits I used to always just make it to 19 litres but now with the AG brews im doing 23/25 litres so I got to bottle a few aswell.

 

[Good Ed]

I don't bother with secondary. With pale ales and US-05 it's usually 1 week in the fementing fridge at 19C the 1 week in the cellar (15C this time of year) then bottle and keep 1 week at room temperature then back to the cellar. Perfectly clear beer all the time.

I've left a lager for 6 weeks in the primary before bottling and no off flavours, so I don't see the point in transferring to a secondary, I think it's more of an American habit.

 

[eggman]

Primary for 2 weeks at around 21 - 23

You would be better aiming for 18-21 deg imho, 23 deg is getting close to the temp at which you start to get off flavours.
I have mine in primary for 10-14 days, sometimes i batch prime sometimes i don't, then it's a week in the warm followed by 3-4 weeks somewhere cool to condition
:

 

[Pawlo7671]

14 days in primary @ 20c then transfer to bottling bucket with priming solution and bottle, leave in bottles @ room temp for 4 - 5 days then in the shed or where ever at what ever temp for around 3 weeks then fridge then I drink them and p!ss it al out :rofl: then it all starts again !

 

[aftermath]

7 days in primary, then transfer to 2nd with added dry hops for 14 days, then rack to bottling FV with final sugar mix , then bottle immediately

 

[PD]

Kit. In primary till the gravity readings say its ready to move usually 5 or 6 days at 20 degrees ish. Rack into 2nd FV and leave for 2 weeks at room temp ( in garage so usually 20 degrees at this time of year. If its winter I use a heating belt high up on the primary FV ( above the level of the brew ) and with regular manual adjustments I keep it around 20 degrees, when it goes into the 2nd FV I allow it to go to room temp which is usually around 14/15 degrees.
Bottle with priming sugars into 500ml PET bottles and moved to the airing cupboard ( 2 plastic trays of 20 bottles each usually from a brew ) They are left there for 2 weeks before transferring back onto the garage floor for a further 2 weeks. Then placed in cases, boxes or on shelving for drinking. I do try and take a couple of bottles from each brew which are placed somewhere cool out of sight for later er evaluation. Depending if these show any marked improvement I make a note of it and adjust the storage time of subsequent same brews
Have been blessed so far with lovely clear beers, small amount of sediment sometimes, which is collected in the dimpled bottoms of the PET bottles and causes no problems.
I keep saying I'm going to batch prime but usually forget and end up having 15 mins of " ZEN " time while I drop carbonation drops or sugar into about 40 bottles.

 

[kev]

I'm an AG brewer and make batches of 20L as I keg everything into Cornies. I gave up bottling years ago.

My process is primary ferment until it's done. Usually 7-10 days. Then I transfer to a glass carboy for a day or two and after that I put gelatine in. When it's clear (anything from 24-72hrs) I keg it and put it in the fridge at a constant 11c and pressurise about 11-14 psi.

After 7 days I usually try a wee bit and after 14 days I start drinking it.

K

 

[calumscott]

Two (or three) whole weeks to the bottle on account of only really having weekends to do any brewing work...

Youngs 25l fermenting buckets with airlocks. Only one with a tap (STILL!!!).

Start brew in untapped FV.
Leave alone for one full week, no heaters, no coolers, just a centrally heated house.
If dry-hopping rack to secondary, dry hop.
Leave alone for another full week.
If dry hopping leave a further week.
Rack to bottling FV with tap.
Bottle.