BeerBorg

This is my second batch in the BD, and my first Twisted Monk. This pic is 10 days into fermenting. Can I bottle the wheat after 14 days?
My first batch was a Pissner, I mean Pilsner. It’s going to condition 4 weeks, if not longer, to help (I hope) add some flavor.
The pic below tasted like it’s going to have good flavor, although it’s pretty much like day old stale beer.
So, can I bottle after 14 days and how long to condition a Twisted Monk?



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Other's will hop in here I'm sure, but I've had the best luck with the ferment 3 weeks and carb/condition for 4 weeks regardless of the recipe.

OK, thank you. I was hoping a wheat could see a little fermenting than three weeks.

You know, when I observe that BD fermenter, I cannot tell when yeast is active or not active. There's no significant change once I put the yeast and set fermenter in it's resting spot. Day two loos like day 21 as far as foam on top, which is fairly minimal. It smells like beer and tastes like flat beer (before bottling), so I hope it conditions well.

Hayzer wrote:OK, thank you. I was hoping a wheat could see a little fermenting than three weeks.

You know, when I observe that BD fermenter, I cannot tell when yeast is active or not active. There's no significant change once I put the yeast and set fermenter in it's resting spot. Day two loos like day 21 as far as foam on top, which is fairly minimal. It smells like beer and tastes like flat beer (before bottling), so I hope it conditions well.

I don't pay a lot of attention to the foam (krausen) or airlock activity. If there's krausen or airlock activity, you know there's fermentation going on. But a lack of krausen and/or airlock activity doesn't necessarily mean there's no fermentation going on. If there's trub forming on the bottom, you know it's fermenting.

The rule of thumb (here, anyway) is to go 3 weeks fermenting when you are new. This is for a few reasons:
1) You typically don't have a hydrometer yet to check the gravity and this ENSURES that fermentation is done (buy one if you haven't already)
2) The yeast have cleaned up and settled (you can also achieve the settling/clearing by 'cold crashing')
3) It allows time for conditioning a bit

As far as conditioning, for the extracts, I will agree with those that recommend 3-4 weeks warm, before they ever see a fridge.
Why? Try one at 2 weeks. Put it in the fridge for 2 days then drink it.
Do the same at 3 weeks and at 4 weeks and you should taste the difference.

It's one thing to follow recommendations, but it gets much easier when you tasted the WHY for yourself.

Once you have a hydrometer and pitch more yeast these times CAN be reduced.

I was hoping to squeeze in two batches (current and one more) before St. Patrick's Day. I think I will be right at 3-4 for both batches to ferment and condition. Thanks for the advice. I do appreciate your responses and follow them closely.

That's because you don't know me and have never tasted my beer

Haha, I know you're referring to the general responses, not just me.

Cheers.

If you want to be sure it's done in 2 weeks or less and will taste good for sure sooner then later once bottled, then you should always

1) Ferment in the yeasts sweet spot (which is often warmer then a lot of Americans try to push their yeasts to avoid flavor)...
Note that you probably do not have this problem unless your basement is 62 or < and you are fermenting there.

2) You need to pitch a lot more yeast then you get with a brew demon/mr. beer kit.

Most of my beers are actually done fermenting in 3-7 days, but I pitch at rates found here.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pit ... alculator/

You are pitching half as much or even less then I do if you are using the provided yeast packs depending on the recipe/kit.

Even if you do start pitching at those rates, If I were you, I'd still leave it in the fermenter for 2 weeks, good things happen during that extra week that will give you better beer sooner once you bottle it. Basically the yeast remove compounds that lead to "off flavors".

How much this matters to you depends on your taste threshold for such things and what things are produced during your fermentation.

IE, I *could* bottle many of my beers at 1 week from a "it's done" standpoint if I wanted to, but typically I don't, because I taste something called "acetaldehyde" (green apple flavors) at very low thresholds, and don't want to taste ANY out of the fermenter before I bottle. Because more gets made bottle priming, and there is less yeast in the bottle to clean it up in the bottle, so "extra" going in is highly unwanted. It cleans up much faster in the fermenter then it does in the bottle at any significant concentration.

FWIW, the yeasts provided by Mr. Beer/Brew Demon throw off a lot of acetaldehyde if you ferment too cool, I basically hate those yeasts fermented any lower then 64 degrees, they are best at 64-68 (active fermentation temperature, not ambient room temperature).

Some people might not notice the flavor. But they still might get a headache from it if they drink too much before it's gone.

Mashani, I've been right at 64-65 degrees for 17 days. Do you thin I should move the fermenter to where I know it will go up to 68-70, for the final four day?
Thanks for the help. I'm loving the learning.

Hayzer wrote:Mashani, I've been right at 64-65 degrees for 17 days. Do you thin I should move the fermenter to where I know it will go up to 68-70, for the final four day?
Thanks for the help. I'm loving the learning.

Those temps are fine if that's what your wort is at (thermometer stuck to fermenter below liquid line). If so, I would say to not bother with it if your waiting for the full 3 weeks.

Now if you want fermentation to finish faster and you have your hydrometer/etc. so you know it's done, then doing what you said there is a good way to help it get done sooner. But you just don't want to move it to a higher ambient temp area like that until the very active part of the fermentation is over with. With the exception of a few Belgian or Saison type yeast strains, big jumps in fermentation temperature when it is very active are typically bad, as in you will get weird off flavors or unwanted yeast esters or hot tasting alcohol if you do it too soon.

Would it be horrible to refrigerate a Pilsner after 3 weeks in bottle (warm), then taste in 48 hours? If I put a second bottle in at same time and leave it for one week, will there be a dramatic difference?

Now, that same test in four weeks (two in fridge - one for 48 hours and one for a week), will it be noticeably different than that three-week test? What will the clarity differences be?

This brewing, and waiting for brew, and fermenting, and conditioning, on and on, it sure does slow down time. Life was flying by. Now that I started brewing, it's slowly creeping by. I love the hobby so far and I haven't even tasted any of it yet.

Hayzer wrote:Would it be horrible to refrigerate a Pilsner after 3 weeks in bottle (warm), then taste in 48 hours? If I put a second bottle in at same time and leave it for one week, will there be a dramatic difference?

Now, that same test in four weeks (two in fridge - one for 48 hours and one for a week), will it be noticeably different than that three-week test? What will the clarity differences be?

This brewing, and waiting for brew, and fermenting, and conditioning, on and on, it sure does slow down time. Life was flying by. Now that I started brewing, it's slowly creeping by. I love the hobby so far and I haven't even tasted any of it yet.

Once you get into the groove, after brewing for awhile, you'll look at fermenting beer the same way you look at savings money in the bank. As with savings, fermenting beer is something that should at the back of your mind, and make you feel good just knowing it's there.

Hayzer wrote:Would it be horrible to refrigerate a Pilsner after 3 weeks in bottle (warm), then taste in 48 hours? If I put a second bottle in at same time and leave it for one week, will there be a dramatic difference?

Now, that same test in four weeks (two in fridge - one for 48 hours and one for a week), will it be noticeably different than that three-week test? What will the clarity differences be?

Horrible? No. It is actually a good learning experience. As in you will probably learn that it's better to wait for 4 weeks. But YMMV depending on the type of beer, how much yeast was pitched, fermentation and conditioning temperatures, etc. And also you own personal taste thresholds for the types of compounds that yeast make that lead to off flavors if they haven't been conditioned out. Some people taste things at much lower levels then others. And regardless, some types of beers are better sooner then others.

As far as differences 48 hours and 1 week, there can be differences, but again it depends on the type/style of beer and how well conditioned it already is. Some esters and polyphenols can drop out of taste threshold given long cold conditioning times. And it will likely pour clearer at the very least. But that is not always true, there is a "condition" called chill haze, where a beer might actually be perfectly clear at room temperature, but gets cloudy when chilled. That is usually a side effect of brewing process and recipe composition.

The waiting part, that's why I have three 3 gallon fermenters. With 2 or 3 fermenters you can stagger your brewing/bottling schedule so that you can brew batch every week or so and bottle a batch every week or so which makes the waiting seem not so long.

It's called building and maintaining a pipeline my friend, sometimes easier said then done but can be done. At one time I had 4 MB LBK's going, and later on up to 3 5 gallon carboys and a 6.5 primary. I now, by using better temp control and yeast management use mainly one fermenter and have pretty good turn around times, but I am going to secondary a Lager I have going now so I can brew again.

mashani wrote: The waiting part, that's why I have three 3 gallon fermenters. With 2 or 3 fermenters you can stagger your brewing/bottling schedule so that you can brew batch every week or so and bottle a batch every week or so which makes the waiting seem not so long.

Yes with 2 or 3 you can be brewing and or bottling every week if you want to and can be drinking your own beer while doing it.

berryman wrote:It's called building and maintaining a pipeline my friend, sometimes easier said then done but can be done. At one time I had 4 MB LBK's going, and later on up to 3 5 gallon carboys and a 6.5 primary. I now, by using better temp control and yeast management use mainly one fermenter and have pretty good turn around times, but I am going to secondary a Lager I have going now so I can brew again.

mashani wrote: The waiting part, that's why I have three 3 gallon fermenters. With 2 or 3 fermenters you can stagger your brewing/bottling schedule so that you can brew batch every week or so and bottle a batch every week or so which makes the waiting seem not so long.

Yes with 2 or 3 you can be brewing and or bottling every week if you want to and can be drinking your own beer while doing it.

I'll shoot for that goal next winter. Would love to be bottling a couple gallons every Friday night for a couple months during the winter. I think that would get me a 12 month supply for sure.