what are the best brewing timelines?

[wizz69]

hey,

i am new to the whole brewing thing, and have managed to brew & bottle 2 accomplished beers (English Ales) based on a bombardier recipe.

they are only small batches around 8 Ltrs, yielding approx 12/13 500 ml bottles.

i am unsure on how long to really leave them fermenting before bottling and drinking. i read through some forums that following 1/2/3 will not go wrong.

1 week - primary fermentation (plastic sealed bucket)
2 weeks - secondary fermentation (glass carbouy)
Rack to bucket with priming sugar
Rack to bottle
3 weeks - before bottle can be opened and drank.

does this sound right? any other ways this could be done. the brew is OK, and i think i do not use enough priming sugar, as the end result is flattish, but drinkable.

[sonicated]

Once bottled I personally wait at least a week for each ABV%. I also never rack into a secondary - I just see it as a lot of hassle with no real benefit.

[Rookie]

I also never rack into a secondary - I just see it as a lot of hassle with no real benefit.

Absolutely, you can leave it in the primary for quite a while before you'd have a problem.
My ale SOP is three weeks in primary, then bottle.

[Oakey22]

Around 2 weeks is right for me although after it has dropped to FG I let it cool down to drop the yeast out

[bobsbeer]

I don't usually rack to secondary, but it does take it off most of the crud. If you do rack to a secondary, make sure you do it at about 1.015 to 1.020 or you may find that it sticks. Yeast are fussy little buggers and don't like being disturbed. The cooler the better to drop the yeast at the end though, before you bottle.

[wizz69]

thanks, makes me feel a bit more confident... by the comments so far, 2nd fermentation is not really needed other than to clear the beer a bit before bottling.

i like the comment of " 1 week per ABV" before drinking. Maybe the next batch i make i'll follow these comments to see how it turns out.

[sonicated]

thanks, makes me feel a bit more confident... by the comments so far, 2nd fermentation is not really needed other than to clear the beer a bit before bottling.

This may sound a little pedantic but I'm just trying to help Racking to a secondary is not secondary fermentation - it's just transferring the beer at the latter stages of primary fermentation to another container. Secondary fermentation is done when primary fermentation is complete, in the case of bottling you add a little sugar to the bottles so the yeast ferment the sugar (fermentation for the second time) for the purpose of carbonating the bottles. I hope that makes sense!

[wizz69]

oooohhh, thank-you... being a newbie, i have a lot to learn..

[wizz69]

so, when i am in fermentation, is it OK to open the seal to take a hydrometer check? is this best using the hydrometer directly into the liquid, or extracting a small sample into a jar?

[brewnaboinne]

Primary fermentation doesn't need to be sealed just so long as dust and flies can't get in. Most people use a sample in a trial jar to take hydrometer readings (and then drink the sample) but if you can see what you're doing you can take a direct reading so long as your hydrometer is clean.

[sonicated]

To get a sample I put the dishwasher on a hot wash and once it's finished and cooled I get a glass from there, open the the fermenter lid, dip the glass in, pour enough in the trial jar for a reading and drink the rest. It's not the best beer but it's good to know the different stages your brew goes through.