Cutting short time in primary fermenter.

So one thing that I see frequently recommended on this forum is to leave your beer in the primary fermentation vessel for at least 2 weeks but I'm wondering if this is as important when the beer goes in a pressure barrel rather than a bottle?


Is it just to give the yeast more time to drop out or is something else going on? (I often see the phrase "give the yeast time to clean up" but I'm not sure what it's cleaning up, doesn't appear to be the kitchen as I tried leaving that after brewing and nothing happened apart from me getting told off. :nono:

I have a kit wherry and a 2 gallon all grain both started on the same day and assuming it's finished fermenting would like to keg the ag after one week then bottle/minikeg the wherry after 2 weeks. I have read that ag brews are usually ready earlier than kit brews and kegged beer ready sooner than bottled beer, is this correct?

The 'clean-up' is referring to yeast fermentation by products that may have developed, and be giving the beer an off flavour. You have more chance of this occurring, or it occurring faster, if it stays on the yeast.

If you can detect no off flavours, and the beer has finished fermenting, I can see no problem in transferring to a keg.

As for whether all grain are ready earlier than kit brews, and whether kegged beer is ready sooner than bottled - I guess the answer is it just depends. As a general rule it may have some truth, but there are also many reasons why it might not be the case.

Honk said:

So one thing that I see frequently recommended on this forum is to leave your beer in the primary fermentation vessel for at least 2 weeks but I'm wondering if this is as important when the beer goes in a pressure barrel rather than a bottle?


Is it just to give the yeast more time to drop out or is something else going on? (I often see the phrase "give the yeast time to clean up" but I'm not sure what it's cleaning up, doesn't appear to be the kitchen as I tried leaving that after brewing and nothing happened apart from me getting told off. :nono:

I have a kit wherry and a 2 gallon all grain both started on the same day and assuming it's finished fermenting would like to keg the ag after one week then bottle/minikeg the wherry after 2 weeks. I have read that ag brews are usually ready earlier than kit brews and kegged beer ready sooner than bottled beer, is this correct?

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I would leave a HB beer 2 weeks in primary on principle. There is a sort of "cycle" of biochemical production that will generally take around that length of time, for the sort of beers that are made at home, and with the available resources. It is only a "principle" though and not to be taken as a literal requirement. On a "trial by brewing" or "empirical" basis, it does work. Brew-in-Brew-out, it does work. 2 in Primary, 2 in the warm to carbonate, 2 somewhere cool is the mantra. Because it seems to work.

Most commercial brewers do not have this 2 week time luxury, of course.

You will find the bit of extra time makes a big difference in your beer 2/2 and 2 works very well any less and the beer is just not at its best

I've about run out of beer because of visitors so I made a mild last Friday (Thursday today). Four days fermenting at 24C. One day cold to drop a bit of yeast out, transferred to King Keg with priming sugar and some gelatine today. Hoping to be able to drink it in 4-5 days. Might not be the best but better than nothing :mrgreen:

HebridesRob said:

I've about run out of beer because of visitors so I made a mild last Friday (Thursday today). Four days fermenting at 24C. One day cold to drop a bit of yeast out, transferred to King Keg with priming sugar and some gelatine today. Hoping to be able to drink it in 4-5 days. Might not be the best but better than nothing :mrgreen:

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Well, I hope you are lucky.

For some reason, the mild recipe I am using is finished and is crystal clear within the week. It is the only beer I make which does this. I start drinking it straight from the fermenter. I cap it off so the pressure builds up, and I can take 'samples'. It is now my go to beer due to the speed, low abv and it is rather tasty.

My tuppence worth is two weeks fermentation, two weeks carbing up and two hours in a fridge,or ten minutes in the freezer.
Cuts it from six weeks to four and to be honest i havent noticed much difference.

My experience is that kits do take longer to clear and for the flavours to settle out than all grain.

My all grain (generally 4-5% ABV mind) is usually good for drinking after 2 weeks primary then 2 weeks carbing in the bottle. Athough yes the flavours settle/mature beyond that point for sure.

Kits needed at least a couple of weeks cool conditioning after 2 weeks carbing to become drinkable and clear, and never got as good at any point as all grain.

Just my experience/opinion mind.

Not knocking kits, they were a great way into home brewing for me, and for those with limited space or time then can be a good option.

Steved53 said:

Well, I hope you are lucky.

For some reason, the mild recipe I am using is finished and is crystal clear within the week. It is the only beer I make which does this. I start drinking it straight from the fermenter. I cap it off so the pressure builds up, and I can take 'samples'. It is now my go to beer due to the speed, low abv and it is rather tasty.

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I'm fairly sure a mild will be my next brew, what recipe are you using? Id better not buy any recipe books this side of Xmas so looking for a tried and tested online recipe.

Wort can be fermented in 3 days or so and usually mine are complete in 4 at most. After fermentation it is important to let the new green beer condition both warm and cold and the initial phase of this should be on the yeast.

I know a lot of people here go for 2 -2 -2 weeks but my norm is 1-2 days warm conditioning at 14°C to allow the yeast to clean up and then chill as low as possible. The first stage is a chemical clean up and maturation and the second is more a physical stability with yeast dropping out and haze disappearing.

As I have posted before most of my beers from start to bottling are definitely less than 3 weeks and sometimes as little as 12 days. Remember that the maturation and cold conditioning will still continue in the bottle. Speed is not the issue for me I feel that there is little to gain by sticking rigidly to a 2-2-2 pattern once the beer is clear I can clear the fridge ready for the next batch.

I'm usually drinking mine within 2 weeks and the fastest was 4 days. I keg and force carbonate. The beer will still continue to condition so assuming you don't drink it all in one go then you can just leave the rest for another week or two. Mine are mostly hoppy ipa and I feel they are best drunk sooner rather than weeks of conditioning.

Also if you think about it commercial brewers don't wait that long. Many cask before primary fermentation is even complete so that the beer carbs a little without adding sugar.

When I keg I usually do rush it a bit more, I often stick it in the corny after a week, attach the gas then let it condition in the keg.

mike77 said:

I'm usually drinking mine within 2 weeks and the fastest was 4 days. I keg and force carbonate. The beer will still continue to condition so assuming you don't drink it all in one go then you can just leave the rest for another week or two. Mine are mostly hoppy ipa and I feel they are best drunk sooner rather than weeks of conditioning.

Also if you think about it commercial brewers don't wait that long. Many cask before primary fermentation is even complete so that the beer carbs a little without adding sugar.

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They usually cask with about 2 gravity points left so no priming sugar needed in the cask. Auxillary finings and isinglass ( added separately) will drop the protein haze and the yeast.