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davereal · Jan 28, 2015

hi all,started my 1st extract . a brew uk 49 er. finished about midnight saturday.o.g. bang on at 1048 .recipe says f.g 1011. any way not much going on in the f.v. by sunday night.so o.k. slow starter. monday night in from work , nice head, looks good. tonight , head gone, so took a reading 1011 .bang on.is that right it could have fermented out in 4 days? the recipe says leave in f.v. for 2 weeks.. would there be any benefit?or if the same reading by saturday i.e. 7 days, shall i crack on and keg/bottle. which would free up my f.v. for another brew and also bring it closer a week for drinking.did taste good thou. was quite sweet originally.may even throw in a few hops for a couple of days , if it's good to go saturday. cheers

Brewski · Jan 28, 2015

I'm certainly no expert but that sounds far to quick to me. What was the fermentation temperature?

davereal · Jan 28, 2015

that's what i thought.temp at a steady 20degrees. looks good, tastes good , smells good. quite happy to leave another week. i've given it a little swirl see if it gets going again and maybe that;ll drop the f.g . by a touch. but as saying if the same 1011 by saturday, is there any reason to not press on with bottling?cheers

DoctorMick · Jan 28, 2015

It's possible, if you had perfect conditions for the yeast it could happen. That said, leaving it the full two weeks will allow the yeast to clean up and will improve the beer so you're best off leaving it. You may find the gravity goes a bit further that expected too.

clibit · Jan 28, 2015

Once the fermentation gets going it's pretty normal for the bulk of the sugars to be guzzled by the yeast in 2-3 days. It still pays to leave it in the fv for a couple of weeks, the yeast carries on dealing with other stuff, and dropping out.

Sandimas · Jan 28, 2015

I'd be tempted to move it to another FV and cool it prior to bottling / kegging, since I've been doing this the beer seems much better and doesn't have any of that homebrew taste.

The sweetness will go with time, I regularly do the BrewUK Proper Job and always start drinking it too quick and it's too sweet, leave it 6-8 weeks and the sweetness goes letting the bitterness and hops come through.

davereal · Jan 28, 2015

thanks.will leave for the full 2 weeks to settle completely. haven't got a spare f.v but may just take the heat off for the last 3or 4 days.gets to about 10c at night in the cellar. did this with the last one but not sampled yet so cant compare.cheers.

DoctorMick · Jan 28, 2015

davereal said:
thanks.will leave for the full 2 weeks to settle completely. haven't got a spare f.v but may just take the heat off for the last 3or 4 days.gets to about 10c at night in the cellar. did this with the last one but not sampled yet so cant compare.cheers.

It's a good idea, it'll cause a lot of the yeast to drop out of suspension so you'll get a clearer beer and less sediment if you bottle.

Brewski · Jan 29, 2015

DoctorMick said:
It's possible, if you had perfect conditions for the yeast it could happen. That said, leaving it the full two weeks will allow the yeast to clean up and will improve the beer so you're best off leaving it. You may find the gravity goes a bit further that expected too.

clibit said:
Once the fermentation gets going it's pretty normal for the bulk of the sugars to be guzzled by the yeast in 2-3 days. It still pays to leave it in the fv for a couple of weeks, the yeast carries on dealing with other stuff, and dropping out.

Well, you learn something new every day. Cheers fellas.

davereal · Jan 31, 2015

o.k. 7 days in and the gravity is still 1011. going to follow advice and leave another week.just wondering, shall i take the temp down now to cellar temp of 11 to 14c or do it just a few days before bottling.still at 20c now.when i took reading today, already looked pretty clear and tasted good. also any thought on dry hopping.as i have some spare goldings, just wondering about quantity and if doing so would it be best to do while the the temps at 20c. or as it has already fermented, would it actually do anything. so may be just leave be? thanks

clibit · Jan 31, 2015

I would leave it at 20 another week, then into a cool place for about 3 days.

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