Fermentation times

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Kevin Marien

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I just finished another batch of beer, and I was wondering about fermentation times. I seem to read most people people try to ferment for a couple of weeks. But mostly I find my fermentation to be done in about 3 days with a dry yeast (like a safale us05) and maybe a day or two longer with liquid yeast. I try to keep it in a day or 3-4 longer just to be sure. I just wondered how long you guys (recommend to)
ferment? Does it impact the final beer a lot or does it mainly make the conditioning shorter?
 
Howdy. Depends a lot on the beer, gravity, temperature, yeast strain, yeast viability and pitching rate, ... anything else? Some of my beers are racked after a week (Bitters and most standard strength beers), while some (Saisons, barleywines, big Belgians, etc.) are left in primary for 10-14 days.

Leaving it on the yeast for a few days after your hydrometer says it’s done is a good practice. Too soon, before the yeast has cleaned up after itself can leave that acetaldehyde (green apple) tint to the beer, let alone leaving behind unfermented sugars. I never quite understood why there are some homebrewers who want to rush to the finish line.
 
They might rush it because they are thirsty :). That would make sense. I usually go for mid strength beers, finishing a keg is enough work out for me let alone it being 8+ABV. So you reckon other than that (not considering dry hopping) leaving it in the fermenter much longer after fermentation is finished shouldn't enhance the flavour.
 
Are you sure yours are really done in 3 days or so?

Mine seem to be taking nearer 3 weeks than 2 weeks lately, usual dry yeasts Gervin / US-05 fermented at 19C. I have a fairly crude method of checking: about 1.5 weeks in I swap the FV lid with the airlock for a solid one, when it stops bulging the CO2 production has stopped and I cold-crash for 24hrs then bottle.

I just bottled one yesterday, had meant to do it last weekend but it was still producing CO2 on Day16.
 
A bulging lid wouldn't necessarily be indicative of fermentation continuing. Most likely it's CO2 produced during fermentation coming out of solution.

Most fermentation is done in 3-4 days and will usually be completed inside a week. The best, and cheapest, way to determine that fermentation is complete is to take a gravity reading.
 
Maybe I am being too patient but I generally leave mine in the fermenter for around 3 weeks - this includes a diacetyl rest where necessary and 'cold crash' and gelatine fining stage.
 
davidfromUS said:
Also, I don't like opening the lid to check exactly when it's done.
Click to expand...
I also don't like opening the lid if I don't have to and would rather give it time to finish than keep opening and checking in order to rush ahead.

I tried to rush an ipa once to get it done before going on holiday and ended up with a butterscotch popcorn diacetyl flavour - lesson learned...
 
Brew_DD2 said:
A bulging lid wouldn't necessarily be indicative of fermentation continuing. Most likely it's CO2 produced during fermentation coming out of solution. Most fermentation is done in 3-4 days and will usually be completed inside a week. The best, and cheapest, way to determine that fermentation is complete is to take a gravity reading.
Click to expand...

Yes I know and do that too. Mine don't seem to finish in a week.
 

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