How long for fermentation ?

[Tigersnake]

Hi everyone I have a beermakers cold going since 2 /8/15 it's been fermenting at between 10 and 15 today is day 17 and the hydrometer reading is 1016 . My question is . Is this too long for fermentation ?

 

[warra48]

No.

 

[warra48]

I don't even think about bottling my brews before about 3 weeks in the fermenter.
Time is not the issue. What matters is that your final gravity is stable over 3 or so day within your expected range. Your hydrometer is your friend.

 

[danestead]

Hi everyone I have a beermakers cold going since 2 /8/15 it's been fermenting at between 10 and 15 today is day 17 and the hydrometer reading is 1016 . My question is . Is this too long for fermentation ?

was the yeast an ale or lager yeast?

If it was an ale yeast, it may have stalled because of the temperature.

 

[Tigersnake]

Thanks warra48 was starting to worrie as you can see I'm still very new to all this. And it was a lager yeast mate .

 

[Danscraftbeer]

My first kegged beer impressed me, that was drinking it 8 days after starting the brew. But I was much more a newbie then. Now with an expanded home brewery Its 3 weeks minimum, with temp control too. Some Ales brew out in 4 days but they still sit the 3+ weeks anyway. No haste in getting around to bottling/kegging. Some brews have sat for 2 months.

 

[Blind Dog]

If it's still fermenting you're fine - won't repeat Warras advice. But it's done when it's done. If you're concerned you can look up how to carry out a fast ferment test, it's pretty simple.

Once fermentation is complete and the yeast cake has formed, I'd not leave it too much longer without racking or packaging as yeast autolysis then becomes a potential risk.

 

[Tigersnake]

So I'm a lot more happy now .

 

[Tigersnake]

It is still bubbling still but not as fast now. It's like once every 30 sec . Blind dog what is racking?

 

[Danscraftbeer]

haha, do a quick search of racking on this site. Or Wiki.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racking Your falling into an oasis here. B)
I only rack from primary to keg. The less processes the better is my motto.

 

[Gigantorus]

I've been home brewing for about 2.5 years now. I generally leave the brew in the fermenter for 14 days. Actual fermentation will be finished in about 7 days, which then allows me to dry-hop for the last 5 to 7 days without loosing flavour or aroma.

I've never racked. I think if you want a cleaner brew then try using finings of some sort. I've used gelatin (2 teaspoons of cooking gelatin in 250ml of warm water left for 15 mins then stir in gelatin then let gelatin liquid cool to temp of your brew. Then carefully pour on top of the brew without making any bubbles and then just leave). Note: Make sure you sanitise the cup you mix the gelatin in and the spoon. Other method I've used is the whirlfloc tablet at 10 minute mark of the boil (I extract brew) - used this with my dark ale recently and it came out quite clean. I'm also aware of other using irish moss etc. In the end most of my brews don't use a clearing agent at all and they turn out quite nice (albeit a touch cloudy, which is natural). My message therefore is don't get too fancy - keep it a simple as possible and you'll reduce your risk of spoiling the brew with foreign bacterias etc.

Cheers,
Pete