How Long To Leave Lager In Fermenter? Please Help

[BigD]

Howdy,

I am still enjoying the spoils of my first beer (James Squire Amber ale style) it is going down a treat

I am currently into my second home brew (a Heineken stlye kit i got from my loca HBS) and I put it on over a week ago (Sunday 11th of Sep) and have been keeping the temperature nice and cool (around 14-15 degress). I still have airlock activity so things are going along well, my only question is how long should it stay in the fermenter before I bottle them? And also is there anything special I need to know after they are bottled?

Any help and suggestions would be really appreciated.

Cheers

Dan

 

[manticle]

Length of time is irrelevant.

Gravity needs to be stable over a few days and the gravity needs to be within the expected range which is ingredients and yeast dependent.

Yeast are consuming sugars and producing alcohol, not adhering to a human notion of schedule.

Do you have a hydrometer?
What were the ingredients of the kit?

Patience and time usually make better beer anyway so relax.

 

[Pennywise]

Once you hit you're expected final gravity, leave it for a few more days and you'll be fine. I generally leave my brews for 2 weeks (ales) regardless, and if doing a Lager, as rare as it is i'll push that out to 3 weeks.

 

[BigD]

Length of time is irrelevant.

Gravity needs to be stable over a few days and the gravity needs to be within the expected range which is ingredients and yeast dependent.

Yeast are consuming sugars and producing alcohol, not adhering to a human notion of schedule.

Do you have a hydrometer?
What were the ingredients of the kit?

Patience and time usually make better beer anyway so relax.

Thanks Manticle, the pack contained


DUTCH LAGER

Kit Converter No. 60 - GERMAN LAGER

Saflager Yeast.


I do not have a hydrometer, and not sure on what the gravity reading would need to be. This is really dumb question I know, but I've never used a hydrometer, so how and when do you use it?
Any help would be great.
Cheers

Dan

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

Will the real Big D please stand up.

 

[hsb]

This explains:
http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixA.html

It looks potentially complicated but all you do is fill the tube with beer, stick the hydrometer in and read the line (consistently - see the bit about the meniscus)

You really need one of these to brew beer, without it you cannot be sure that it has finished fermenting. If you're bottling, that is potentially exploding bottles.

So to recap:
Measure Gravity with Hydrometer
Stable readings over 3 days = finished beer probably.

You can wing it with some patience, to wait out your ferment - an extra week in the fermenter isn't going to hurt - but you really need a hydrometer.

Airlock activity isn't an indication of anything except airlock activity - gas can be bubbling through after fermentation has finished, or can stop before...

 

[cdbrown]

I do not have a hydrometer, and not sure on what the gravity reading would need to be. This is really dumb question I know, but I've never used a hydrometer, so how and when do you use it?
Any help would be great.
Cheers

Dan

Get one and a sample tube that suits the size of the hydrometer. Pour a sample from the fermenter tap into the tube and put in the hydrometer - read the number. Do it before the ferment starts - gives you original gravity. Then do it 7 days later. Depending what it reads you might do it again the next day to show it's stopped or wait some more days to measure again. Eventually it'll reach the final gravity. For lagers I prefer to ferment at 10-12c.

 

[Bribie G]

If it's Saflager S-23 it ferments nicely in the teens without chucking off flavours - best cold but there is one commercial brewery that actually uses it at 19 and they don't get into trouble.