Is my red ale ready to bottle so soon?
Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:05 am
by CarlosHernandez
Just listened to the JZ podcast: Bottling & Kegging and got a lot of good info. Didn't know that most ale's are done fermenting in 10-14 days. Or by watching the air lock and no more activity occurs. I was told by my LHBS that i needed to ferment for at least 21 days. Sunday will the 15th day of fermentation for my red ale. No more activity on my air lock either. I was going to wait the full 3 weeks to bottle, but after listening to the show, maybe I should bottle on Sunday. Just wanted to get some feedback from you guys on this topic to see if 10-14 days is enough. Thanks!
Re: Is my red ale ready to bottle so soon?
Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:02 pm
by TommyL
Can you take a gravity reading? If not, usually 2 weeks is plenty. Bottle away!
Re: Is my red ale ready to bottle so soon?
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 8:06 am
by manwithbeers
What yeast did you use? what gravity was the wort? What temperature was the fermentation?
All questions that are variable in the time it takes. It can go very fast. My last beer was a Dry Irish Stout. Brewed on a Sunday, racked to kegs a week and a day later on a Monday and was on Tap only 13 days from the brew date. I also have some Lambic that's going to be waiting around for a long while yet....