I am brewing the Dry Dock Apricot Blonde (all grain) and wanted to inquire on how long to keep in primary? I have a Grainfather G30 Connect, Pro fermenter, and glycol chiller. I am also using a TILT hydrometer for the first time. I see the instructions say to keep in primary for 10 days. Will the hydrometer tell me when fermentation is done? Should fermentation last longer thats 10 days? I am also using Wyeast 1056 American Ale. What is a good fermentation temp? It says optimum temp is between 60-72 degrees F. Thank you.
I would let it ferment until high Krausenis over (3-7 days) in the primary and then rack onto the fruit in the secondary. The secondary is over when the hydrometer shows stability for at least 3 days after reaching FG.
1 Like
A good fermentation temp for an ale (really most ales)would be maintaining a fermenter temp of 65* or even a bit cooler if you can manage it for the first 3-4 days. After that you can let the temp free rise to finish up/clean up diacetyl etc.
72* would be too warm IMHO. Vigorous fermentation and a bunch of hot fusel off flavors possible at that temp
I agree any time you want a beer to finish clean ferment in the lower range. A blonde should finish clean plus you want to highlight the apricot im assuming
The recipe from Northern Brewer says to add purée to primary after 2-3 days of fermentation. Is it ok to add the purée to the primary as instructed? Ive read in different forums to add it to a secondary. I have a Grainfather conical pro if that makes any difference. The reason i ask is that i currently dont have a viable secondary at the moment but can surely pick one up if necessary.
Skip the secondary then. It will be fine
2 Likes
