First timer here, kinda. I recently bottled my very first batch, Irish Red Ale. It came out very nice. I have the deluxe kit (gift from my daughter and her boyfriend). I used the 6.5 gal carboy for the primary fermentation and then transferred to the 5.0 gal carboy for secondary fermentation. I understand there is differences of opinion as to whether secondary fermentation is necessary.
My question is the Phat Tyre Amber Ale, the second recipe we want to try. I’d like to have this “drinkable” by the first week in August. The recipe says 1-2 weeks primary, 2-4 weeks secondary, 1-2 weeks bottle conditioning. For those more experienced than I am, how do you decide when to move from primary to secondary, and when to move from secondary to bottling? Should I just follow the recipe and go with 4 weeks where it says 2-4 weeks? My wife’s uncle wants to come down for brewing day (lives 3 hrs away) and like I said, I want to have this ready to go for camping in early August.
Welcome @bknjohnson
You can make a couple of batches before your August deadline 
When I use a secondary I transfer after a week typically. I like for the High Krausen stage to be complete, the yeast to have flocculated and for there to be a tiny bit of fermentation still to do.
4 weeks in the fermenters and 3 weeks in the bottle is almost always successful.
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Yes, Welcome! I would suggest that when the first fermentation (primary) is about done… Burping every 15 seconds or so…
Why you ask?
Should you get some oxygen(O2) mixed in whilst transferring (racking), the yeast are still active enough to scrub the O2 (that stuff makes beer taste not so good)…
But then just leave it in the primary and the chance to getO2 goes way down…
Sneezles61
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Welcome to the hobby!
The times listed are only approximate. You really need to just pay attention to the fermentation and listen to what the yeast are telling you. When the airlock stops bubbling, and the krausen falls, and the beer begins to clear, then fermentation is almost complete. You can take a specific gravity measurement at that point, and then… wait another 3-4 days. Then take a second gravity reading. If the specific gravity stays the same over 3-4 days, then fermentation is complete. If it continues to change by just 0.001 or more, then wait another 3 days and repeat until it remains stable.
You can safely skip the secondary step completely. It can be helpful to reduce the amount of sediment in the finished beer, and improve clarity, but millions of homebrewers skip this step with good results. Sometimes I secondary, sometimes I don’t. It just depends how clear I want it to be. About 1 week secondary is plenty good enough for most beers.
Bottle conditioning will usually take 7-10 days, that much is very true.
You have plenty of time to do as many batches as you want before August.
Cheers, good luck, and enjoy!
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Personally, I’d let that beer sit in the primary for 3 weeks then package it. If you’re concerned about clarity then cold crash it before you bottle.
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Thanks all for the advice! Will probably let it ride in the primary for 3-4 weeks and then go right into bottling.
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