7 Days in Fermentation - Patience Grasshopper

Well I’m 7 days into fermentation and all seems to be going well. I can shine a flashlight through the bucket and see the krausen forming. I can smell a nice aroma along the bucket lid. I haven’t mucked with it and have ~7 more days in the primary stage. Patience grasshopper!
I plan at day 14 to crack the lid and take a gravity reading. Still planning a secondary fermentation using my glass carboy before bottling. Looking forward to a taste test too.

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Relax Don’t Worry Have a Homebrew. . .

RDWHH, welcome to the obsession. :innocent: Now it’s time to think about what’s next for that soon to be empty bucket. :smiling_imp:

:beers:
Rad

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Already have a DME light beer to start after this one. My wife picked it out.

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I’m sure you already know this but take a couple readings a few days apart to ensure it’s done.

By the way, nice to have the bride on board! Happy wife=happy life! :joy: Does she assist?
Happy brewing!

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Exactly! She’s going to help me with the bottling process.
So should I take an SG reading now and then at 14 days? I understand I’m looking to see if the gravity has dropped indicating fermentation is happening. AND if it had finished fermentation.
I’ve just left it alone not wanting to muck with it. Kinda from the school if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. But, that may not be right making good beer.
Look forward to recommendations, etc. I’m learning and soaking it all in.

You’ll want to wait until you think fermentation is done to take the gravity readings to prove it. So wait another week. That is the best way. I however, take the lazy way, which is to let it ferment for 3-4 weeks then take a single reading when I bottle. If the reading is where I expect it to be I assume fermentation is complete. Honestly, the primary reasons I do it this way is to reduce the risk of infection and go get one more bottle of beer out of the batch. The downside of this approach is that I am delaying the time between brewing and drinking. But, for me it’s an acceptable trade-off.

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To check if it is done you would take readings for a few days in a row. If they are the same, it probably is done. If it is a kit the instructions may give you a target FG. For most beers it will be somewhere in the 1.010 range. If it is that low there is no need to keep reading it.

I agree with @barbarianbrewer that ignoring it for a few weeks then take a reading is the way to go. By then it is almost always ready to bottle. Tough to wait when you first get started.

I would follow the directions to the letter for this one but you will find most of us do not bother with a secondary for most brews with some exceptions like adding fruit or a long time in the fermenter.

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It is rare that the styles I brew are done under 14 days. I typically don’t bother checking until week 3.

Here’s my plan. I’m leaving it alone till day 14 in the primary. I plan to use a secondary (I’ll explain later). At day 14 My plan is to check the gravity and transfer to the secondary a glass carboy. I plan to leave it in the secondary for 7-10 days (more if active). Then I’ll take another gravity reading and if ~1.01 I will transfer it to the bottling bucket and start bottling.

Here’s my rationale for using the secondary for what it matters. I kind of see this, my first batch, as a sacrificial lamb. The recipe gives the option of a secondary or leaving in the bucket to finish. I’m opting for the secondary to go through the entire process and to learn. I realize the risk of contamination, etc., but again I see this as part of the learning experience with my first batch. If, which I expect, I’m enjoying a nice cold home brew in 3-4 weeks or if I find my batch went south, I’ll go over my notes, ask some questions here on the forum, and use these lesson on my next batch (would should be fermenting by this time).

I’m also needing the primary bucket to start my next batch. :sunglasses:

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Sounds like a plan! One thing, just a caution really, make sure it’s done fermenting. Bottle bombs are nothing to sneeze at. Love the idea of doing all the processes to learn. You’ll use them all sooner or later!

At that stage of the game contamination isn’t as much of a concern as it was before fermentation. You will have 5% (or so) alcohol solution to help you. When I first started brewing everything went into secondary. That was just how it was done. Now almost never.

Good idea learning the entire process anyway. Lots of time and beers to get your process down.

Quick story. When I was young my Did experimented with home brewing. After bottling they put the beer in the frig. A few days later they heard popping. When my mom opened the frig beer flowed out onto the floor. Most of the bottles had blown their tops! After that he started making wine.

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You’re all over it man, good! LOL

Good story.

Just don’t tell your wife that story until she is hooked! :smile:

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Well I’m at the evening of day 13 in the primary. I have my racking cane, hose, etc soaking in cleaner along with my carboy. I’ll sanitize in the morning and move to my secondary.
I cracked it open and took a sample to assess my beer. The specific gravity is at 1.010. I erred on my original reading so using the recipe of 1.046, my ABV is ~4.954.
I had to taste the sample. The beer had good color, aroma, good flavor and taste. I was quite surprised and happy. Can’t wait for the final bottled product.

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