I brewed up a batch of the NB Bavarian Hefeweizen, and it took off right away into rigorous fermentation within 24 hours. By the end of the first week the krausen had dropped and by about day 10 the hydro readings were pretty much stable. I’ll admit I broke a rule and was a little impatient- I don’t have extra fermentors yet and I wanted to get another batch going- so I bottled at only the 2-week mark seeing the signs that it’s ready to go and the instructions saying only 1-2 weeks in the primary. After reading a lot of posts about people letting it sit in the primary up to 3 weeks to allow the yeast to clean up the beer, I’m wondering if I bottled too soon. The beer was cloudy as I bottled, but I assume that’s what a hefeweizen should be like anyway. Am I running a risk of the beer not being ready to be carbonated and sealed?
Probably a little too soon but give it an extra week in the bottles and you’ll be fine. The yeast were finished or near finished cleaning up. The additional time is just conditioning which you can do in the bottles.
Because it’s a Hefeweizen, you’re ok. They are ready to bottle and drink sooner than most beers due to lower OG. I still let most of my beers sit for 3weeks before bottle or kegging. Do yourself a favor and pick up a few more fermentors. Buckets are cheap and easy!
I generally bottle after two weeks on any ales under 1.060. If its under 1.050, ten days is plenty. In my experience thats plenty of time for the yeast to finish and clean up after itself. It doesn’t have to completely clear because theres going to be more yeast growing during the carbonation step and you’ll have to wait another two to three weeks minimum for that to clear.
Agree on the fact that since this is a hefeweizen, you’re probably golden. The lower OG and the fact that you’re going to want some yeast in the bottle and therefore don’t need complete clarity would lead me to think that you’ll be good to go.
