How Long Do I Leave My Home Brew Fermenting Before I Bottle It And How Long Do I Leave It In Bottles?
You want to leave your beer in the fermenter long enough for fermentation to finish. Of course, that is difficult to exactly determine unless you take a sample of your wort and use a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity before adding yeast and take another sample or two when you think fermentation is complete, (a day or two apart, but, several days after fermentation started).
There are many variables that come into play that impact the fermentation time frame, such as: type of beer, amount of fermentable sugars, yeast type and strain, temperature during fermentation, etc.
If you have a hydrometer, take a small sample of your beer several days after fermentation begins but after you think the beer is fermented enough to bottle and then, do the same the day after…when the specific gravity doesn’t change…the beer is ready to bottle. If the specific gravity changes, keep taking small samples every day or two, until there is no change.
If you don’t have a hydrometer, keep an eye on your beer…a good rule of thumb is to give it about 8 -10 days in the fermenter, keeping an eye on the air-lock…before transferring it to either a secondary fermenter or your bottling bucket and then into bottles (after adding priming sugar). If the air-lock doesn’t seem to have any activity after 8-10 days, it is probably ready for bottling. Try not to leave your fermented beer in the original fermenter for more than necessary because it can develop off-flavors. I’ve left mine in the fermenter for up to 15-20 days and didn’t notice any off flavors but, I try to remove the fermented beer as soon as fermentation is done, usually, 8-10 days.
Although it is not necessary for most simple home-brews, I often transfer my beer to a secondary fermenter and let it clear for an additional 1-4 weeks before bottling/kegging and sometimes, for my stronger beers, a couple months.
Bottling – let your beer age in the bottles, undisturbed, in a cool (not cold), dark place (like a basement or in a closet) for at least a couple weeks before putting in the refrigerator…this allows the beer to carbonate naturally. I’ve let my beer carbonate in the bottle for as little as one week but, two weeks is better…longer even, if you can wait, is better, as the beer flavor seems to improve. Less than a week in the bottle will probably be under-carbonated…When that’s done…enjoy!
Hope that helps!
