First Batch Question

I might look that up myself, soon

 

I'll echo three weeks as a good zeroth-order place to start, subject to a few caveats. I would say this his only applies to (i) ales with (ii) an adequate amount of yeast, (iii) adequate aeration, and (iv) a fermentation temperature appropriate for the yeast. With these caveats, most beers will be ready to package in three weeks.

My usual experience with beers that meet the above conditions is the following: (i) Primary fermentation is done within one week, (ii) the beer continues to attenuate for about another week, and (iii) during the third week the beer will condition sufficiently. There certainly can be exceptions; some yeasts, for example, are notoriously slow or stand to stall before completing fermentation. Lagers certainly take longer (typically) due to slower metabolism at lower fermentation temperatures.

Bubbles coming out of the airlock can be an excellent indicator of the rate of active fermentation. But, for this to be true, the fermenter must be completely sealed elsewhere so that CO2 escapes only through the airlock. This is fairly easy to achieve with a carboy, but can be difficult (or perhaps impossible?) to achieve with the lids/seals on some buckets.

 

Indeed. It may be carbonated by one week, but more likely it will take two weeks to fully carbonate.

 

Two weeks to carbonate followed by another few weeks for the flavor to mature.