What's your fermentation method?

It's only an idea, but it is also a very accurate one.

 

I'm not trolling. The OP stated what do you do and I gave my honest reply. I do it the way I do it and it works for me, I'm not telling anyone how it should be done.

 

Would there be any negative effect for doing a secondary for another week? I've heard adding the secondary period can result in more flavor? I have an Oatmeal Stout currently fermenting in primary for two weeks, then was going to put into a secondary for a week, then bottle and let sit for another two weeks. I didn't take OG readings.

 

A secondary doesn't "result in more flavor" unless you are either adding ingredients to the secondary or doing the secondary in a vessel (e.g. an oak barrel) that imparts flavors. For a straight stick oatmeal stout, I wouldn't do a secondary.

 

I know you're getting some guff for this but I use science and never take a final gravity. I've never had a bottle bomb including a 2 yr old peach mead (knock on wood). Either way I just assume after 2 or 3 weeks it's all done. I've kegged and served beers 10 days from brewing but they were low grav quick fermentation. I'm not saying it's right but I took fg on a dozen batches and just trust my yeast now (insert box of exploding bottles here)

 

Would you also think that two weeks in primary then straight to bottle for another 2 weeks is a proper time? Without doing any type of OG or FG readings?

 

No. I would make sure attenuation was finished and that any off flavors had been cleaned up. Then bottle.

 

Maybe I'm still too new at this (~65 batches), or maybe I've never tasted too early, but I've never had a sacch-fermented ale under 1.090 be unfinished at 2 weeks. Not saying it's impossible, just my experience.

I almost always do 2 weeks primary, 2 weeks bottle. Maybe if I kegged I could be more patient.

I start cool, usually 64, bump to 66-68 by day three, and out at room temp (70-74) by day 5-6. I take the first gravity reading (by refractometer) on day 8-10, take another 3-4 days later, confirm it's finished, and then crash and bottle.

 

Irregardless of the gravity reading, the latest research suggests that the yeast continues to "clean up" the beer, even after Final Gravity is reached. They suggest to leave it on all of the yeast in the primary fermenter for a minimum of 2-3 weeks. I no longer worry about final gravity, and always allow my ales to ferment for 3 weeks in the primary before kegging it. Then I cold crash it. With homebrewing, never be impatient.

 

Not using a hydrometer and bottling whenever you think the beer is finished isn't a risk worth taking. Kegging is a different story in terms of safety. However, do you really want to keg a beer at 1.020 when it should have finished at 1.010? One beer is sweet. The other isn't. If this doesn't matter, then keg it.

Bottling a 1.020 beer that was supposed to finish at 1.010 is a recipe for bombs. If a bottle explodes in your face, you will regret it for the rest of your life.

A hydrometer costs $10. A hydrometer reading takes less than a minute.

 

The added advantage is that most of the trub will have settled by that time, leaving the keg with less crap on the first pour. Commercial breweries will maximize on time and bottle their beer when final gravity is reached, but a homerbrewer is not looking for quick sales, but higher quality beer.

 

Naturally, I always take a gravity reading before kegging. However, after 3 weeks, with lower gravity ales, there's littlle chance that the beer hasn't reached final gravity. There are also a lot of visual signs to indicate that the beer has reached final gravity - the surface area of the beer (is there still krausen on the surface; the timing of the bubbles coming out of the fermentation lock - are you getting only one bubble in more than two minutes; for example). Once these visual signs have been met, the next step always is to do a gravity reading just to be sure. But, almost 100% of the time, after three weeks, it will be done. The point I was making is, even if fermentation has finished after 5 days, still allow the beer to sit on the yeast for 2-3 weeks.

 

If you kegged, you could be less patient.

How many yeasts have you used in 65 batches? They don't all work at the same rate in all circumstances. Pitch rate, yeast health, fermentation temperature, nutrients, oxygen and OG are various factors that can influence how long it takes to achieve terminal gravity. I've had more than a few medium gravity batches take longer than 2 weeks to finish even though they had more than enough yeast, etc. They were fermented colder than your example.

If variables are optimized, most sacc yeasts will finish in 5-10 days with 6-8% beers. The problem is many new brewers fall very short of creating optimal fermentation conditions.

 

So if the recipe you used didnt say what final gravity is supposed to be is there some other way to figure out FG. This is for a basic oatmeal stout using extracts and not all grain?

 

More patient as in I could leave it longer in primary and still have it drinkable in a month, but that's what you meant too.

I've used all the fermentis ale strains, danstar windsor, notty, and belle saison, 1968, 1272, 1318, WLP500, WLP644, WLP300, probably a few others. Nothing too tricky like 565/3724 though.

I mostly directly top crop or repitch fresh (<2 weeks) slurry these days, and I rarely make anything stronger than 1.070. I also use nutrients and aerate well by shaking the hell out of a 3 gallon batch in a 6 gallon fermentor. I think those are the reasons they turn around so fast.

I agree, chucking in a single vial/pack of yeast top of a 5 gallons of 1.070 unaerated wort wouldn't work so well.

 

Yes, you could post your recipe and someone here can give you a good idea where the beer should finish.

 

19 years and have rarely used my hydrometer and I've had one (1) bottle explode. A few batches have been over carbonated because I probably bottled too soon but as long as the krauesen has dissipated and the airlock is still, I bottle it when I can.

A few times when I left the beer in the primary "too long" it came out great and a few times it was under carbonated and regrettable. Mostly I just don't worry and drink it anyway. Far more successes than failures.

 

Check out the yeast profile's apparent attenuation stat and apply that to your OG to get a good idea.

 

You shouldn't notice less carbonation because your primary was long, unless you're talking many months. If there is living yeast, they carb the beer, if they are dead they don't. More likely you primed incorrectly.