The art of knowing when a (beer) brew is ready to bottle

Forums › Home brewing (beer, wine, spirits) › The art of knowing when a (beer) brew is ready to bottle

ageorge

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#284351 15-Apr-2021 16:34

Hi there.

As I understand it, if you take an sg and its the same 3 days later, your brew is ready to bottle.

But that means you also have to prime and secondary ferment.

What Ive done a few times is to bottle early, when bubble activity is reduced usually around 7 days average temperature. Then there is no need to prime the bottles but this method is a bit hit and miss.

Is there a simple/dummy method where brewer knows his beer is ready to bottle so that he doesnt have to prime; and reliably?

Thanks, Al.

Gurezaemon

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866 posts

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#2693324 15-Apr-2021 16:52

If you always made the same brew in exactly the same way at the same temperatures, then I suppose you would be able to figure out an SG a little before fully finished, and bottle then, but you'd need to be exact with this. I wouldn't recommend it personally.

If you are using a secondary ferment to get rid of sediment, then why not mix up the appropriate amount of sugar in a bit of water and put it the tank immediately before you bottle? This gets rid of the need to prime individual bottles.

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ageorge

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2693328 15-Apr-2021 16:54

Greetings.

//If you are using a secondary ferment to get rid of sediment, then why not mix up the appropriate amount of sugar in a bit of water and put it the tank immediately before you bottle? This gets rid of the need to prime individual bottles.

Yes I was going to do exactly that for the current brews, but for future brews I asked the question and I think you sorted it as I expected thanks matey.

Al.

jpoc

1034 posts

Uber Geek

#2693353 15-Apr-2021 17:48

I like to drink beer that is clear and not cloudy and which has the minimal amount of dead yeast at the bottom of the bottle.

Hence, I wait until the beer in the primary is clear.

ageorge

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2693355 15-Apr-2021 18:09

jpoc:
I like to drink beer that is clear and not cloudy and which has the minimal amount of dead yeast at the bottom of the bottle.

Hence, I wait until the beer in the primary is clear.

Typically how long does primary last for you?

andrewNZ

2487 posts

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Inactive user

#2693356 15-Apr-2021 18:21

A long time since I brewed, and I only brewed from a can. I also don't drink beer, the missus does, it's disgusting muck.

I used to wait till the airlock stopped bubbling, then bottle it the next weekend.
A brew took 2-3 weeks depending on temperature (4 weeks if it was really cold). I seem to remember a colder brew took longer but got better reviews from the drinker.

In the end I was doing cans with malt extract as a substitute for sugars, I don't remember the quantities but he result was a can brew with better body.

jpoc

1034 posts

Uber Geek

#2693517 15-Apr-2021 21:38

ageorge:
Typically how long does primary last for you?

10-14 days.

hsvhel

813 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#2693519 15-Apr-2021 21:44

10ish days for me also, if its stable at day 10/12, its good to bottle

Gurezaemon

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#2693532 15-Apr-2021 23:08

I'll wait until I can't hear any bubbling from the tanks, and then use clarifier, and bottle when I get the time. I've had brews sit in the tanks for 2-3 months quietly with no ill effects.

The clarifying agent does a decent job of making the final product pretty clear, so I haven't bothered with secondary ferments in years, but I'm thinking of giving it a go again just for a laugh.

Because of all the hassle with sterilizing bottles, etc., I find bottling very tedious, so I tend to brew 3-4 batches at one go, and then make a half-day out of bottling them all every 2-3 months.

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throbb

659 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2693556 16-Apr-2021 08:28

ageorge:

Hi there.

As I understand it, if you take an sg and its the same 3 days later, your brew is ready to bottle.

But that means you also have to prime and secondary ferment.

What Ive done a few times is to bottle early, when bubble activity is reduced usually around 7 days average temperature. Then there is no need to prime the bottles but this method is a bit hit and miss.

Is there a simple/dummy method where brewer knows his beer is ready to bottle so that he doesnt have to prime; and reliably?

Thanks, Al.

If you are priming in the bottles, buy the priming drops/tabs, then you just need to add one to each bottle. This is very fast and no hassle. You can also prime before bottling, syphon to a sterile bucket, add the dissolved sugar then bottle. You can also do this in the fermenter, but stir gently as not to disturb the sediment, then leave for 30min before bottling.

ageorge

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2693563 16-Apr-2021 08:48

throbb:

If you are priming in the bottles, buy the priming drops/tabs, then you just need to add one to each bottle. This is very fast and no hassle. You can also prime before bottling, syphon to a sterile bucket, add the dissolved sugar then bottle. You can also do this in the fermenter, but stir gently as not to disturb the sediment, then leave for 30min before bottling.

Hi Throbb.

Ive found from Youtube the priming tabs are sugar so will use my usual teaspoon per 750ml; my brewing vessels for one of the brews are 4L used and cleaned Water Bottles from Countdown.

The 1/2 brews are 3L each (3 x 3L=9L) so my mix will be 5 teaspoons per brewing vessel, which I will pour out first into another clean one omitting the bottom yeast and adding sugar to that, mix, then bottle from the new vessel.

Many different ways to achieve the same result.

Thanks some good tips in this thread.