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Reoccuring Problem (fermentation)
The beer has been turning out great but.......................
My fermentation times are fast.................vigerous ferementation for three days then it drops off.............it doesn't seem to have any bad effects on the beers I am turning out though. I am bottling at under a week. I am happy with the product and everyone else enjoys it also...................
If I slow this process down will the product improve?
The room I ferment in is warm prob 72 degrees...........but its all I have. In the near future I will get a fridge.....but for now................should I be waiting more time? Bubbles are way under 1 every 2 mins out of airlock.
If I wait and leave the brew in the carboy longer..........where if any will it show improvement.
thanks in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I generally wait 2 weeks as a rule, just for things to settle down a little bit, Then I sometimes rack straight to bottles with no secondary, unless it's a pilsner. Alot of of yeasts start out fast, are you using one particular strain? is it a dry yeast, or a Liquid yeast. Try a few different yeasts, I can't see a beer being completely settled in a week, done fermentation yes, but bottling that soon could give some off flavors.
But on the other hand, if it's working for you, and your happy with it, keep using what works I say.
I think 72 degrees is a little too warm for room temperature. During fermentation the inside of your carboy/bucket is generally 5-10 degrees warmer than ambient temps. A higher fermentation temp usually means a quicker fermentation.
You don't need a dedicated fermentation fridge to get those temperatures down. You can use a "swamp bucket". When fermenting, I use a big rubbermaid bucket and fill it with room temp water and place my carboy inside of it. Then I usually add an ice pack or two and bring the water down a few degrees to whatever temperature I want to ferment at. You need to check on it a few times a day, especially during the first few days, to replace ice packs and check the temp but it works well and keeps temps within a few degrees.
If your beers have been coming out great then maybe those temps really aren't that high. But I'd try it out - generally, the better you can control your fermentation the better your beer will be.
And just because your beer is done fermenting doesn't mean extra time in the carboy won't do it any good. The yeast need time to clean up any by products and it gives the beer time to clear. I usually let my beers sit for 3 weeks before bottling or kegging.
It's the temp. I used to ferment at 75 due to that being the temp in my house and it was done in 3 days also. Beer was fine but when I installed a temp controller in a fridge so I could ferment lagers and fermented ales at 60 degrees it made a world of difference taste wise. It slowed it down to about a week for initial fermentation. Teh flavors were much much better.
DC
Most of my fermentation activity is done withing three days too, so that isn't a big deal. But the beer is still fermenting outing even though the airlocka ctivity is much less. The later stages of the process are very important to the final product. I usually ferment all my ales for at least 10 days, most of the time 14.
As for temps 72 is a little high when you consider the temp of the fermentation can be higher than that (as FirePit mentioned).
I ferment at 65-68F with controlled temp, but that isn't really necessary. Just get a cooler space, open a window or something.
Your beer will definately improve to a cleaner flavor if you get the temps down and if you let it go for a full 10-14 days.
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