My IPA has me SO EXCITED

[fidcastro]

My first homebrew (done with the help of a friend) is bubbling away. After about 30 hours it bubbled pretty rapidly, but now (day 3) it has slowed to a steady 2-5 second bubble. I think it should be ready to rack to a secondary on Monday?

Hoping to bottle a week from Friday. Is that too soon?

How do I really know?

Fid

[S.F.B.]

Congrats on your first brew! Nothing like a nice IPA for the warm months coming.

The method I use is to wait until the air lock is bubbling once every 90 seconds. This can be anywhere from 5-15 days. I don't put a limit on it. Once it is doing this I take a gravity reading. If it is in the zone I want, I go ahead and rack to the secondary.

I learned to not rush the brew to the bottle a while back. Have patience and call on your brewing friends for help.

[fidcastro]

Thanks for the advice S.F.B.

I am trying to be patient. But it hurts!

I just want to bottle before I go to Belgium. I leave in exactly two weeks. Hopefully it will be ready.

Fid

[barley ben]

definitly check the gravity. you dont want to still have too many fermentable sugars in there and then prime with some more and head to another country. you may come home to a huge mess when you get home and find they over pressurize and blew up. that could really ruin your day when you get home from a great vacation and are ready to hit up the new brew and find a mess like that.

[S.F.B.]

Originally posted by fidcastro
I just want to bottle before I go to Belgium. I leave in exactly two weeks. Hopefully it will be ready.

Fid

It might be cutting a little close. You may be bottling the night before you leave. Depending on the length of your trip, you could always leave it in the secondary while you are gone. I have left beer in a secondary for 45 days before bottling. It carbonated slower but was really good beer.

[BucksBrew]

You want to get a final gravity reading that remains the same 3 days apart.

Also take your Starting Gravity reading and take 75% off for an estimated Final Reading.

Take readings based on what the instructions tell you (5-15 days). The beer will still burp even though it's finished fermenting. I know, because I left an ale in the secondary for 4 weeks thinking it was still fermenting. When it was just producing CO2.

I just made an IPA Monday nite. It started pushing the airlock up 30 minutes into the ferment, prob CO2, and I had active ferment going on at 20 hours. Getting the wort aerated is important! Splash and wisk air into wort like your fluffing eggs with a wisk.

I'll rack to secondary after 5 days, dry hop it. Let it sit I guess another 5 days then siphon to bottle bucket to bottle condition for 6-8 weeks. That's if I can wait. I usually can't!