How long should you ferment a American Pale Ale?

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Hey guys seems there is a bit of a debate going on here about the waiting for fermentation period of an APA. I believe it is 4 weeks then bottle for 2 to 3 weeks for carbonation and conditioning. What are your thoughts please??? The recipe I got from  Brewshop said 6 weeks from brewing to bottle ready.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

My current beer in fermenter will be 3 weeks this Saturday, it has a large krausen layer over the top beer at the moment too. I just can't fathom why some are saying from grain to drinking in 12 days!!! For ales? Mine is a APA too.

[Cain Harland]

To get from grain to glass in 12 days you would have to be pressure fermenting. Thas a much quicker process and it carbonates during primary fermentation so No wait after bottling or kegging.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

So you recommend that I keep fermenting for 4 weeks? I had a look tonight and it has a good krausen later on it, did a gravity reading and is at 1.014 the OG was 1.053 and real heavy in particles floating trial jar. My first came out super clear too.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

That's layer not later.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

And that 4 weeks total fermentation time is far too long for an APA.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

It would seem there is a general consensus that around 3 to 4 weeks is about right.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/primary-fermentation-... have a read of these guys posts, most don't believe in secondary fermenters either and neither do I just let it sit for that period then bottle conditioning 2 to 3 weeks. Do you agree?

[Sam DT]

The old rule is 1-2-3 meaning one in primary, two in secondary, three in bottle - I would say the majority of people don't use secondaries any more that would become 3-3 three in primary - three in bottle. This is time at fermentation temperature - you'd be fine with using the last few days of primary to cold crash but not much more. The yeast can't do their thing at 4 degrees...

The main advantage of going to the full three weeks is that it gives the yeast time to clean up bi-products and give you a cleaner beer - the actual initial fermentation will have finished after 5-7 days so technically if all you cared about was alcohol you could bottle there (see supermarket kit brew instructions) but you wouldn't get the clean flavor of a three week fermentation .

On the flip side you don't want to to too long (over a month in general but can depend on the beer and style) as you start to run in to issues around hop aroma loss, oxidation if you use plastic fermentors, yeast auto-lysis, saponification, possibly infection etc. 

I'm surprised you still have a Krausen after three weeks - this usually drops out after the initial fermentation - although some yeast strains like to hang around - might be worth uploading a picture.

[Craig Howard]

The old rule is 1-2-3 meaning one in primary, two in secondary, three in bottle

What does it do in the secondary that it wouldnt do in the bottle while conditiioning?

My first brew was a Williams Warne Kit APA...was 9 days in Primary and straight to bottle for 3 weeks plus.

Great drinking at 3 weeks plus and even better subsequently. ie 5 and 6 weeks etc....

This kind of adds up to 1,2,3

[Sam DT]

Good point, I'm not sure, I guess there might be a little less yeast in the bottle so perhaps the process might take a little longer?

Also it'd probably give it more time to clear out giving you less sediment into the bottle?

May also be some impact from the change in pressure and pH from carbonation but that's pure speculation.

[Sam DT]

Actually, pressure fermentation inhibits ester production so you'd have less cleanup to do in the first place anyway. I've made good beer using kegging in under three weeks grain to glass, it's definitely do-able but I would say it was better after another couple of weeks. Extra large yeast pitch, ramped fermentation temp and gelatin all help. There are some good articles on speed brewing out there but at the end of the day time is a good thing

[Craig Howard]

Time is a good thing... and therefore patience is a must.

I have started stretching primary towards 2 weeks and now I am raising my bottle conditioning temps to a constant 20 degrees.

Taste at 3 after that but knowing 5 weeks + is better.  I think it needs that to ensure the priming/carb sugars are gone.  Its always a tad sweeter at early tasting. I prefer it as it bitters.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

This is the photo, and before someone chimes in and says that's an infection, I don't believe so. It smells great! I want to dry hop and cold crash but now not sure on which one to do first and when?