Hello. I am brewing a blond ale. It is in the fermentation process for one week already and OG 1.048 and actual gravity 1.019. I have read here in forum that one more week in the fermentation tank to clean the beer is a good idea. is it?
Hey Andre - let’s see…
At 1.019, I’d expect some more fermentation to happen - (I’d want to see it around 1.010-1.014. Most commercial brewers end up more around 1.008) So just let it keep going. For now, the same temp and don’t change the pressure yet.
If you’re going into kegs (like a corny/soda keg), I’d skip the priming, but I suspect you mean mini-kegs. If you’ve let the beer ferment out to terminal, then yes - add a sugar syrup to the complete batch of beer before transferring into the kegs.
Good luck!
Rather than watching for a particular gravity, watch for the gravity to stop changing. When you get two or three identical readings over a few days, then you know the fermentation is finished.
Unless it’s an extract beer. In that case 1.019 might be a reasonable FG. And we don’t really know anything about the recipe.
About 5-10 points before reaching estimated final gravity, I like to raise the temperature of the beer about 5°F. This is just the way I encourage a complete finish.
Once I reach final gravity, I leave it at my final temperature for the same amount of time it took to get from starting gravity to finish gravity. For example, if it took 4 days to ferment from start to finish, I give it 4 days to rest. This is the way I encourage the yeast to metabolize any byproducts produced during fermentation.
I don’t close any valves that would allow pressure to build. Many others do.
If you can purge the mini kegs before filling that would be really good. Counterpressure would be better in my opinion.
I do referment a portion of my batch using a yeast and sugar solution though I use bottles vs kegs for this.