How long does it take to ferment craft beer?

That many people have tasted craft beer, but how long does it take to ferment the craft beer equipment? There are a lot of people who don't know, and if you're thinking about brewing beer for the first time, you'll have a lot of questions. One of them will be how long it takes to make beer. The best answer is – it depends. There are various recipes, brewing methods, and fermentation methods.

The production process of craft beer is a biological fermentation process, and the sugars in the wort are decomposed and utilized by yeast. Fermentation produces ethanol and CO2 and some fermentation by-products, which shows that the whole process is completely completed by the conversion of yeast. So, the length of fermentation time depends on whether the living conditions of the yeast are suitable.

Fermentation Process

In the brewing process of beer, there are three processes: saccharification, fermentation, and wine storage. Fermentation is a critical stage in beer making and it determines the quality of your product. The final brewing stage is when the yeast uses the sugar and converts it into alcohol. It usually lasts for at least two weeks.

Factors Affecting

• Temperature

The fermentation process is to add yeast to the cooled wort and send it to a fermentation tank or a cylindrical cone bottom fermentation tank for fermentation and use a coil or jacket to cool and control the temperature. During the following fermentation, the largest temperature is controlled at 8 to 13°C. The fermentation process is divided into the foaming period, the high foaming period, and the low foaming period. Generally, the fermentation is carried out for 5 to 10 days. The fermented beer is called tender beer, with strong bitterness, rough taste, and low CO2 content, which is not suitable for drinking.

The fermentation temperature at the bottom is low, and the inoculation temperature is generally controlled at 5-8 °C. The most temperature of low temperature fermentation is controlled at 7.5~9℃, the most temperature of high temperature fermentation is controlled at 10~ 13℃, and the temperature at the end of fermentation is controlled at 4~5℃. By lowering the temperature to make the yeast agglomerate and precipitate, the concentration of yeast cells in the wine will be reduced, and the wine will become clearer. The main fermentation time of bottom fermentation is generally 7 to 10 days. The low-temperature and slow-fermented wine has a soft and mellow flavor, delicate and lasting foam, and good quality, but the equipment use rate is low.

• Concentration

Under certain conditions of temperature, yeast species, and wort composition, the higher the concentration, the longer the fermentation time. The fermentation time of 10P wort concentration and 16P concentration must be different.

• Dissolved Oxygen

During the cooling process, the wort is aerated to provide oxygen for the yeast to multiply. Different yeast species have different requirements for dissolved oxygen content. The oxygen content of 4 mg/L is called the half-saturated state, and 40 mg/L is called the oxygen-saturated state. Yeast oxygen demand varies from 4 to 40 mg/L due to different yeast species. In the early stage of fermentation, oxygen is absorbed for phosphorylation to generate ATP, which provides the energy needed for yeast cell reproduction . So, the oxygen content of the wort is also a factor that affects the fermentation speed.

• Time

When the wort composition, yeast activity, and fermentation degree requirements are determined, the fermentation time depends on the temperature. The higher the fermentation temperature, the shorter the fermentation time. The lower the fermentation temperature, the longer the fermentation time.

The above 4 points are the main factors, and the uncertainty of each factor will lead to the extension of fermentation time. The length of fermentation time is reflected in the requirements of the fermentation process, which stipulates the yeast and type, fermentation temperature and fermentation time. The post-ripening fermentation time of beer is only about a week on average. But the brewed beer must be more than a month old.