Runs With Beer

You want to leave your beer in the fermenter long enough for fermentation to finish. Of course, that is difficult to exactly determine unless you take a sample of your wort and use a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity before adding yeast and take another sample or two when you think fermentation is complete, (a day or two apart, but, several days after fermentation started).
There are many variables that come into play that impact the fermentation time frame, such as: type of beer, amount of fermentable sugars, yeast type and strain, temperature during fermentation, etc.
If you have a hydrometer, take a small sample of your beer several days after fermentation begins but after you think the beer is fermented enough to bottle and then, do the same the day after…when the specific gravity doesn’t change…the beer is ready to bottle. If the specific gravity changes, keep taking small samples every day or two, until there is no change.
If you don’t have a hydrometer, keep an eye on your beer…a good rule of thumb is to give it about 8 -10 days in the fermenter, keeping an eye on the air-lock…before transferring it to either a secondary fermenter or your bottling bucket and then into bottles (after adding priming sugar). If the air-lock doesn’t seem to have any activity after 8-10 days, it is probably ready for bottling. Try not to leave your fermented beer in the original fermenter for more than necessary because it can develop off-flavors. I’ve left mine in the fermenter for up to 15-20 days and didn’t notice any off flavors but, I try to remove the fermented beer as soon as fermentation is done, usually, 8-10 days.
Although it is not necessary for most simple home-brews, I often transfer my beer to a secondary fermenter and let it clear for an additional 1-4 weeks before bottling/kegging and sometimes, for my stronger beers, a couple months.
Bottling – let your beer age in the bottles, undisturbed, in a cool (not cold), dark place (like a basement or in a closet) for at least a couple weeks before putting in the refrigerator…this allows the beer to carbonate naturally. I’ve let my beer carbonate in the bottle for as little as one week but, two weeks is better…longer even, if you can wait, is better, as the beer flavor seems to improve. Less than a week in the bottle will probably be under-carbonated…When that’s done…enjoy!
Hope that helps!

What type of fish do they use?

i have 4.2 if i never update any more will i be good from getting bricked

3-6 months, depending on how well it’s bottled and stored.

This particular batch fermented in just a few days-I still want to wait at least 10 until I bottle-should I hit it with another dose of yeast?

The key is the exposure to oxygen…also the temperture, style of beer, and alcohol content.
If you fill your keg, seal it, then turn on the CO2 at low pressure and pull open the pressure release to bleed off the oxygen…you should be fine at room/cellar temperature for at least 6 months before you start noticing a drop in freshness.
If you are storing it cold, it’s more like 9 months.
If it’s a high-gravity beer, you can pretty much store it indefinitely. Your flavors will change as the beer ages, but generally not in an unpleasant way.

I’d like to make an Oktoberfest but don’t currently have the equipment to lager. Can I still make it and ferment at 65-70? And would I still ferment the same amount of time? Or would this completely ruin my beer? If I HAVE to lager? What do I need to buy? A frig big enough for my fermenting bucket I’m guessing? Thanks!

Some say the longer you leave it the better it tastes. Is that true?

I used a batch with crown seals and the beer is flat. I’d been told the glass is quite thin so I was quite careful….Maybe i should have hit them a lot harder !