I kegged a batch of hefeweizen on Sunday morning and force carbonated. My all-grain recipe was a combination of several that I found online, but largely an original creation. The plan was to leave the batch in primary for a week and then transfer to secondary for three weeks or so. Life circumstances prevented me from racking the beer to secondary, so it sat in primary for nearly two and half weeks. One of the weizen recipes I consulted called for a two week primary fermentation with no secondary, so I went ahead and kegged without a secondary fermentation.
Things of note:
- Pitched one pouch of Wyeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat Blend in wort cooled to 64 degrees.
- Fermented at a steady 68 degrees (temperature controlled by putting it in my basement, which is really steadily 68 this time of year).
- Fermentation was really active for 4-5 days. After that, there was no visible sign of fermentation activity, however, I did not pull a sample until beer was kegged.
- The beer tasted good out of the carboy after 2.5 weeks (albeit 68 degrees and flat)
- On Monday night, the batch was sufficiently carbonated but tasted a little green; mostly a little too sweet. Definitely drinkable and on the right track, but I probably jumped the gun a little.
- The gravity right before kegging was very near the expected final gravity. Expected OG 1.051, expected FG 1.014; actual OG 1.056, actual FG 1.020.
Bottom line: the beer doesn't seem finished now that I've carbonated it. Should I leave it in the pressurized keg in the fridge and condition for a few weeks to a month; or should I release pressure, let it go flat, and put it back into a carboy to finish out?