[cptnpenguin]

So I cooked up my second beer ever yesterday, a belgian pale with malt extract (6lbs and .5lbs of sugar) and partial grain.  It's a 5 gallon recipe and I used safbrew t-58.  It's at about 65 degrees right now.  Totally forgot to ask my homebrew store that helped me put together the ingredients how long I should let the primary fermentation go and how long I should let it sit in the bottle.  I don't have a hydrometer so I couldn't take an initial reading anyways.  Approximately how long should I let it ferment in the primary and in the bottles?  Also, if I let it sit in the primary longer than needed is that bad?  Any help is much appreciated and I'm sure there are way more variables at work and would help in terms of timing but that's about all I got.

[denny]

I'd say let it ferment 2-3 weeks and get yourself a hydrometer in that time.  That's the only way to be sure it's really done and ready to bottle.  Once it's bottled, let the bottles sit at room temp (around 70F) for a couple weeks then try one.  If it's not carbed yet, let it sit a bit longer.

[cptnpenguin]

Thanks!  How will I know what my hydrometer should read if its done and ready?

[Joe Sr.]

There's no correct final gravity that your hydrometer "should" read.  If it's close to what you expect, that's great, but the important thing is that it is stable for a period of days.

[cptnpenguin]

so once it stays at the same reading for a couple days than it should be good to go?

[Joe Sr.]

Yes.  I would check it, wait a couple of days, and check it again.

With time, experience, and re-brewing you'll get to know where you expect a beer to end up.  Regardless, you want to be sure it's stable before you package it.

If you bottle before it's done, you can have exploding bottles (worst case) or simply over-carbonation (best case).

[Black Sands Brewery & Supply]

so once it stays at the same reading for a couple days than it should be good to go?

yes. it should read somewhere around 1.010 give or take a few points.