conditioning and bottling?

[Marcus49]

G'day all.
I'm an absolute beginner at home brewing - I made my first batch about two weeks ago fom a Copper Tun kit (fermenter & h'ware) with a Mangrove Jack Classic Blonde Dry concebtrate kit. I may have been a tad impatient (or not read the instructions properly ) but I added the finings after only five days, then only gave it about 2 hours to settle before bottling - still seemed pretty cloudy to me, but smelled OK and taste test from hydrometer test was good - so I'll see what happens in a couple of weeks.
OK, that's my history, such as it is. I've just started a new brew - Morgans Australian Mid 3.5. The can says it shoukd take about 5-7 days to complete fermenting. I gather from the earlier replies in this thread that no harm, and probably even some good, will be done by leaving the beer in the fermenter for a longer period. I don't know what racking is so I'll decant and condition in the bottle.

[jello]

I highly recommend leaving the brew in the primary fermenter for longer. My minimum is two weeks. If using finings, i'd even leave it another day or so after adding it.

I wouldn't be too concerned about racking at this early stage of your brewing career. It's good for getting a clearer beer.

I would suggest concentrating on your sanitation and temperature control. Being in Cairns I can see you've had some constant temperature in the high 20's. This isn't ideal.

[bullfrog]

I'm with Jello; I leave all of my ales in primary for at least a fortnight. The instructions on your tin give guidelines on how to make beer quickly, as opposed to how to make it well. Ignore any temperature or timeline suggestions on your kit labels and try to keep your ales under or as close to 20 degrees as you can for about two weeks. The end result will be clearer and have a cleaner finish.

That all being said, welcome to the site, Marcus. There's a gabillion tricks that you can learn off this site to tweak how your beer ends up and it shouldn't be too long until you can't stand most commercial beers because they're just not as good as your own!

[Tipsy]

The instructions on your tin give guidelines on how to make beer quickly, as opposed to how to make it well.

That's such a simple statement that every new brewer should be told.

[Marcus49]

Thanks Guys -
Will take the Frog's comment re quickly vs well on board.
As far as temps go I started late in the evening, pitched the yeast at 23 deg, the nights are coolish, that's OK, but during the day I wrapped my car sunshade (front window variety, silver both sides) and that seems to act as a thermal blanket/insulator so the temp only varies by about 2 - 3 deg.

Have to get another sunshade though

[jello]

A wet towel wrapped around the fermenter in a bath tub with a few inches of water works nicely too.