Stout fermenting time

Have an oatmeal stout from an extract kit in the fermenting bucket. Wasn't planning to go to secondary, just leave it where it is until bottling time. The directions I'm following say leave it in the primary for two weeks. My question is, would I gain anything by leaving it for another week or so? Two weeks doesn't seem like a long time.

When it's done it's done. Gravity readings are the only way to tell. On that note, is it a high gravity stout? The higher the gravity, the longer it will take to condition/mature. There is certainly no harm in leaving it in the fermenter longer though.

Some would say longer is better. Certainly no harn though.

I have a milk/sweet stout fermenting 1.082. In day 14. I plan on leaving it for another week then secondary to clean up for another week before I bottle. So far my system works well without any problem.

It started at 1.048. So it won't hurt it to go another week, but it sounds like I don't really gain anything?

DDQ said:

It started at 1.048. So it won't hurt it to go another week, but it sounds like I don't really gain anything?

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If anything it things will clear up more

The yeast tend to clean up the beer if left for longer. If it makes you feel better I just bottled an imperial stout that was on the yeast cake for 2 months.

Very helpful, thanks everyone. I think I'll give at least another week, that helps my schedule a lot!

"Very helpful, thanks everyone. I think I'll give at least another week, that helps my schedule a lot"

Just for future reference, letting it sit an extra week or so is never going to hurt anything. You could let it sit an extra month and it won't hurt anything. If you can't get to bottling during a week, you don't have to worry at all about putting it off. Once it is beer, it is going to stay beer for an extended period of time.

On the flip side, you can't make it go a week faster.

billl said:

"Very helpful, thanks everyone. I think I'll give at least another week, that helps my schedule a lot"

Just for future reference, letting it sit an extra week or so is never going to hurt anything. You could let it sit an extra month and it won't hurt anything. If you can't get to bottling during a week, you don't have to worry at all about putting it off. Once it is beer, it is going to stay beer for an extended period of time.

On the flip side, you can't make it go a week faster.

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The only things that would tend to go downhill are wheat beers and hops-forward beers. These tend to be best fresh, and lose a little bit as they age. They won't go bad with an extra week, but they might have been SLIGHTLY better. But an extra week is usually no problem, but unneeded if your ferm temps were good, it was a smaller beer, etc.

I am in the same boat - I have a sweet stout thats been fermenting for about a week. I know that I should leave it in there for at least 2 more weeks, but everyday I look at the calendar and calculate the two-week mark.

I have an Oktoberfest conditioning, it hits the two week mark this weekend. Same story - I know another week for that would be great, but I seriously don't know if I can make it.

I have been drinking the store-bought, brown, pop-tops like Sam Adams and Guiness just to make sure I will have enough bottles when the time is right. I have plenty, trust me.

Must... wait .... longer... Can't.... hold .. out... ( pssshhhtt )

Hmmm.. on that note, we need some kind of support group for those of us who can't resist the urges.

I tend to find it easier to "wait" for a beer by transferring it to a secondary. After 2 weeks primary (or 3 for a stout), the act of transferring to a secondary gives me a chance to see and smell my beer, and to interact with it (yeah, i said interact with my beer). It lets me confirm that everything is going well. It's sort of like stopping for lunch at the half way point of a long road trip.
However, what I cannot deal with is waiting 2 weeks for my beer to bottle condition - that kills me because there they are, right in front of me. Oh well, it's all part of the obsession.