Leave in secondary, or just bottle

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NavyPunk426

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Hello everyone,
This is my first post on this site. I've been lurking around for months now and have noted all kinds of good advice, but I've got a question I can't find an answer to.

Here's a quick rundown:
My second brew is sitting in the secondary and has been for the past 2 weeks. I had it in the primary for 2 weeks as well. The gravity has not changed in the past week and a half. I'm leaving on a 2 week trip in a couple of days. Besides the beer becoming clearer, is there any advantage to leave it in the secondary for the 2 weeks I am gone, or should I just bottle?

Thanks for everyone's time!
Ryan
 
As long as you gravity has stabilized (usually for 3 days) AND it's within the range for the style of beer then it's ready to bottle.

If you can't find the time to bottle just check the airlock and refill as necessary and it can wait until you come back.:D

And, welcome.
 
Looks like you've done what the secondary is good for. Bottle the stuff and when you get back it should be ready to try :)
 
If you bottle now, it will be carbonated & almost be ready to drink when you get back.

If you wait, you'll not be rushing the bottling process.
 
bottle it before you leave, especially if you are dry hopping since it may give the beer off-flavors if you dry hop for more than 2 weeks.
 
NavyPunk426 said:
is there any advantage to leave it in the secondary for the 2 weeks I am gone,
Bulk aging is better than bottle aging in most cases. It will also be more clear when youdo bottle it.
 
In theory (where KornKob assures us everything works) I'd bottle now so it would be ready when I got back. But in reality (where I actually live and don't always work so well), I'd procrastinate and leave it to condition in the carboy.

Procrastination really is a good trait for homebrewers, I think.
 
Thanks for everyone's response! I think I will go ahead and bottle it. I just wanted to make sure I'm good. I didn't want this brew turn out like my first one (a SNPA clone). It was undrinkable. I even let it age for 6 months while I was on another "trip" and it was still horrible.

Thanks everyone!
Ryan
 
By your name i am going to assume what your job is, in doing this i have to ask if that six month "trip" is in a submarine? That would suck for someone who is 6'6" like myself. Im getting all claustrophbic just thinking about it.
 
The tallest (6'3') person on my sub was the exective officer, who was a real academy brat. We always enjoyed it when he got excited & forgot to duck!
 
Reverend JC said:
By your name i am going to assume what your job is, in doing this i have to ask if that six month "trip" is in a submarine? That would suck for someone who is 6'6" like myself. Im getting all claustrophbic just thinking about it.

Well, I'm not on a submarine, but my ship isn't that much bigger. Actually, this whole homebrewing idea came from a buddy and I looking into distilling moonshine while we're out to sea for extended periods of time. I did some research and came to the conclusion it was very impractical (and not to mention illegal). I looked into homebrewing and saw it was also impractical for sea use, but might be cool for something to do while I was at home.

Anyways, I just finished up bottling my second brew on everyone advice. Only broke one bottle :) But like my first beer, it has the same strange aftertaste. Nowhere near as prevalent, but still there. I can't really describe the taste, but I know it's not normal. It's still drinkable. Even uncarbonated. I ran out of bottles with a little less than a gallon left to bottle (newbie mistake, I know), I didn't want to waste it, so I chugged. I have a pretty nice buzz going on :cross: So at least that part of the process worked. And yes, I am kinda a lush :) Oh well, we'll see how everything works in a few weeks.

Thanks everyone!
Ryan
 
you said you were getting a strange taste. Any way of describing that taste? If you can, there are plenty of smart people on here that can help you with the causes of it. Or you pick up a copy of The Joy to Homebrewing, there is a section it that describes all the off taste that homebrew can get and what causes them.

I know my friend in his first homebrew came out tasting like band-aids. Turns out he didn't properly rinse the bleach from his bottles when he cleaned them with bleach. Ruined his first and only batch. Now he depends on me for his homebrew fix.

Welcome aboard.
 
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