Fermentation times

First off I am new to brewing, on my second extract brew now. My question is, is there a such thing as too long of a time in either primary or secondary fermentation. My instructions that have come with mine have said that the time in secondary is somewhat flexable. The next one I am looking at says two weeks. Maybe some styles require a stricter time frame?

Too long? Not really. Technically, if you leave it in there for many many months you could get some off flavors from autolysis (the yeast cells dying and decaying) but I've never heard anyone actually having a problem with it. Most homebrews get better the longer they sit.

scottatdrake said:

Too long? Not really. Technically, if you leave it in there for many many months you could get some off flavors from autolysis (the yeast cells dying and decaying) but I've never heard anyone actually having a problem with it. Most homebrews get better the longer they sit.

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Thanks for the info, this is all new to me!

I just replied to another post that I am only going to use primary fermentations now. I had a Belgian tripel in primary for 6 months with no off flavors or any adverse reactions whatever. I got full attenuation and I just sprinkled a packet of dry yeast in the bottling bucket and the batch carbed fully in a month. Now, I didn't plan on that long in primary but it showed me that, for me, a secondary is unnecessary. I'll probably shoot for 3 months and no longer in the primary but I won't worry about getting the batch into secondary like I used to.