How Long to Ferment

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JParks

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Hi all,

I have my second batch ever in the primary fermenter as I type this. It has been there for about 5 days. I wanted to ferment it for 14 days and then rack to the bottling bucket with no secondary fermentation.
Unfortunately, I'll be out of town for work for the next few weeks! I will have to bottle after 21 days in the fermenter now. Do I need to worry about autolysis or any other issues?

FYI- I'm brewing an Irish Stout using part grains and part extract.
 
i dont think you are going to have any problems leaving it in the fermentor longer than normal. I have left a beer in the primary for 2 weeks longer than the recipe said to and it turned out great! I have a buddy that left his in a ferm for 4 months. as long as the O2 isnt getting to it you should be fine.
 
No worries at all.

If you do a little research, you'll find that at the volumes we homebrewers work with, autolysis just doesn't happen. There's just not enough beer there to cause the pressures required to cause it to happen.

If you do a little reading around here, you'll find that many of us recommend leaving your beer in the primary for 3-4 weeks, then going straight to packaging as you're describing. That extra week or two will give the last of the yeast time to drop out of your beer and to finish cleaning up any fermentation byproducts that might be left behind.
 
From my experience, it's no big deal. I let pretty much all my beers sit in the primary for a month w/ no issues of autolysis. According to Mr. Palmer, if you have any autolysis, you know.
 
Leave your beer in the primary. Just relax and let the yeast and beer do its thing. If anything it will clean it up more.
 
Under a month shouldn't hurt it - I have a lot of friends who no longer do a secondary fermentation with most homebrew. That said, it certainly wouldn't hurt to rack it before you head out, as long as obvious signs of vigorous fermentation have subsided. If it still has a pillowy head of krausen and your fermentation lock or blow off is still bubbling rapidly, just let it go. 2 weeks then bottle seems a bit short for the style anyway.
 
stratslinger said:
No worries at all.

If you do a little research, you'll find that at the volumes we homebrewers work with, autolysis just doesn't happen. There's just not enough beer there to cause the pressures required to cause it to happen.

If you do a little reading around here, you'll find that many of us recommend leaving your beer in the primary for 3-4 weeks, then going straight to packaging as you're describing. That extra week or two will give the last of the yeast time to drop out of your beer and to finish cleaning up any fermentation byproducts that might be left behind.
Click to expand...

This^
It's hard, I actually had to go back to buying those bottles filled with beer while I waited. But now I have a batch 2 weeks in the bottle and another almost 3 weeks in the fermenter. My first extract batch I bottled after two weeks and started drinking (all of it) about a week later :drunk:
 
Thanks for relieving my worries!! I don't like being this far away from my precious fermenter while she does her thing haha.

Follow up question: The fermentor is sitting on the floor of a spare room in my home. When I am ready to move the brew over to the bottling bucket, I am afraid that picking up the fermentor to set it on the counter for siphoning will disturb the sediment thus transferring it to the bottling bucket and finally into the bottles. Should I move the fermentor to an elevated position now so that the sediment has time to settle? Or am I worrying for no reason?
 
JParks said:
Should I move the fermentor to an elevated position now so that the sediment has time to settle? Or am I worrying for no reason?
Click to expand...
I generally move fermentor to where I am going to bottle the night before bottling.
 
JParks said:
Thanks for relieving my worries!! I don't like being this far away from my precious fermenter while she does her thing haha.

Follow up question: The fermentor is sitting on the floor of a spare room in my home. When I am ready to move the brew over to the bottling bucket, I am afraid that picking up the fermentor to set it on the counter for siphoning will disturb the sediment thus transferring it to the bottling bucket and finally into the bottles. Should I move the fermentor to an elevated position now so that the sediment has time to settle? Or am I worrying for no reason?
Click to expand...

Let it sit after moving it. Even an hour will help. This is one of the places I have noticed that a longer time in the primary fermenter has helped. The yeast cake and trub left at the bottom of the bucket is much more firm.
 
moving it will not distub it that much...i normally move it and let it sit while i sanatize everything to rack it and by the time i am done with that it is pretty much settled back out.
 
You can also cold crash it then gently move it and let sit an hour it two before racking.
 
JParks said:
I'm pretty new to this so please bear with me. I'm not sure what you mean by cold crash. Can you explain?
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Put the whole vessel in the refrigerator for a couple of days. This will cause a lot of things in suspension to drop out and will help to clear the beer before you go to bottling or kegging.
 
nbolmer said:
Under a month shouldn't hurt it.
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I left a pumpkin ale brewed last Oct/Nov sitting in the primary till about 2 weeks ago (~4 months). (I had no intention of it, but stuff happens). It tastes great, though it's more of an amber ale now. I really don't believe autolysis is something to worry about.
 
nevertrustahipie said:
I left a pumpkin ale brewed last Oct/Nov sitting in the primary till about 2 weeks ago (~4 months). (I had no intention of it, but stuff happens). It tastes great, though it's more of an amber ale now. I really don't believe autolysis is something to worry about.
Click to expand...
lol, well look on the bright side, October is only about 6 months away now!
 
+1 on the just leave it. Unless I'm doing a wheat beer, my beers stay in primary 3 weeks minimum, usually 4 weeks. And with wheat beers, I usually bottle at 2 weeks. For an Irish stout I'd go for 4 weeks.

I also usually set my fermenter up on the counter a few hours before I bottle (or the night before if I won't be home prior to bottling).
 
Im new to brewin and have a true brew kit with brewers best ingredients. Instructions say 2 weeks ferment and 2 weeks secondary in carboy. Is there any real reason to transfer it to a secondary for this type of beer? As it will prolly b cloudy anyways? Or will keepin it in ferment bucket spoil it. Cheers lads and happy st. Paddys
 
pfantzy said:
Im new to brewin and have a true brew kit with brewers best ingredients. Instructions say 2 weeks ferment and 2 weeks secondary in carboy. Is there any real reason to transfer it to a secondary for this type of beer? As it will prolly b cloudy anyways? Or will keepin it in ferment bucket spoil it. Cheers lads and happy st. Paddys
Click to expand...

Do 3 weeks primary and then bottle. Secondary is usually for dry hopping, fruit additions, wooding, long fermentations (aging).
 
I move my fermenter an hour or so prior to bottling too. Unless you shake like an earthquake, you will be okay. More time in the primary for heavier beers is better.
 
pfantzy said:
Im new to brewin and have a true brew kit with brewers best ingredients. Instructions say 2 weeks ferment and 2 weeks secondary in carboy. Is there any real reason to transfer it to a secondary for this type of beer? As it will prolly b cloudy anyways? Or will keepin it in ferment bucket spoil it. Cheers lads and happy st. Paddys
Click to expand...

I wouldn't go by the fermentation instructions. Leave it in there till its done (which is whenever it tastes good after fermentation has stopped). How long after it tastes good is up to you. I try to brew once a month, so I usually bottle after 4 weeks in primary so i can do all my cleaning at once.

:off:Beer (at least most beer styles) does NOT get better with age it gets less bad. Focus more on what you do before fermentation and controlling the conditions during fermentation than just the time in your primary and you'll be making great beer consistently.:off:
 
My two cents: I would transfer it to a secondary before leaving town, provided that your gravity has stabilized. You're really not going to get much, if any, benefit from leaving it in the primary for that extra week - but transferring it to the secondary will likely help you get a clearer beer and will make siphoning it into the bottling bucket a lot easier. That being said, and as others have pointed out, there's probably not any harm in just leaving it.
 
Thank you for your help. I will get tell you what happens. Im buying more kits to increase production, and cant wait to get goin with an arrray of summer beers. Im hopin to learn everythin and anythin i can from you guys. Thanks again. Cheers
 

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