Moving to school in one week, but I have a beer in the primary!!

Okay guys...before commenting understand that I kind of knew I was getting myself into this before hand, but I needed to make one more brew before heading back to school for the summer!

Okay...so I brewed an Ordinary bitter a week ago from this last Saturday and due to good fermentation temps and a lack of a yeast starter this brew is still fermenting. The airlock has been bubbling once every 40 seconds or so (I don't like to take hydro samples for fear of oxidizing the brew). I usually like to secondary my brews at least one week before bottling, but that is not going to be possible since I am leaving for Purdue Saturday morning!!

If it were you, would you...
1. Bottle straight from the primary
2. Keep it in the primary until fermentation completes, secondary the beer for the few days available, and then bottle it Friday night before you leave.
3. Keep it in the primary until fermentation completes, then secondary the brew until the fourth of July when you can come home to bottle it.

Any suggestions????

I spent a good amount of effort trying to make this beer as authentic as possible by using a good base malt (Crisp MO) and a nice liquid yeast (WLP002 English Ale Yeast, I think??), so I would not like ruin it by trying to speed up the process.

I would leave it for the entire time between now and July 4th on the yeast cake, then bottle it that weekend...You will have an amazingly clear, crisp and clean tasting beer, becasue once fermentation is complete, the yeast will go back and clean up after themselves.

I've started keeping all my beers on the yeast for a month, and MY GOD how they have improved...You don't need a secondary, because the yeast does all the work!!!

If you've worked hard on this beer, doing that will really put it over the edge...

(and if any n00b brings up the Dreaded Autolysis Bugaboo, I simply refer you to the final paragraph on the topic in Palmer's How to Brew)

As a final note on this subject, I should mention that by brewing with healthy yeast in a well-prepared wort, many experienced brewers, myself included, have been able to leave a beer in the primary fermenter for several months without any evidence of autolysis.

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Go with #3. It's not going to hurt the beer any and you'll be much happier with the results than you would if you bottled it too soon.

nl724 said:

(I don't like to take hydro samples for fear of oxidizing the brew)

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I had to stop reading right there. You're not going to hurt the beer by taking hydro readings, or oxidize it to any perceivable extent. Fermentation is not 'over' in any set time period. Fermentation is complete when your hydro readings are stable several days in a row.

Ordinary Bitter doesn't need a lot of aging (assuming you made it to style guidelines for OG) so if fermentation is complete you could bottle friday. It won't be as clear and you'll get more sediment in the bottles but it will be fine. But ONLY if fermentation is complete and you can only know this by taking hydrometer readings (+1 to what blacklab said).

All that said if it were me I'd just leave it in primary until you get back. If you will have the time, dry hop it for a week before bottling.

As far as Oxidizing it. There is a layer of CO2 protecting your beer. What do you think all those bubbles are. Oxygen will not get in while taking your hydro sample.

nl724 said:

The airlock has been bubbling once every 40 seconds or so (I don't like to take hydro samples for fear of oxidizing the brew).

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If that were a problem then WHY would all the books, like Papazian's, & Palmer, etc....and every recipe have a OG/FG mentioned, and every forum talk about using hydrometers??? If that were a danger then it wouldn't be so highly recommended....

Since there's so many things mentioned in books NOT to do...If it were harmful, don't you think it would be mentioned among them?

Ok, this may no be the "right" answer...but it's mine:

If it were me, I'd bottle on Friday as long as the hyrometer readings were steady for the past 3 days. I like beer...I like it a lot, and I don't necessarily need it to be "perfect" before I drinks it . I'd rather have my own beer to drink for my first few weeks of school. Now if it were a bigger beer that needed to condition a while, I would definitely leave it until you get back from school.

4. Leave it in the primary & bottle on the 4th. Since it's an Ordinary Bitter, you would be able to drink it at that point without waiting for carbonation.

Revvy said:

If that were a problem then WHY would all the books, like Papazian's, & Palmer, etc....and every recipe have a OG/FG mentioned, and every forum talk about using hydrometers??? If that were a danger then it wouldn't be so highly recommended....

Since there's so many things mentioned in books NOT to do...If it were harmful, don't you think it would be mentioned among them?

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Yeah I guess...I just figured that the less you expose the wort to open air the better off you are...so If I can avoid it, why check using a hydrometer for three days in a row?

nl724 said:

Yeah I guess...I just figured that the less you expose the wort to open air the better off you are...so If I can avoid it, why check using a hydrometer for three days in a row?

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But you're not exposing your beer to oxygen by taking the airlock off and dipping your wine thief in there (especially if you are using Better Bottles or carboys). First, there is a blanket of CO2 on top of the liquid. Second, diffusion of oxygen into water-like liquids is *extremely* slow - it'd take hours if not days for any noticeable oxidation to occur. As long as you don't splash or stir the beer, you have nothing to be worried about. Just make sure your sanitation is up to par so that you don't introduce any undesirable microorganisms into the brew.

nl724 said:

Yeah I guess...I just figured that the less you expose the wort to open air the better off you are...so If I can avoid it, why check using a hydrometer for three days in a row?

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If it hasn't changed in three days then fermentation is complete...Some people do it twice, skipping a day in between...It's the same principle.

But If you are leaving your beer in primary for a month there's no need to take it, because you aren't determining if it's done fermenting to rack...Since I started doing that, I just wait and take it at bottling time to calculate ABV.

Revvy said:

If it hasn't changed in three days then fermentation is complete...Some people do it twice, skipping a day in between...It's the same principle.

But If you are leaving your beer in primary for a month there's no need to take it, because you aren't determining if it's done fermenting to rack...Since I started doing that, I just wait and take it at bottling time to calculate ABV.

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Okay...cool...I might start changing my technique. I have mostly fermented with dry yeast, and so it is really obvious...at least I think?...when fermentation completes. Usually it is done in about 3-4 days and then I transfer to a secondary a few days later. I used to just transfer from primary to secondary after one week, leave in the secondary for a week or two and then bottle. This method has produced pretty good results with the yeast.

I have never solely used a primary...I might try this with the Ordinary Bitter because the English ale yeast is supposed to produce fairly clear beer.

It somewhat depends on how your stock of homebrew is, if you have enough to last till july, I'd say the safter method is to secondary till then. Otherwise I'd leave it in primary till the last day, check that it is done (estimated FG) then bottle it and condition in bottle.

nl724 said:

since I am leaving for Purdue Saturday morning!!

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The other option is to go to a good school like Indiana University

nl724 said:

I have never solely used a primary...I might try this with the Ordinary Bitter because the English ale yeast is supposed to produce fairly clear beer.

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I never did either, and something happened and I didn't have time to either rack or bottle, and having read about yeast cleanup post fermentation, I decided to leave it...and like I said earlier, WOW! Big difference.

I did yooper's Dead guy clone this way, and it is like a jewel in terms of clarity, and it tastes amazingly crisp and clean.

Revvy said:

I never did either, and something happened and I didn't have time to either rack or bottle, and having read about yeast cleanup post fermentation, I decided to leave it...and like I said earlier, WOW! Big difference.

I did yooper's Dead guy clone this way, and it is like a jewel in terms of clarity, and it tastes amazingly crisp and clean.

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What percentage of your brews do you only use a primary fermentation vessel? How long do you leave them ferment in the primary for, on average?

If it were me, I'd just skip the 1st week of school! :rockin:

nl724 said:

What percentage of your brews do you only use a primary fermentation vessel? How long do you leave them ferment in the primary for, on average?

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Lately it has been 75% are in primary for a month then to bottle (right around 3 1/2 -4 weeks depending on my schedule.)

I'm only using a secondary now if I'm planing on adding, or think I may be adding something to the beer. For example a fruit beer; I'd rack the beer onto fruit in the secondary. (I just did that for a mead.)

I secondary my ginger orange dortmunder, I have found that it usually benefits from having a 1/2 cup of pasturized orange juice added to it.

nl724 said:

What percentage of your brews do you only use a primary fermentation vessel? How long do you leave them ferment in the primary for, on average?

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I know you asked Revvy but my last 5 batches were only done in primary at exactly 1 month (give or take a couple of days). They've all been super clear.

Revvy said:

Lately it has been 75% are in primary for a month then to bottle (right around 3 1/2 -4 weeks depending on my schedule.)

I'm only using a secondary now if I'm planing on adding, or think I may be adding something to the beer. For example a fruit beer; I'd rack the beer onto fruit in the secondary. (I just did that for a mead.)

I secondary my ginger orange dortmunder, I have found that it usually benefits from having a 1/2 cup of pasturized orange juice added to it.

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A4J said:

I know you asked Revvy but my last 5 batches were only done in primary at exactly 1 month (give or take a couple of days). They've all been super clear.

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Thanks guys...unfortunately I won't be able to transfer in a month from now. Will aging the bitter around 75-80 be a problem for a couple weeks? My basement gets a little warmer during the summer and I don't know if I can rely on my family to cool off the carboy while I'm gone.

nl724 said:

Thanks guys...unfortunately I won't be able to transfer in a month from now. Will aging the bitter around 75-80 be a problem for a couple weeks? My basement gets a little warmer during the summer and I don't know if I can rely on my family to cool off the carboy while I'm gone.

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If it's fermented out then it should be okay... can you lay your hands on a rubbermade tub/ storage bin and a t-shirt? Putting the fermenter in the tub with water and a t-shirt over it to wick the water up WILL cool it down a bit, even without someone adding frozen bottles of water every few days.

Out of the 6 batches I have made, the only one that I wasn't happy with was the one that I rushed.

Let it be. There are worse things than waiting a few more weeks for your home brew.

I just wanted to interject quickly here.....that SUCKS you have to go back to school this early, I practically just went on summer break! Rough, anyway, good luck! I would def. let it sit, nothing good comes from rushing brew. Plus, the beer will only be aged more if you let it sit, but the beer might not be ready/ ruined if you rush it. You decide

Over the past few days I have been testing out the wet t-shirt method for cooling the carboy in order to see how effective it is before I leave, but it doesn't seem to work that well. I think the only way for it to work well is to use ice as well. Any last suggestions on topic thread in general or cooling a carboy...I have to make my decision tonight after work, so last call for advice!! By the way, thanks to all those that have chimed in

I wrote up what I've been doing in someone's thread yesterday.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=703214&postcount=6

I've managed to keep the temps below 70 for 2 weeks now, (With temp spikes in my apartment into the 80's- I refuse to turn my air on yet) without being too consistant with adding frozen water bottles...I've only added them every couple of days.