Too Long in the Primary???

I have been out of town for a very long time and am not able to transfer my Honey Brown to my keg. The SG was 1.050 and it will be sitting in the primary for about 40-45days at 68F. Am I ok here or will I have some problems with this beer?

You should be OK. I have heard people here say they have gone 3 months with no problems. Depends on teh brew I suppose. Darker is better.

I've heard of ppl going three months, but mainly with bigger beers. I guess at 1.050 it could have been worse and I was going to let it sit in the primary a little longer than normal due to the honey. So, I'm not too worried. But six weeks is a long time.

I have gone 30 days before. I think you will be OK. Rack to a 2ndary or keg/bottle. I think the autolysis issue is very unlikely. If you rack to 2ndary I bet it will be nice and clean. In fact, this beer may turn out the be really good at an early age once you have it carbed.

I always keep my beer in the primary 21 days and as long as 28. You won't know until you rack. I'd try moving the 2ndary and steal a sample. If its not rubbery smelling or tastes like rubber then you are good to go.

Schlenkerla said:

If its not rubbery smelling or tastes like rubber then you are good to go.

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If it has the rubber properties, is that something that can be fixed or am I screwed?

rubber = screwed.

however, i'd say you have about a 0.00001% chance of autolysis. your beer is fine.

thanks...i like my odds

Slappy White said:

If it has the rubber properties, is that something that can be fixed or am I screwed?

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I think you are screwed, however I have never had this occur. Nor has anybody I know had this happen. I think it very unlikely that its turned bad if the fermentation temp was good and so was your sanitation. BTW - I read this in JP's How to Brew.

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Autolysis

If it happened to me I would add some more honey or brown sugar and repitch with S-05. Not too much sugar, no more than 20% of the total fermentables. If you can't do this, make a starter with about the same amount of hop bittering units or IBU's as your finished beer.

The thought here is maybe the yeast will scrub up whatever is in the beer giving it that odd taste. S-05 finishes very clean.

Good Luck! I believe the odds are strongly in your favor.

Edit: I reviewed the autolysis section it looks like this can occur after several months.

RDWAIDAHB

Shouldn't be a problem at all. I just kegged a batch (1.056 OG) that's been sitting in primary for 6 weeks. I would have left it in there longer without a second thought, but wanted to free up some carboys.

People seem not to notice that Palmer's passage on autolysis is in the Lager section...AND they don't seem to pay attention to the last paragragh..

John Palmer said:

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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I'm sure you will be fine...RDWHAHB

thanks guys...I feel a lot better

I'm one of the folks who did three months with a fairly low gravity beer. The beer turned out great. We have a few bottles left and it's one of hubby's favorites.