How long can I leave brew in primary?

My brew has been in the primary fermentor for 9 days and it stopped fermenting maybe 4 days ago and I haven't had a chance to rack and bottle. Can I wait untl this weekend? It's been at a steady 66-68 degrees.

As for bottling... can someone point to a simple outline? I think what I need to do is create a priming solution, pour that in the bottling bucket and then siphon from the primary into to that and then bottle????

Thanks.

2 weeks in primary is NO problem. Will have settled nicely. 1 week in secondary will help clarity. Bottle with auto siphon kit and bottle filler. Have a towel under the bottles because you will probably have some minor spillage.

I bottle using my bottling bucket and a bottle filler. One tip I learned the hard way- I use the dishwasher door to bottle. I put the door down, line up some bottles and fill them there. Then I just lift them up to the counter for capping. I usually spill and overfill a few bottles and it helps contain the mess.

you're right about the procedure- boil the priming solution, cool it, add it to your bottling bucket and siphon the beer into it. Put the tip of the tubing at an angle under the solution so it doesn't splash, but it will "swirl" around and mix that way. You don't want to aerate your beer.

I left a IIPA in primary for 6 weeks. It was totally fine.

Yooper Chick said:

I bottle using my bottling bucket and a bottle filler. One tip I learned the hard way- I use the dishwasher door to bottle. I put the door down, line up some bottles and fill them there. Then I just lift them up to the counter for capping. I usually spill and overfill a few bottles and it helps contain the mess.

Click to expand...

good idea! will save me from mopping the floor everytime i bottle (which may be agood thing!)

I have left mine in for about 1 month and it actually helped out with the clarity with no off flavours... I know brewers that don't even use secondary's. They go from primary after a couple months to a bucket with bulk priming

Yooper Chick said:

I use the dishwasher door to bottle. I put the door down, line up some bottles and fill them there. Then I just lift them up to the counter for capping. I usually spill and overfill a few bottles and it helps contain the mess.

Click to expand...

Great tip Yooper! I love HowmeBrewTalk for tips like this. One problem however: I don't have a dishwasher. Dang!