Secondary fermentation: how long is too long?

Hey everyone,

I'm fairly new to homebrewing. I'm on about my 5th batch, a Belgian white ale. I got a secondary fermenter for my birthday, so this is my first time using it. Unfortunately, my life also spiraled out of control the past few months, and the batch has been sitting there for almost 6 weeks.

Is that too long? I'm worried that the yeast has autolysed or gone inactive.

My life has calmed down enough to the point that I can bottle sometime soon, but is it worth it? Or am I wasting my time, because it's just going to turn out nasty? If I add priming sugars, will there be enough active yeast to carbonate it (assuming the flavor is still fine)?

Advice would be greatly appreciated!

just siphon some yeast up from the bottom of the carboy into the bottling bucket and make sure to give the priming sugar and beer a stir and you should be good to go.

6 weeks is nothing. My last batch of ipa was in the fermented for over 6 weeks

There should be plenty of suspended yeast after 6 weeks to carbonate without having to add any or siphon trub off the bottom of the fermenter. It sounds like you'll be fine.

It is not uncommon to condition (secondary) for 4-6 months. So bottle it, drink it, love it.

I agree with Pearl; I have a batch (and many others) sitting in secondary for over 3 months. It will be fine.

I don't secondary. I leave my batches in the primary for at least a month. The last batch (IPA) sat for almost two months before bottling and came out fine.