How long is too long in a carboy?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Scruffy1207

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2010
Messages
606
Reaction score
3
Location
San Diego
I am pretty much reading that you want the beer to reach.FG and try to clear it up? But if it was kept for months would it still be good? I understand that it probably wouldn't help, but was just kind of wondering.
 
If everything's kept in check (temperature not fluctuating too much, light's not hitting it, etc) you'll be fine -- not that there's necessarily a reason to go that long, but meh sometimes life gets in the way of this. Better sitting in primary than secondary for that long (I'm of the school that secondary is essentially worthless without a good reason to do so, like conditioning on fruit or something).
 
People have left their beer in primary for upwards of a year...people have seondaried in a carboy for years and years.....there's really not a "right" answer, it's also really these days nothing to worry about.

It really depends on the style and type of beer, some like Hefe's are meant to be served young and cloudy. Other's benefit from time...And most at least should be left in primary for at least a week after fermentation is complete so the yeast can clean up the byproducts of fermentation that lead to off flavors.

Many of us leave our beers in primary for a month minimum. I left a batch in my bucket for nearly 6 months. And it was fine.

But the point is you don't have to panic, like folks reading the first online edition of Palmer are led to believe (and which he HAS changed) that your yeast are spontaneously going to die and make your beer taste bad if you leave it. It may actually improve some beers.
 
Agreed on the emphasis on style being important. I've left beers for months and they've been just fine and I believe they benefitted from the process, but I wouldn't do it with something like an IPA or APA that would lose too much of the hop character. Something like an imperial stout... sure.
 
So how long would you let and IPA sit. I left mine in the primary for 1 month and a seconday for 10 days. I tasted it and not a lot of hops left
 
So how long would you let and IPA sit. I left mine in the primary for 1 month and a seconday for 10 days. I tasted it and not a lot of hops left

What quantity of hops did your IPA use? You could always dry hop in the secondary to bring the hops back up.
 
Back
Top