I didn't believe Revvy

Revvy said that I could leave my beer in the fermenter for a month. "What about autolosis?", I thought. He said the yeast wouldn't die and spoil my beer.

Revvy said the the beer would turn out better than if I had transferred it to secondary. Well, he was right. Although the beer didn't clear, I think that had to do with the wheat malt. Usually when I open my fermenter, the smell is pretty strong and not altogether pleasant. Not this time! I wanted to stick my head right in it and drink. The last of the beer left in the bottling bucket that won't fit into a bottle I usually drink to get an idea of how the beer will turn out an it usually is hard to drink, being flat, warm, and green. Not this batch! It tasted good even when it was warm and flat. Hmmmm.... Maybe there is something to the idea of a longer primary. I may have to try this again.

I know. I'm glad I read Revvy blogs before I got real far into my brewing experiences. Best to do it the right way early on. I rushed my first batch (who didn't, right?), but I won't be doing that again. My 2nd batch, which is a lager will sit for 3-4 months before I bottle and my third a furious clone will sit a good 5-6 weeks.

RM-MN said:

It tasted good even when it was warm and flat.

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That's the best way to drink beers.

-a.

Yep, this is pretty much accepted throughout the homeworking community. Listen to what Jamil, Palmer, Papazian and those guys are saying now vs even 5 years ago. Multiple podcasts at the BN and Basic Brewing saying the same thing. The only hold back is the old books (like Papazian's old book, and the online How To Brew) and kits that tell new brewers to transfer after a week. Glad it worked out for you.

If only I had discovered this site when I first started could have avoided so much angst. Now whenever i run into a problem or realize I did something wrong I RDWHAHB and figure at worst I might discover that I like the mistake.

Ha, this is the second thread started in the last couple of weeks for an apology to Revvy for the exact same comment. Here is the last one, all 10 pages of it: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/apologies-revvy-212108/

What did you do before?

Edcculus said:

Yep, this is pretty much accepted throughout the homeworking community. Listen to what Jamil, Palmer, Papazian and those guys are saying now vs even 5 years ago. Multiple podcasts at the BN and Basic Brewing saying the same thing. The only hold back is the old books (like Papazian's old book, and the online How To Brew) and kits that tell new brewers to transfer after a week. Glad it worked out for you.

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Yeah but don't be too fanatical about it... there are 1.7 billion ways to brew and all but 3 of them are just fine. And keep in mind 5 year from now...

I say don't sweat it, try lots of things out, don't take anyone's advice as a sacrosanct and keep reasonable records.

It's all good man... it's all beer!

The kit instructions said to put it in the fermenter for a week or maybe 10 days and then bottle. The only times I did it longer was to put one batch in secondary to clarify and twice for adding fruit. The beers that only spent a week in the fermenter eventually went on to become pretty tasty but they took a long time in the bottle to get there.

there are 1.7 billion ways to brew and all but 3 of them are just fine

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I think I found the 3 ways.

uhh yeah. i took that advice 3 years ago and the long primary took my beer to the next level. now a days i would feel like i was ruining the beer if i didn't leave it in the primary for AT LEAST 3 weeks.

I just kegged a beer that sat 10 weeks in primary.

It's been a week since I bottled this brew so I just had to try it. Mmm...Much better than most at one week. It's carbed up pretty well and the flavor is quite good although there is a hint of green to it yet. I'll have to try it again next week. That it, if I can keep my hands off it until then. It's a good thing I have lots of other beer to choose from though.