First Brew Attempt - Timing of bottling question

My sons gave me a Brooklyn Brew Shop (BBS) "A Well Made Tripel" 1 gallon kit for Christmas last Christmas (2010). On Dec 11th of 2011, I finally got the courage up to attempt it. I sanitized, mashed, sparged, transferred to the carboy, and pitched the yeast apparently successfully. The carboy has been sitting in my finished basement at about 68 degrees since then. According to the BBS instructions, I should have racked the beer to bottles at approx two weeks (yesterday).

Question: the nearby picture is the current appearance of the carboy and contents. It seems cloudy yet. Can it be too early to transfer to bottle? Is there any harm in waiting longer (for it to clear up)? I do not have a hydrometer (yet)

No harm in letting it sit. I usually leave beers in my fermenter for two to four weeks before bottling/kegging.

Pappers_ said:

No harm in letting it sit. I usually leave beers in my fermenter for two to four weeks before bottling/kegging.

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+1

Let it go another week or two. It looks like it need the time to finish and clear up. If it is still cloudy the put it in the fridge for a day or two until clear. Then you can take it out and let it come to room temperature and proceed with bottling.

I agree with pappers, another week or two wouldn't hurt for sure. I never move my beer before three weeks at minimum.

A tripel is a high gravity beer and needs plenty of time to complete the fermentation. 2 weeks isn't enough and 3 might not be either. If you have the patience, leave it from 4 to 6 weeks in the fermenter before you do anything more with it.

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like two more weeks it is.

UPDATE: I went ahead and bottled the tripel today as it was convenient for my work schedule (3 weeks and 1 day in primary fermenter - hydrometer on order for the next batch). I will leave the bottles alone for a while and see what results.

Does bottle storage temperature matter significantly? I presently have them in a dark 66 degrees.

Warmer temperature will make them carbonate quicker but since your tripel really needs some time to mature the 66 degree storage shouldn't be much of a problem.