How long can you leave beer in a primary?

How long can you leave beer in a primary?

Well, I've got a porter that's been in the primary now for about 4 weeks. I've gone 6, but I try to get it out of there sooner than that.

Off of the beer subject, I have an Edwort Apfelwein that's been in the primary now for about 2.5 months. I'll prolly get it off of there soon.

I try to go 4-6 weeks, tho its all about a gravity reading. When you get the same reading for 3 days in a row, you know its time to bottle.

Ive read on here tho people leaving it for months on end and beer turned out great. Good luck! RDWHAHB

the general rule of thumb is 4 weeks. but from what i hear you can leave it on there for quite some time with no ill effects.

TipsyDragon said:

the general rule of thumb is 4 weeks. but from what i hear you can leave it on there for quite some time with no ill effects.

Click to expand...

Where does that rule of thumb come from?

It's dependant on a few things.

I'd say it's generally more than 4 weeks though.

I got the same gravity reading three days in a row after 10 days. Is that wrong to bottle then? It was only my second batch so hopefully it still comes out good.

I've gone several months with no issues (recently about 5 months on an RIS). Generally I take it off the yeast at 3 weeks for a normal beer though.

mrcoldone said:

I got the same gravity reading three days in a row after 10 days. Is that wrong to bottle then? It was only my second batch so hopefully it still comes out good.

Click to expand...

If it's the same reading it is safe to bottle.. most people would leave it at least 3 weeks to let the yeasties clean up after themselves though.. Waiting is rarely a bad thing.

Yeah, I would never advise you to go too long on the yeast cake. Yeast tends to impart a "yeasty" characteristic to the beer the longer it sits in the primary. I had a light cream ale made with WLP001 recently. This batch was in my primary for over three months before it was finally kegged. Upon drinking, it tasted more like a belgian than the clean tasting WLP001. I concluded that this belgian yeastyness had to be caused by the long amount of time it was left on the yeast cake.

Under normal circumstances, I keep my beer in the primary for 3-4 weeks before kegging/bottling.

Make your own mind up but there are many conversations on here about long times in primary without adverse effects. If you don't believe then do a search on autolysis.

From the words of Palmer.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As a final note on this subject, I should mention that by brewing with healthy yeast in a well-prepared wort, many experienced brewers, myself included, have been able to leave a beer in the primary fermenter for several months without any evidence of autolysis. Autolysis is not inevitable, but it is lurking.[/FONT]

Click to expand...

Must admit thought for the inexperience noob then it better to follow conventional instruction and then gain the knowledge through your own experience.

Orfy said:

Make your own mind up but there are many conversations on here about long times in primary without adverse effects. If you don't believe then do a search on autolysis.

From the words of Palmer.


Must admit thought for the inexperience noob then it better to follow conventional instruction and then gain the knowledge through your own experience.

Click to expand...

+1

I really think it's a personal preference and the only way to decide for yourself is to experience it.

HalfPint said:

+1

I really think it's a personal preference and the only way to decide for yourself is to experience it.

Click to expand...

Agreed.....and I have.

It is easy. Move 1/2 a batch to secondary, leave 1/2 in.

Bottle both a month or 2 later with the same conditions. Compare.

I suspect they will be slightly different, but that opinions will be split as to which is better.

My guess?

Ale men will prefer no secondary, Lager purists will like the secondary.

I leave mine in the primary as long as I want. I've had some sit for months. I find that those beers are better than the ones left for a short time. They get more time to clear and the yeast get plenty of time to clean up the beer.

Mike

Orfy said:

Agreed.....and I have.

Click to expand...

Yeah, same here. I usually throw it in a keg or bottle it before I've ever had the chance to really get concerned. From all of the stuff I've read on this forum and other places, yeast autolysis is almost non existent with modern strains. I do think that you may get a stronger flavor from the hops the longer you let the brew sit on them if you didn't use a bag/screen to separate from the wort before primary fermentation.

I'd say RDWHAHB,
J

The way I look at it is if Wyeast and White Labs are able to make products that can stay on the fridge shelf for months at a time and still produce fine beer with just a little TLC then there is no reason to think we cant leave our beer on the yeast for a month or 2 without any ill effects.

Regardless of the discussion between 2 months and 6 with regard to autolysis you CAN bottle as soon as fermentation is complete. You SHOULD give the beer another week or so to clean up off flavors that will be created in the process of metabolizing sugar into ethanol. Diacetyl is the most common off flavor that is produced and later cleaned up by the yeast. Sometimes people will bring the beer up 5* or so at the end of fermentation and do a "diacetyl rest" for 2 or 3 days so the yeast can metabolize the diacetyl into ethanol. Less common is acetaldehyde but that will usually also go away during bottle/keg conditioning if it makes it out of the fermenter.

How long can you leave it in the secondary? Is this any different?

I usually try to go 3 weeks. Im not patient enough to go any longer

I personally don't secondary many beers. That said, Cantillion produces lambics that are in a "secondary" for 3+ years. Many top notch Belgian breweries age for extended periods of time in barrels which could be considered a secondary depending on how you look at it.

so for those who don't use a secondary at all....when time to bottle you just pour the priming sugar solution into the fermented wort in the primary, and bottle from there?

mixmasterob said:

so for those who don't use a secondary at all....when time to bottle you just pour the priming sugar solution into the fermented wort in the primary, and bottle from there?

Click to expand...

Noooo! Syrup in bottling bucket, rack and proceed to bottle.

Nurmey said:

Noooo! Syrup in bottling bucket, rack and proceed to bottle.

Click to expand...

jesus, thats what i figured...thanks for clarifying.

I once left a stout in primary for close to 9 weeks, due to stuck fermentation. It got to cold low 50's! I would not recommend this, but it turned out fantastic and no off flavors.The outcome might have been different if the temperature was higher. I usually do the 4 weeks in primary then bottle. J

mixmasterob said:

so for those who don't use a secondary at all....when time to bottle you just pour the priming sugar solution into the fermented wort in the primary, and bottle from there?

Click to expand...

The bottling procedure is the same whether you secondary or not. You ALWAYS use a fresh bucket and rack onto the priming solution. If you are dumping priming solution into a secondary with beer in it that is no better than doing the same thing to beer in a primary.