can i leave my beer in primary for 2 weeks..

I had a taste and is kinda flat...I was thinking of bottling it tomorrow..

It would be better if you did leave it in there for at least 2 weeks. I'm not sure what you meant by it tasted flat. Of course it would taste flat since it doesn't carbonate until after you bottle it.

Tonypr24 said:

I had a taste and is kinda flat...I was thinking of bottling it tomorrow..

Click to expand...

two weeks is a great amount of time to keep the beer in primary. Many of us go three or more.

If it were me, I would wait a week, then rack to bottle.

Two weeks is fine. Keep it there for another week or two if you want. It will not carbonate until you prime and bottle it......or of course keg.

Two weeks is absolute minimum. Three, four, even five weeks in the primary isn't such a big deal. I do three weeks minimum on all of my beers.

When you first start brewing, three weeks sounds crazy because you want nothing more than to drink some homebrew. But, time is on your side. Let it do its thing. Once you bottle it, let it sit another three weeks. You'll only be doing yourself the favor.

Need to get some beer in the 'ol gut right away? Do yourself another favor and open some bottles and save them for bottle day.

Remember... Relax. Don't worry. Have a (home)brew.

The rule of thumb you usually hear is "1-2-3." That's one week in primary, to complete the fermentation. Two weeks in secondary, where you may move the beer to a second container, if you wish (many don't, though). And three weeks in the bottle before the amber liquid starts to reach its potential.

Me, I bottle after three weeks in the original fermenter. That makes the next three weeks really hard to take, since all you have to do is pop a botle in the fridge. On the other hand, it's a great way to observe the conditioning as it happens.

Yes.................

+1.................

Granted I am new too... but our most recent brew we left the beer in the primary for 3 weeks (Irish Red Ale) and the bottled. This was the first time that we skipped the secondary all together and it turned out fantastic. Was definitely our best brew to date. For now, I think we have decided to skip the secondary all together. Plus that means we have two primaries now.

I left a wheat beer in my primary for 4 months and it came out great. It was the best beer I've ever brewed.

I was going to make a new thread then I saw this one...

My beer has been in the primary a little over two weeks. 16 days to be exact. I just took a gravity reading tonight (the first since it went into the carboy) and it was 1.012 which is the recommended FG by my LHBS for this recipe. OG was 1.048.

Does this mean it's ready to bottle? Will the gravity get any lower? Or should I just wait the 3 weeks like everyone says?

Wait a couple of days and take another hydrometer reading. If it's still at 1.012, you know it's done fermenting. If it's dropped a point or two, you know it's still fermenting. You're only indication that fermentation is complete is when your FG stabilizes. After this has happened, you can bottle if you like, but most would recommend leaving it for another week or so to let the beer condition and let the yeast clean up after themselves.

You COULD bottle it now but it will taste much better if you let it sit a while longer. Let the yeast clean up after itself. They leave same nasty taste behind and will clean up after themselves with more time sitting around.

BTW - it's to early for techno talk but you get the idea.

Longer is ALWAYS better.

In the winter I go 3+1+3 3 weeks in the primary, 1 in the secondary and 3 carbing. The i TRY not to drink it for a month (good luck with that one).

Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of those little yeasties cleaning up after themselves.

I'll take another reading on the weekend. Is the 1/4 rule of FG vs OG just a guideline then?

I can wait three weeks for the conditioning but I imagine I would have a hard time waiting another month to try my first batch of beer.

and thats why Im kegging and force carbing lol