Month Long Fermentation

Hi Guys

I'm going to be away for all of August and was wondering if there was a good style of beer I could brew at the end of July that wouldn't suffer from being left on the yeast for a whole month.

Any ideas and advice welcome.

Thanks,

Chris

No beer will necessarily "suffer" from a month in primary.
That said, I would steer clear of any styles best consumed young like IPA or hefeweizen. German lagers or bohemian pils come to mind. Also saison may be a good choice. Happy brewing!

You'll want to stay away from hoppy styles as the flavor and aroma fades with time. You'd want to stay away from English session ales which reach prime drinkability soon (sorry @Qhrumphf). I guess stick to something high gravity, or laden with darker grains, which are better given time to meld, like your porters and stouts and RIS's (Rees?).

i don't think any beer will go bad in a temp controlled fermentation of four weeks. If your beer is an IPA, dry hop when you get home.

Do a room temp saison, it'll be just fine.

bigjock said:

Hi Guys
I'm going to be away for all of August and was wondering if there was a good style of beer I could brew at the end of July that wouldn't suffer from being left on the yeast for a whole month.

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I would at least put the beer in a secondary tank after 4 days of strong fermentation, then leave there for one month without the primary trub..

skeeter pee

Saison. but really you could do anything.

didinho said:

I would at least put the beer in a secondary tank after 4 days of strong fermentation, then leave there for one month without the primary trub..

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Why secondary? You shouldn't move your beer to secondary until all fermentation is done (beer is at final gravity) and even then it only should be moved if you plan to add fruit or something like oak. Most of my beers spend a month in primary. It lets the excess yeast settle out so I get little trub in my bottles. Double that time doesn't hurt the beer either.

You can brew anything you want and leave it on the yeast for a month with no ill effects. (that is, assuming you're not in a 4th floor un-air-conditioned apartment in the warm part of the country. If temps in your place will be 100+ when you're gone, then maybe some issues. But otherwise, you're fine.)

RM-MN said:

Why secondary?

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because I'm too sensitive to all protein and yeast degradation products that may affect beer with tastes like peptone, soy sauce, meat extract...
even one week is too much for my beers without moving it to secondary.

didinho said:

because I'm too sensitive to all protein and yeast degradation products that may affect beer with tastes like peptone, soy sauce, meat extract...
even one week is too much for my beers without moving it to secondary.

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Maybe it is time for you to consider changing to drinking wine or some other form of alcoholic liquor. There shouldn't be any degradation of yeast in a week.

yeah sounds like something else is going on there. i did a 50 IBU pale recently with lots of finishing hops, it spent 4 weeks in primary due to schedule conflicts and tastes very good.

but for intentionally staying in carboy for that long i'd look to do a saison as well. obviously anything with brett or lacto is a good option too, maybe a berliner?

As previosly mentioned, stouts favor lenghty aging before consumption. So a 1 month primary would work just fine.
-cheers.

didinho said:

because I'm too sensitive to all protein and yeast degradation products that may affect beer with tastes like peptone, soy sauce, meat extract...
even one week is too much for my beers without moving it to secondary.

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Dude you might want to re-check your whole process, I strongly doubt you are getting any off flavors from 1 week of primary. my best beers have been on the yeast for 1-2 months.

stouts or porters. let it condition for 2-3 months and bam, ready for Thanksgiving / Christmas/ New years.