Fermentation Time

I have read posts about leaving the beer to ferment longer is not necessarily a bad thing. All my batches I have normally left 3-4 weeks before bottling and they seem to have turned out good. I have a cream ale that has now been fermenting for about 5.5 weeks. I am not sure I will have time to bottle this weekend. So is there any harm in letting it sit for another week or so until I get around to bottling or what is the longest I could leave it until I have to start to worry about it being too long?

Another week or so will be fine. It takes quite a while before o2 leaching,too much yeast settling out,etc will be of much if any concern.

You'll be fine!

Anecdotally, there are a ton of brewers who can tell you stories about forgotten primaries for MONTHS and ended up with great beer... 6-8 weeks, like you're talking about, won't be an issue (provided all else is fine - temp control, light control, seals, etc...).

Cheers!

Thanks for the replies. It puts my mind at ease. Hopefully life will slow down a bit and allow me to bottle soon.

tsimo33 said:

So is there any harm in letting it sit for another week or so until I get around to bottling or what is the longest I could leave it until I have to start to worry about it being too long?

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If you can't get to it for another 5 months or so, I MIGHT start worrying a little about it.

After years of brewing and hundreds of batches brewed, I almost always leave my beer in their primary for at least 5 or 6 weeks now.