SMaSH Ale 3 Weeks in Fermenter... Would That Be Okay, or Not?

[GrowleyMonster]

So I have a 4 gallon batch of amber ale in the BMB. Single malt, being 6lbs NB Gold LME. 1.056 OG as I recall. Cascade hops, 1oz, boiled, no whirlpool, no dry hopping. No steeped grains. Yeast was Safeale US-05. I had a very normal, maybe slightly energetic, active fermentation stage lasting to the 6th day. Today is day 11. I have been kegging beers made with this yeast on day 14 or day 15, so far. I still end up with considerable sediment in the keg, and sometimes the first glass or two will be very yeasty. Thinking about stretching it out to three weeks in the fermenter. What would this hurt? I would rather not rack to a second fermenter but I have an open mind about it. So would three or even four weeks give me a nicer ale? Ambient fermentation temp is 74 degrees. I cool the house down to 68 or 69 for the first three days, and then ramp it up to normal temp which for us is 74. Winter is coming and we may let the house go down to 68 or so, and I could close off my office on days when the outside air temp is lower than that, for even cooler temps. I do not have a fridge for cold crashing, just the one I keep my corny keg in.

My batches have all been very drinkable so far, the first one I would even call excellent. Zero problems. I just thought maybe some extra settling time might make a slight improvement. How long would be too long, and what problems would it cause? My ABV has been around 5% give or take a quarter, up to now.

 

[Steveruch]

Three weeks is fine.

 

[Jtvann]

Your timeframe is fine. There will be nothing wrong with leaving it in primary longer.

You didn't ask this question, but I wanted to point something out. Fermentation is an exothermic reaction, meaning it creates its own heat. I just fermented a ale at 68 degrees in my basement, which is a constant 64 degrees. The cooling unit kicked on multiple times during peak fermentation, not the heater.

When it comes time to upgrade your system, the biggest improvement many people notice in their process is tight fermentation temperature controll. There are more and more affordable options all the time.

If the wife is there and complains about the 68-69 degree beer days, there may be more harm done than good for the beer ....

 

[mongoose33]

Fine. You may need some more conditioning time either in the bottle or keg (I do a smash that takes 4 weeks to mellow out), but the time in fermenter is fine.

 

[mongoose33]

Your timeframe is fine. There will be nothing wrong with leaving it in primary longer.

You didn't ask this question, but I wanted to point something out. Fermentation is an exothermic reaction, meaning it creates its own heat. I just fermented a ale at 68 degrees in my basement, which is a constant 64 degrees. The cooling unit kicked on multiple times during peak fermentation, not the heater.

When it comes time to upgrade your system, the biggest improvement many people notice in their process is tight fermentation temperature controll. There are more and more affordable options all the time.

If the wife is there and complains about the 68-69 degree beer days, there may be more harm done than good for the beer ....

Heck, he'd probably save the cost of a ferm chamber just in not having to air condition the house to ferm temps....

Any refrigerator will do, even a tall dorm-style refrigerator.

Like so:

 

[GrowleyMonster]

Okay so instead of leaving it in the fermenter for a third week, I racked it into a second fermenter and left the trub behind to innoculate the next batch, which is in there now. The airlock was not bubbling at all, but now, in the secondary, it has come back to life, and meanwhile a half inch of sediment has fallen out of it in just two days. So it seems that maybe removing it from the primary trub allows good things to happen. Once secondary fermentation has come to a dead stop, I will probably count off 3 days for settling, then take it to keg. With just a thin deposit of sediment in the bottom of the BMB, I should get a cleaner beer with less sediment in the keg. I am thinking a total of 3 weeks, probably, with the third week in secondary. That is the plan, sorta, as it stands now. I would consider two weeks in secondary but I think I will be out of kegged beer to drink by then and have to start drinking my bottled stock if I don't get that batch to keg in a timely manner.

 

[MrBaloo]

Beverage can coolers with inkbird controllers... also looks pretty when the blue light is on.....