Group Consensus (time in primary)

[DtownRiot]

After a fair amount of research and asking around about how long beers should be left in the primary, I found some descrepencies. My home brew store says no more than two weeks or autalysis will occur. Several books in the store also agreed. Jim Koch in his home brewing segment said he doesnt leave it for more than seven days. What do you guys do? Ive seen some people here who go way way way longer. What are the benefits of that as well as the pitfalls?

 

[ArcaneXor]

Autolysis is (mostly) a myth. For most styles, a 3-4 week primary followed by bottling (without a secondary) is the best way to make a good, clean-tasting beer.

 

[scinerd3000]

After a fair amount of research and asking around about how long beers should be left in the primary, I found some descrepencies. My home brew store says no more than two weeks or autalysis will occur. Several books in the store also agreed. Jim Koch in his home brewing segment said he doesnt leave it for more than seven days. What do you guys do? Ive seen some people here who go way way way longer. What are the benefits of that as well as the pitfalls?

honestly your beer will all finish at different time. AUTOLYSIS WILL NOT OCCURE IN 2 WEEKS...your homebrew people area incorrect. Many people leave there beers in for a month primary with no downsides. If anything you will have a clearer beer. The pitfalls are that you have to wait longer before you have drinkable product. When the krausen drops or at 7-10 days whichever is first i will take a gravity reading and then a few days later i will take another. Continue this process until the two number match which means your yeast has stopped fermenting. At that point your good to go.

 

[Bobby_M]

If I choose to secondary a beer, I do it at 14 days or so. If not, I don't keg for 3-4 weeks.

 

[Jonnio]

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about autolysis, I would be more concerned with racking week old beer which is likely to be pulling it off the yeast cake before they have had their chance to clean up.

 

[Revvy]

I'm not going to reanswer this question again tonight 'casue I'm brewing AND it's answered at least 1,000 times on here already, your lhbs is using outdated and mis information.

BUT the answer/discussion is on here several times...use the search for autolysis or long primary, or
yeast cleaning up after itself" you will find the answer to why most of us leave the beer in primary for 3-4 weeks...

You can even type the word autolysis and posts by Revvy on advanced search and you will see the documentation most of us go by...

Grinder1200 has a thread on it as well...

 

[Otis The Drunk]

I have left beer in primary for as long as two months with out any adverse effects.

 

[nowise]

I always go 3 weeks on the yeast and then straight to the bottles for another 3 (I taste one every week just for reference). My exception is when dry hopping.

 

[Fingers]

I usually secondary after two weeks, but I'll go three weeks if I just don't feel like racking.

 

[Bobby_M]

I've been around here for a while and I know you're not going to find anyone that suggests getting it out of primary sooner than later.

 

[scinerd3000]

I've been around here for a while and I know you're not going to find anyone that suggests getting it out of primary sooner than later.

amen to that

 

[homebrewer_99]

It isn't racked until the gravity drops 75%...

 

[Brew-boy]

2 weeks in primary and then I check the FG then keg. No need for secondary unless I am using fruit or oak.

 

[brewt00l]

It really depends on a number of factors but my primary only beers usually hang out for 4 weeks before they move off the yeast...no worries on autolysis.

 

[Yunus]

I usually move it out of the primary and into my secondary (keg) much quicker than most of you but I don't do it for any reason except, I only have 2 primaries but lots of secondaries so its a bottleneck for me.

 

[Tonedef131]

2 weeks in primary and then I check the FG then keg. No need for secondary unless I am using fruit or oak.

This is what I do.

Under no circumstance should you ever remove your beer from the primary sooner than 10 days.

 

[Homercidal]

Heck, I don't usually even use a secondary, but if I did (like the Barleywine I'm transferring tonight), I will wait 2-3 weeks in primary.

But, it won't HURT to secondary after the first week IF your gravity is low enough. Many people now skip the secondary simply because most beer has completed it's fermentation by 2-3 weeks and they don't want to risk infecting the beer by over-handling it. If your sanitation is proper, no worries though.

 

[joety]

I usually move it out of the primary and into my secondary (keg) much quicker than most of you but I don't do it for any reason except, I only have 2 primaries but lots of secondaries so its a bottleneck for me.

+1 on that, although after reading this (and other) threads I think I'll purchase a second primary to make sure I don't have to pull it off in less than 10 days. I'd like to find another 6.5 gallon glass carboy but I notice Midwest's new catalog no longer lists them.

 

[Yunus]

+1 on that, although after reading this (and other) threads I think I'll purchase a second primary to make sure I don't have to pull it off in less than 10 days. I'd like to find another 6.5 gallon glass carboy but I notice Midwest's new catalog no longer lists them.

Germantown, is that Maryland? If so, come up to Frederick and visit The Flying Barrel Wine & Beer making supplies for the Home Brewer, in-stock at the Flying Barrel in beautiful Frederick, Maryland They usually have them in stock.

 

[lamarguy]

There have been unscientific taste tests conducted with identical batches that were fermented for 5 days in the primary and 4 weeks in the primary (no secondary). Most people preferred the batch fermented for 4 weeks. The theory is - additional time and contact with the yeast cake allows for conversion of undesirable off flavors.

My rule of thumb is no more than 4 weeks in the primary, 3 days cold conditioning (40F), and then into the keg. I only use a secondary for one beer - lambic.

 

[McKBrew]

It's unfortunate that people don't keep up with current trends and practices (specifically LHBS's). Some store owners get set in thier ways and then continue the practice by passing on out of date knowledge to a new generation of brewers. Many of the books are out of date as well, but at least most of the authors who wrote these books acknowledge the fact and are willing to point out more relevant info on their websites.

Good thing HBT and other websites are out there for internet users at least.

 

[sigmund]

This is what I do.

Under no circumstance should you ever remove your beer from the primary sooner than 10 days.

Although I agree to leaving beers in longer rather than shorter, that statement is just bad information. There are beers that finish quickly and can be racked to bottle or keg in less time than 10 days. The world won't end just because you remove a beer from primary in less than 10 days.

 

[joety]

Germantown, is that Maryland? If so, come up to Frederick and visit The Flying Barrel Wine & Beer making supplies for the Home Brewer, in-stock at the Flying Barrel in beautiful Frederick, Maryland They usually have them in stock.

Sorry, no, that's in Wisconsin. I'll update my profile.

 

[Bobby_M]

Although I agree to leaving beers in longer rather than shorter, that statement is just bad information. There are beers that finish quickly and can be racked to bottle or keg in less time than 10 days. The world won't end just because you remove a beer from primary in less than 10 days.

The world won't end but we're making an assumption that you want to maximize the chance of the beer being exceptional rather than passable. Maybe you don't care that you've got a little diacytel problem due to pulling the beer off the yeast too soon. Maybe all you brew is Hefes and yeah, 10 days is plenty.

Just for the hell of it, ask anyone who regularly competes with their beers how long their gold medal winners sat in primary. There are exceptions but I think most people that make great beer quickly (some brewpubs) are able to do so because they pitch 4 times the cell counts that homebrewers do.

 

[BierMuncher]

...There are beers that finish quickly and can be racked to bottle or keg in less time than 10 days. The world won't end just because you remove a beer from primary in less than 10 days.

True enough...or else our 10Der & Mild project swap would have been a bust.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Everyone has their own way of doing things. Some secondary, some don't. Both are correct.

I typically leave my beers in primary for anywhere from 7 days to 3+ months. It all depends on what else is going on in my life and when I can get to them.

2 weeks on a yeast cake certainly does not = autolysis.

 

[dontman]

Did anyone else chuckle when they saw the title of this thread?

Although I think we actually do have consensus that the OP's LHBS' info on autolysis was way outdated and off the mark.

Other than that I think it might be difficult for us to get true consensus on what day of the week it is. Monday, by the way. Sorry Aussies, it is monday.

 

[Bobby_M]

With allowance for exceptions, a good rule of thumb is that most beers will benefit from extended primary (anywhere from 2-4weeks). In very few cases will a 3-4week primary hurt anything unless you've pitched an already highly stressed bunch of yeast. Can we call this thread answered yet?

 

[sigmund]

The world won't end but we're making an assumption that you want to maximize the chance of the beer being exceptional rather than passable. Maybe you don't care that you've got a little diacytel problem due to pulling the beer off the yeast too soon. Maybe all you brew is Hefes and yeah, 10 days is plenty.

Just for the hell of it, ask anyone who regularly competes with their beers how long their gold medal winners sat in primary. There are exceptions but I think most people that make great beer quickly (some brewpubs) are able to do so because they pitch 4 times the cell counts that homebrewers do.

Now you're the one making assumptions. First, I didn't say I subscribed to taking beer out of the primary in less than 10 days, I just said that some beers can be done that way. I never said nor did I assume that every person who brews their own beer is always striving to make an exceptional beer, but rather a beer that suits them.

And, I do care how my beer comes off the yeast and I do brew a fair amount of wheats and I have taken beer out of the primary in less than 10 days. Guess what, it's all gone and tasted great.

So, the answer is still that you can take some beers out of the primary in less than 10 days and still come up with a beer that tastes great.

 

[RRRaper]

New brewer here.
I am brewing my first batch (wheat) in a conical and the starting hydrometer reading was 1.042. On the hydrometer, the instructions says not to bottle until it reads below 1.006. This would give me a potential of a little over 4%.

If this is the case, wouldn't the yeast have already done it's job? So if I drained the trub off at this time and waited another week, wouldn't the only advantage be so the beer could clarify a little more before bottling?