Hefe Primary Duration?

[Wingy]

Quick question about ideal duration in primary for a hefe - 2 weeks or 3 weeks (normally I let my brews sit in the primary for 3 weeks and then bottle)? Obviously will not bottle at 2 weeks if fermentation isn't done/FG not stable over 72 hours. If fermentation is done, is hefe a style that improves with the extra conditioning week or will this detract from the cloudiness/proper "style" of the beer?

Fermenting away happily at 66F right now, I'm hoping that this will strike a nice balance between the banana and clove flavors.

Any downsides to keeping the Hefe on the yeast for three weeks? If it's better young I'd rather drink it young, but if there's no real difference then I'll just stick with my standard.

 

[atom]

a week won't matter.

 

[postal_penguin]

I ferment my hefe two weeks and then its straight to the keg. I don't think there is any downsides to 3 weeks but hefes are a beer that can be consumed young so there is no problem bottling early either.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

My last Hefe was only in primary for 8 days before going right to bottles and turned out great... Not my normal practice, but I was going to be out of town and I was impatient. If you have a steady fg I personally don't think there is any reason to wait, but I'm not near as experienced as others.

 

[jmprdood]

I'm drinking on right now that was in primary for 8 days - if FG is stable over 3 consecutive days you can bottle. I like my wheat beers young - usually less than 3 weeks from brewing to glass, and I bottle.

 

[Wingy]

Thanks for the replies - I'll probably try and get this one into bottles in two weeks. My stash was getting low anyway... time to top it off and get another one in the pipeline.