How long can you keep your beer fermenting?

[hydrasports]

Basically what I am looking for is how long can you keep beer in a fermenter be it a glass carboy or a plastic bucket with out it going bad?

I have 3 corny kegs but only enough room for 2 in the refer. Would it last best if I racked from the fermenter to a corny keg and pressurized with CO2 and left at room temp?

Any ideas how to store beer and how long it will last without being in a refer would be helpful!

Thanks

 

[lumpher]

i move beer from fermenter to keg, pressurize enough to seal the lid, then store at room temp all the time. we all do that. i have 3 full kegs aging at room temp right now

 

[Legin]

Knowing the type of beer that you want to store would be helpful. IBU, ABV and color can play a big role. Also, how long were you thinking of storing this beer?

 

[Tall_Yotie]

Used to be the mentality if you kept it in the fermenter and on the yeast cake/trub for any period of time, but has since been shot down and proven wrong.

You can keep it there for a couple months and be fine. It is best to get it into the keg after conditioning and clearing time in the fermenter, but a few weeks will not hurt it. I figure it should get off the cake after 2 months, and even then you could rack it to a secondary if there is no keg available.

 

[theredben]

If you are feeling lazy, just leave it for 3,4, even 5 months in the primary. No need to worry. Sounds like time for a bigger kegerator!!

 

[funkadelicturkey]

I left a barelywine in a secondary glass carboy for almost a year, then kegged and it tastes wonderful!

 

[JoeBronco]

LOL

 

[hydrasports]

I was only thinking of having in a fermenter bucket or keg for no longer then say 2 months. I doubt even that long... my friends get might thirsty! So for say 2 months that should not be a problem be it either fermenter or keg at room temp. Of course the keg would be pressurized with CO2. For 2 months what do you think would be safer the fermenter or racking it to a keg?

 

[dzlater]

I was only thinking of having in a fermenter bucket or keg for no longer then say 2 months. I doubt even that long... my friends get might thirsty! So for say 2 months that should not be a problem be it either fermenter or keg at room temp. Of course the keg would be pressurized with CO2. For 2 months what do you think would be safer the fermenter or racking it to a keg?

Like you said it shouldn't be a problem either way, but as far as what is safer?
I would keg it. No reason not to. I can't see any advantage to leaving it in the fermentor for two months.
Kegging it just seems like a better way to store finished beer.
I think there would be less chance of oxidation. And even though a lot of folks say autolysis won't happen.(and I am not saying it will) It can't hurt to get it off the yeast.

 

[Tall_Yotie]

I agree with racking to the keg. Though for me it is more that I like to have things clean and tidy, and a fermenter with beer sitting in it appears more as clutter than a keg sealed and full. As you are force carbing the beer, the long the beer is in the fermenter the clearer it will be and the less trub you will have in your keg.

Oxidation shouldn't be a problem in the fermenter, especially as the head-space should be CO2 from the yeast doing their thing, especially if you hadn't racked it from the primary. So it really comes down to what works best for you.