How long can you leave before bottling??

[Russellm]

Hi everyone,

I have my third attempt at brewing on the go (Sheratons kit) and it's almost ready for bottling.

My trouble is that I go away for a week soon, so is it ok to leave it in the fermenting bin for a week, even though it will have finished fermenting, for when I get back??

Thanks

 

[Yuri_Rage]

It's ok to leave it for over a month. RDWHAHB!

 

[Russellm]

Thanks, you've put my mind at rest now!

 

[Dr_Deathweed]

Yuri! you didnt even use your button!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=61798

 

[Russellm]

......Ok, so I thought I'd let you know what happened.

Got back from my holiday (great thanks) and the beer looked fine, gravity hadn't changed....

..but..

there was quite a strong musty/mouldy smell in the bucket (nothing visible) when I looked at it, got a bit worried, added finings and bottled the next day anyway(or day after).

The smell was still noticable when I was bottling.

Anywho, left it in the bottles for 2 weeks and, as I can resist everything except temptation, I tried one.

Hey presto! beer fine (if a little on the flatside and of need of more time in the bottle)

So a couple of questions..
what was the smell and could I have done anything about it?

and

when I was bottling I notice the odd bubble rising from the trub (?) at the bottom, surely it wasn't still fermenting?

then then then

 

[g_rath]

I don’t know about the smell but the bubbles coming from the trub is fine. That’s just gas trapped in the trub leaving. There is also going to be some dissolved CO2 in the beer too.

 

[videoman]

Aroma, like many other attributes of your beer's taste profile, will mature with age... I've had many brews that still had a little nasty smell going into the bottling bucket that cleared up over time. No big deal here.. very natural.