How long is to long in secondary?

[jbgibson520]

I brewed my third batch about five weeks ago. I had it in primary for two weeks then transferred to secondary. Then life got in the way and it's been in secondary for three weeks now and it might be another two weeks until I have time to bottle it. Is this too long in secondary? Any suggestions? It's at a good temp ~64*F. Thanks


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[ACbrewer]

your fine. I've gone longer in a secondary. Part of the question is style of beer, but then that gets to a 'higher ABV means longer storage time' regardless of container.

I sometime primary longer than 2 months - mostly out of laziness.

 

[Oceantendency]

Depends on the beer style. But nothing wrong with aging your beer. Tell us more about the brew ! Do you have an airlock on it, how much headspace do you have? Less headspace the better, especially on a secondary. Is your secondary glass carboy, PET carboy, 5 gallon or 6.5 gallon bucket? As long as it's glass or PET like a better bottle, no worries. I would say though the longer you age, you might want to think about repitching some yeast upon bottling, depending on the style.

 

[RM-MN]

I'm not sure anyone of us is patient enough to find out how long is too long in secondary. As long as your sanitation is good and your airlock doesn't run out of liquid you shouldn't have to worry for months.

 

[jbgibson520]

Right on thanks. It's a Bavarian Hefeweizen kit from northern brewer.


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[sweetcell]

assuming the secondary was maintained in good condition (beer wasn't exposed to oxygen, temps were relatively stable, no light, etc) then you should be just fine. i can't think of any beer that would suffer from 5 weeks in secondary. an IPA might lose some of its aroma but it'll still be perfectly drinkable. you didn't leave any dry-hops in there for 5 weeks, have you?

edit: just saw your previous reply, a hefe. you're fine.

 

[jbgibson520]

It is in a 5 gallon PET Better bottle, Airlock is good with sanitized H2O, And it's in a dark closet. I am worried about the yeast because I bottle condition.


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[Thedutchtouch]

Yeast will be just fine.