how long is too long in primary

[2ellas]

I have had an oatmeal stout sitting in a bucket for going on 5 weeks. I'm working on getting some kegging gear and I would imagine I'll have it mid to late next week. Is that too long for the stout to sit in primary? I was hoping not to bottle this one but I don't want it ruined either...

 

[frazier]

It won't be ruined. It will probably be great.

Six months would be a different story. You'll be fine.

Cheers,

 

[BSBrewer83]

As long as sanitation is good then you are fine. With an oatmeal stout it is probably going to taste better with some age. The roasted malts will be much better with age.

If you were going to have it in there even longer you could throw some oak cubes in there for a little more depth...

 

[joshesmusica]

5 weeks is fine. how much headspace do you have? over time, with a lot of headspace, you're likely to oxidize the beer. with very little headspace, say if your primary was a carboy, you're less likely.

 

[jrgtr42]

Timewise wion't be a problem.
The only detail is to watch, if you are using an airlock, and make sure it doesn't dry out.
Personally, I would change that out to a solid bung one I was sure that fermentation is over.

 

[revco]

I've gone as long as two months in primary when life gets in the way. The finished product tasted great. I probably wouldn't push too much further than that without transferring to secondary, if I intend to keep it aging.

 

[aprichman]

5 weeks is fine. how much headspace do you have? over time, with a lot of headspace, you're likely to oxidize the beer. with very little headspace, say if your primary was a carboy, you're less likely.

You shouldn't have any problems in a glass carboy if your airlock is working properly and you don't open it. Fermentation produces CO2 which will push almost all of the oxygen out. In a low oxygen environment beer wont get oxidized regardless of headspace size. With plastic buckets and carboys O2 will diffuse through the material so beer can get oxidized regardless of headspace if left in the vessel long enough.

 

[joshesmusica]

I have had an oatmeal stout sitting in a bucket for going on 5 weeks. I'm working on getting some kegging gear and I would imagine I'll have it mid to late next week. Is that too long for the stout to sit in primary? I was hoping not to bottle this one but I don't want it ruined either...

You shouldn't have any problems in a glass carboy if your airlock is working properly and you don't open it. Fermentation produces CO2 which will push almost all of the oxygen out. In a low oxygen environment beer wont get oxidized regardless of headspace size. With plastic buckets and carboys O2 will diffuse through the material so beer can get oxidized regardless of headspace if left in the vessel long enough.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

There was a thread a while back about a guy who forgot about a bucket in his closet. 2 or 3 years went by before he found it.

I'm no expert, but I'd say that's too long.

 

[aprichman]

5 weeks is fine. how much headspace do you have? over time, with a lot of headspace, you're likely to oxidize the beer. with very little headspace, say if your primary was a carboy, you're less likely.

Glass carboy = not possible

 

[JINKS]

I've done a 6 week primary on a red ale, best beer I made. Got a English brown I just bottled that went from January 31 to last Monday April 13 before I bottled. The sample tasted fine.

 

[orangehero]

Glass carboy = not possible

If there's no CO2 being actively produced oxygen will diffuse back into the headspace through the stopper (although some stopper materials are better than others) and airlock regardless of whether the carboy is glass.

 

[aprichman]

If there's no CO2 being actively produced oxygen will diffuse back into the headspace through the stopper and airlock regardless of whether the carboy is glass.

Not sure that's true. The stopper is a very thick plastic and the thickness of the plastic plays a significant role in the diffusion rate. The airlock is filled with liquid and I don't think O2 would readily diffuse through plastic -> liquid -> plastic.

Even if a small amount of O2 was able to diffuse through multiple layers of plastic you're talking about an incredibly small surface area. The surface area of a plastic bucket / plastic carboy is thousands of times larger than the bung/airlock. Personally I think it's a disingenuous stance.

There's a reason why you can bulk age beer in a glass carboy w/ airlock for over a year.

 

[orangehero]

Even if a small amount of O2 was able to diffuse through multiple layers of plastic you're talking about an incredibly small surface area.

It does. Like I mentioned it depends on what kind of stopper you're using. The plastic universal stopper is fairly permeable. The vinyl caps are the worst. Solid rubber is best. I don't know what you mean by diffuse through plastic -> liquid -> plastic. It's diffusing through both liquid and rubber/plastic.

There's a reason why you can bulk age beer in a glass carboy w/ airlock for over a year.

The beer will most definitely experience oxidation from bulk aging in a glass carboy. It will experience oxidation from a year of aging anywhere.

Once there's no more CO2 being produced, unless the carboy is completely airtight, oxygen is going to start diffusing back in.

Home winemakers will typically add more sulfite to the carboy bulk aging wine at certain intervals for this very reason.

http://www.better-bottle.com/pdf/CarboyPermeabilityStudy.pdf

I don't know how my stance is disingenuous. I'm not arguing against the use of airlocks, but it's important to understand they are not a perfect seal.

Anyway I think the bigger potential issue is that extended time in contact with all of the yeast could lead to other off-flavors besides oxidation. Out to 12 weeks is probably fine, but I would at least try to move the beer off the yeast cake if it needs to sit longer than that.

 

[joshesmusica]

Glass carboy = not possible

it's great that you're arguing glass vs plastic right now, but you need to learn to read. i attempted to highlight it for you, but apparently you missed that. the OP stated he's using a bucket. so no need to argue the point about glass vs. plastic now. he needs advice on what to do with his plastic bucket, which again, he clearly stated from the first post that he had. unless of course someone invented a glass bucket...

 

[RM-MN]

5 weeks is like nothing. 5 months? Maybe, but probably not. You have the slight chance of yeast autolysis the longer you let it sit but even that is rare in home brewing. While the argument rages above about oxidation with a bucket vs carboy and the oxidation from sitting too long I'd just ignore it. Yes, your beer will get oxygen through the plastic bucket, yes the airlocks will allow oxygen to diffuse through them, but in reality for the amount of time you are planning it is insignificant.

 

[CUrchin]

Personally, I'd be far, far more worried about oxygenation in transferring the beer from a bucket to glass than letting a beer sit in a bucket for six weeks. I've done the 6 week primary when life has gotten in the way with no ill effects.

 

[aprichman]

it's great that you're arguing glass vs plastic right now, but you need to learn to read. i attempted to highlight it for you, but apparently you missed that. the OP stated he's using a bucket. so no need to argue the point about glass vs. plastic now. he needs advice on what to do with his plastic bucket, which again, he clearly stated from the first post that he had. unless of course someone invented a glass bucket...

You're the one that brought up carboys in the first place - not sure why you would mention carboys and then act rude when I responded to your comment about carboys