keep my peat smoked porter in primary?

[masedigs]

I've got a peat-smoked porter made from an extract kit in the primary (using a bucket as primary wiht this one). OG was 1.062. This is the 4th batch that I've attempted and everything has gone into a secondary (carboy) so far with fairly good results (I still think my impatience is getting the better of me and I am dipping in before giving my brew the full benefit of time).

With this porter though, I am wondering if I should forgo the secondary altogether? In reading these forums I have noticed that quite a few people seem to prefer this method. The instructions call for about 2 weeks in the primary and 1 month in the secondary. What suggestions might y'all experienced folks make? And if keeping it in the primary is ok...how long should I wait before bottling? Any and all help would be appreciated!

 

[Bensiff]

I give most all beers a month in primary and then bottle or keg. If I get lazy or things come up and it sits on the yeast for two months no big deal. There is very little reason to use a secondary...dry hopping, long term aging, adding fruit, and wild beers are about the only ones I can think of.

 

[unionrdr]

That's pretty much what I do. When I get a stable FG,I give it 3-5 more days to clean up & settle out more. Then,if a 1oz sample tastes good,I prime & bottle.

 

[wiescins]

I shoot for 4wks in primary (up to 8wks) and only use secondary if needed to age longer than 8wks or to add flavors. For dry hopping, I just add a bag of hops to the primary after 4/5wks & rack straight to the bottling bucket a week later. If there is no additional flavoring (like my current Barleywine & RIS) I'll go straight to bottle after ~6wks, then let the continued aging occur in the bottle. I hate losing beer every transfer, so I try to minimize them. That said, if its going to be more than 8wks before bottling, I like to get it off of the yeast.

 

[masedigs]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to go ahead and bottle straight from the primary. Unfortunately, I broke my first hydrometer last week trying to measure a sample from the latest batch (luckily nothing broken came anywhere close to the kettle or the carboy), a bourbon barrel porter I am hoping to have ready for the holidays. I need to pick another one up, but I'm thinking I'll go another 3 weeks or so before bottling the smoked porter. I'm loving this homebrewing!

As an aside, what do you guys prefer for a primary fermenting vessel? Bucket or Carboy?

 

[unionrdr]

We have a Brewer's Best ale pale,& a cooper's micro brew fermenters. I made a bottling bucket from the 7.9G pale with the beer & grapes pic on the front. It also has a spigot & airlock grommet to use as a secondary if needed.