It seems many brewers on this forum recommend leaving one's beer in the primary fermenter for 3-4 weeks, or even months in some cases. My main concern with this is that it seems contrary to John Palmer's advice on the subject, who seems to think that longer than 3 weeks opens up risk for off-flavors and autolysis.
My fermenter is a plastic bucket in which I've kept my previous brews for 2 weeks before bottling. However, this time I'll be out of country for about 3+ weeks and don't have quite enough time before the trip to wait the usual 2 weeks before bottling. I'm considering either bottling a few days early and letting them sit while I'm away, or else just brewing a couple days before I leave and letting the beer sit in primary for 4-ish weeks.
Is it OK to leave it for that long unattended? Any risk of it getting too warm (it'll be mid-July, doesn't exactly get outrageously hot here in Seattle but then again we don't have air conditioning)? The yeast I have is a packet of dry yeast that's been in my fridge for a couple months... is that an issue or am I better off with fresh yeast?
My fermenter is a plastic bucket in which I've kept my previous brews for 2 weeks before bottling. However, this time I'll be out of country for about 3+ weeks and don't have quite enough time before the trip to wait the usual 2 weeks before bottling. I'm considering either bottling a few days early and letting them sit while I'm away, or else just brewing a couple days before I leave and letting the beer sit in primary for 4-ish weeks.
Is it OK to leave it for that long unattended? Any risk of it getting too warm (it'll be mid-July, doesn't exactly get outrageously hot here in Seattle but then again we don't have air conditioning)? The yeast I have is a packet of dry yeast that's been in my fridge for a couple months... is that an issue or am I better off with fresh yeast?