plastic vs steel conical fermenter

[FSR402]

I have left it up to three months without any problems.

 

[khiddy]

is it ok to leave beer in primary for long periods or like wine should it be racked after main fermentation dies down...I know this is wrong section but was wondering...

The long and short of it is, you can leave it in primary for a few weeks (1-6 weeks or longer) before you begin to run the risk of autolysis (rupture of dead yeast cells, producing nasty off-tastes). Many of the best brewers here on the board will leave a beer in primary for a month, then rack directly to keg or bottle. Wine is racked off of the lees and yeast because those will impart off flavors & excess tannins to the wine.

On the other hand, there are styles of beer that taste better young, such as wheat beers. Those will reach their peak pretty quickly, then begin going downhill. Not all beer is meant to be aged; not all beer will be better with more time in the fermenter. Even the best cellaring beers (which are usually the Russian Imperial Stouts and Barleywines) reach their peak in the bottle, not in the fermenter.

 

[insnekamkze86]

thats correct it depends on the style of beer.

 

[greendragonbrew]

I know this is an old thread, but found it to be interesting.

Do you have data on the oxygen permeability of Medium Density Polyethylene (MDPE)?

All the information I found on LDPE and HDPE show the permeability coefficients of these plastics to be extremely low. I was not able to find much on MDPE, but would surmise that it would be somewhere between HDPE and MDPE.

Any info you have found would be appreciated.