Secondary... How long

[mtmetzler]

Good Morning Ladies and Gents,

Have a question regarding length of time in the secondary. I brewed up a kit of Brewers Best Imperial Blonde Ale back on June 11th then moved it into the glass carboy secondary on June 25th (gravity checked out perfect). I was going to leave it in there for 2 weeks to clear up then force carbonate in my corny keg. Needless to say it is now Aug 17 and its still in the secondary... I am going to taste test tonight to see but curious if anyone has left this type of ale 'clearing' this long....

Thanks in advance for all your input!!!

 

[wildwest450]

I personally use my kegs as a secondary. Less transferring and less chance of oxidation. Big beers can be left for months in a secondary, with minimal headspace.

_

 

[hoppymonkey]

+ 1. You can leave big beers in secondary forever! I left one for 7 months and it was great.

 

[Revvy]

Minimum, as long as it takes the beer to clear. I tend to go with a 2 week schedule, if it looks clear. Maximum, however long you want the flavors to marry. I have a barleywine that will have been in a tertiary to bulk age for a year before I bottle it.

 

[Scooby_Brew]

Simple rule of the thumb for most of the beers: 1-2-3.
1 week in the primary, 2 weeks in the secondary, 3 weeks in the bottle. Or, if you decide to skip the secondary, go with 3+3.

 

[mtmetzler]

Thanks everyone for the feedback... that was what I was thinking/hoping!!! It will most likely be the most clear beer I have made so far!!!

 

[hoppymonkey]

Simple rule of the thumb for most of the beers: 1-2-3.
1 week in the primary, 2 weeks in the secondary, 3 weeks in the bottle. Or, if you decide to skip the secondary, go with 3+3.

^^^^^ Hell no on an imperial of any type. ^^^^^^^^

 

[Revvy]

^^^^^ Hell no on an imperial of any type. ^^^^^^^^

Hell no on any beer. If you've experienced a 72 hour lag phase with your yeast, then in truth your beer's only been fermenting for 3-4 days when you move it. Often not quite enough time for the yeast to do their job completely.

If you didn't take a gravity reading and just arbitrarily racked, more than likely fermentation was not complete yet, and you interrupted fermentation when you moved the beer. Because of that the yeast is often re-krausens the beer so it can attempt to finish the job. If you're lucky, otherwise it's a stuck ferementation. It's quite common in first time brewer's batches who don't wait til fermentation is complete.

 

[mtmetzler]

I did do the Gravity reading and all was ok, 2 days w/o any change. I also pitched a starter into the primary tank and yeast was active and churning within an hour. All that aside... tasted fine and is now in the cory and carbonating as I type. Clarity is amazing too, might do this all the time. Thanks again all!!!