So I tried the Whole Keep your Beer in the Primary Longer this Time Around...

[RLinNH]

...and it has been in the Primary now for 16 days and counting. I'll start taking Hydro readings this Saturday. I have never had my Beer in the primary for more then 8 days. But Lo and Behold, I was in the Basement drowning some bottles this evening preparing for my bottling sessions this Weekend, and I actually saw Air Lock Activity!!! We're talking 16 days here folks. I am astounded at this fact' I am also anxious to see what the Hydro readings will be. What's the longest you have kept a Beer in the Primary?

 

[Tenchiro]

...and it has been in the Primary now for 16 days and counting. I'll start taking Hydro readings this Saturday. I have never had my Beer in the primary for more then 8 days. But Lo and Behold, I was in the Basement drowning some bottles preparing for my bottling sessions this Weekend, and I actually saw Air Lock Activity!!! We're talking 16 days here folks. I am astounded at this fact' I am also anxious to see what the Hydro readings will be. What's the longest you have kept a Beer in the Primary?

I had a hefe sit in a bucket for like 5 weeks once, I had moved and after I had no motivation to do anything so it sat and sat and sat. It is still drinkable now, but it is not nearly as good as it could have been.

 

[PseudoChef]

I primary all my beers for at least 2 weeks to start. I pitch according to Mr. Malty's calc, but ferment around 65 (with one exception). Maybe that's why they take so long.

 

[RLinNH]

I primary all my beers for at least 2 weeks to start. I pitch according to Mr. Malty's calc, but ferment around 65 (with one exception). Maybe that's why they take so long.

This Beer has been in my basement at 65ish for a little over 2 weeks now. I'm thinking Hydro readings start tomorrow night. This Batch should be in the secondary on Friday night.

 

[LS_Grimmy]

I've had mine in for up to 5 weeks. In my opinion it aids in the clearing of the beer before I transfer it over to the Secondary. It gives those yeast cells time to get the job done and clean themselves up... but again that's just me

 

[homebrewer_99]

Primary: 34 days for a Hefe Weizen...

Secondary 100+ days for a lager...

 

[Ryanh1801]

I only primary for 7-9 days.

 

[brett]

The longest I've gone is around a 3 weeks (not counting apfelwein).

The beer turns out fine. I don't secondary anymore unless the recipe calls for it (like dry-hopping, long clearing/conditioning, etc).

 

[Bosh]

Kept my last beer (a fairly big stout) in primary for a month. Tastes great but needs to age just a bit more.

 

[Kubed]

5 weeks?! ... that's some hardcore self control.

 

[Bosh]

5 weeks?! ... that's some hardcore self control.

Well it takes a lot less self control to keep it in the primary than to keep it in bottles

 

[tandpbrewing]

Due to sheer laziness I left one batch of hefe in the primary for 3 months and a week.

 

[fretman124]

I was one of those guys that would primary for 7 days, no matter what. now I primary for two-three weeks, no matter what. I also secondary for 2- 3 weeks, no matter what. Then I let it age in the keg for a month maybe two, no matter what. my beer tastes better than it did when I started......

 

[Jekster]

My beers stay in primary for between 10 days to 4 weeks then hit the bottles / kegs. The exception is my porter which was primaried for 4 weeks then secondaries for another four or so for some bulk conditioning. I also playing to use about a 2 week secondary on a couple beers that I need to dry hop (my IPA and gumball head clone).

 

[RoaringBrewer]

My last ESB i brewed has been in the primary for 3 weeks and 2 days as of today... I'm getting into kegging as we speak, but will take me about 2 weeks to get the kegerator built. I plan for this to be my first beer on tap - thus it will see about 5 weeks in primary and then into the keg. I'll let you know how it turns out - should be great!

Going primary for about 3-4 weeks with no secondary (unless needed for something like oaking, etc.) is great for me b/c I really love brewing and drinking, but really dislike transferring, bottling, etc. when it isn't necessary...

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

You guys need to get them beers off that trub! Secondaries don't hurt a thing and help keep that trub from adding unwanted flavors to the beer. Leave it in secondary for weeks and weeks, but get. off. that. trub. Honestly, a few weeks on the trub probably won't hurt the beer, but if you are going for a while, why risk it? Just rack it.

And you guys letting the hefe's sit so long: Why the hefe's? Those are best young

 

[Bobby_M]

Tell that to Jamil Z. He's not having any trouble with 3-4 week primaries. He mentioned more than once that extending primary and skipping secondary was one of the biggest improvements he's made in his process. I don't like putting too many people on a pedestal but he wins so many damn awards it's hard to ignore.

 

[brewt00l]

I don't like putting too many people on a pedestal but he wins so many damn awards it's hard to ignore.

It's hard to argue with his results...

someone familiar posed this question over on the BN forums:
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/ph...=0&postorder=asc&highlight=secondary&start=30

 

[kinison_fan]

The only times I've ever used a secondary were when I've used fruit in the primary-Cherry Stout, Blueberry Wheat, Pumpkin Ale, etc. After 7 days or so the fruit will look kind of funky.

With the Cherry Stout, the cherries leached out to an off white color and looked especially nasty in the dark stout.

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

3-4 weeks, I can see that, but some people are talking about months here.

I imagine the beer will still be fine, still don't think its worth the risk though. What advantage is there to leaving it in the primary so long?

 

[teu1003]

I no longer use secondaries and do primary for about 4 weeks. Leaving beer on yeast is not a big deal ... yeast is our friend and only makes beer better. The key is to CLEAN UP your beer before primary. If you are pitching into a carboy of wort with 2 inches of kettle crap on the bottom, you arent doing yourself any favors.

My brew procedure is this: run everything out of the kettle at 80-90 degrees into a carboy, put a sanitized piece of foil over it and sit it on the kitchen counter; clean up all your brew mess; 2 hours later, rack the wort (now 75 or so) off all the crap at the bottom of the carboy into a botting bucket; clean and sanitize the carboy; pitch the yeast starter (you DID make a starter, didn't you?) into the carboy; SPLASH the wort out of the bottling bucket into the carboy, shaking while it goes; airlock it and put it in a dark place for a month and forget its there.

I'll grant you ... patience is hard to learn, but it helps if you already have your brew pipeline moving.

1-2-3 is old technology.

 

[brett]

Leaving beer on yeast is not a big deal ... yeast is our friend and only makes beer better.

I'm not so sure about that.

My brew procedure is this: run everything out of the kettle at 80-90 degrees into a carboy, put a sanitized piece of foil over it and sit it on the kitchen counter; clean up all your brew mess; 2 hours later, rack the wort (now 75 or so) off all the crap at the bottom of the carboy into a botting bucket; clean and sanitize the carboy; pitch the yeast starter ... into the carboy; SPLASH the wort out of the bottling bucket into the carboy, ... put it in a dark place for a month and forget its there.

Ugh, that's way too complicated for me. I just chill/whirlpool in the brew pot and rack the beer off the trub and into the primary.

1-2-3 is old technology.

And that lessens its usefulness how?

 

[delboy]

Brett have you ever had any problems with leaving a brew for too long on the trub/yeast cake?

Personally i haven't, i've only ever seen the beer improve.

 

[PseudoChef]

Jamil talks about this in the *I think* American wheat episode (I listened to 2 yesterday, and I'm pretty sure that's the one).

Talks about yeast ADDING more to the beer rather than taking away. That's why he leaves it on there so long.

 

[Undead8]

Leaving the beer on the trub for too long might cause off flavors because of autolysis (the yeast eating its own dead body). It's not a problem if you just have a small yeast cake (secondary), but a big one could cause bad flavors if the beer sits on it for more than a month (especially light beers).

 

[brewt00l]

Jamil talks about this in the *I think* American wheat episode (I listened to 2 yesterday, and I'm pretty sure that's the one).

Talks about yeast ADDING more to the beer rather than taking away. That's why he leaves it on there so long.

his post in that thread (page 2) that I previously linked:

I use glass carboys for all batches except when I need to do a 10 gallon batch. Then I use a conical because it holds 10 gallons.

I do not do "secondary" either. Most of the folks describe my process correctly, but it has nothing to do with conicals. I let the beer sit on the yeast until everything fermentation/yeast related is complete. Then the beer gets kegged and carbonated. I don't use a racking cane. I just use a length of tubing and I don't have any trouble getting the beer off the yeast.

 

[Bobby_M]

I haven't seen anyone suggest leaving anything in primary for months... I've seen 5 weeks mentioned in this thread. Everyone else is talking in ranges of 10 days to 4 weeks. Autolisys is claimed to happen moreso in unhealthy or overstressed yeast, those without appropriate nutrient stores or subjected to high alcohol levels. The benefit to leaving in primary longer on the main body of yeast is for conditioning purposes. That is, a beer left for one extra week in primary does the same conditioning as say a beer left in secondary for two weeks (more yeast to do it). I don't know how accurate my numbers are, I'm just guessing for sake of discussion. We've had the same discussion around forcing yeast out of suspension by crash chilling or using finings like gelatin. I'm not so sure that forcing the yeast out too early is a good thing but it's hard to know when the right time is.

 

[bigben]

3 weeks primary then to kegs.

 

[brett]

Brett have you ever had any problems with leaving a brew for too long on the trub/yeast cake?

Nope. But then again I don't leave my beer on the cake for extraordinarily long amounts of time.

 

[Kevin Dean]

I use secondaries (which is misleading and partly why I disagree with Bobby_M's idea) simply because it makes me feel that my beer is "clearer" than it was when it was sitting in the primary. I tell you, especially for my pumpkin ale, it made me feel rather good to get it off that layer of crap.

The benefit to leaving in primary longer on the main body of yeast is for conditioning purposes. That is, a beer left for one extra week in primary does the same conditioning as say a beer left in secondary for two weeks (more yeast to do it). I don't know how accurate my numbers are, I'm just guessing for sake of discussion.

I'd think that having additional yeast at the BOTTOM of the fermenter would do very little to actually help condition the beer. I'm assuming that yeast are only able to interact with molecules that they are in contact with. This indicates to me that the yeast in suspension are more valuable than the yeast at the bottom of the fermenter and that a three inch (example) layer of yeast in the bottom has the exact same affect (in terms of conditioning) on the beer as a .5 inch layer since the same volume of beer is in contact with yeast.

That said, I'd personally prefer to remove all non-needed stuff from my fermenters.

However, I think this debate is blown up more than it actually needs to be - quite simply the definition of "better" can only be defined by the person drinking the beer... Perhaps Jamil actually LIKES a sightly yeasty taste to his brews, and that's why a single-stage ferment is better for him. Perhaps it really does make a "better" beer, but good beer can be made with either technique I beleive.