Whoops! Primary - How long is too long?

[Rage]

So we brewed up an extract batch of a regular porter about two months ago. However, for some reason or another, we completely forgot about this particular batch until now (more focused on work, cider, all-grain).

Anyhow, I reckon we brewed this batch up about two months ago, and it's still in the primary carboy. Would you folks suggest we go ahead and bottle/keg it? Or have we reached a point where the yeast has begun decomposing?

Thanks!

 

[Captain Damage]

Should be okay unless it smells like burning rubber when you open the carboy.

 

[BoxofRain]

2 months for a porter? That is going to be one of the best beers you ever made. I wish I had the patience to primary for that long. If you don't believe me, send it to me for further testing.

 

[Rage]

Whew! I'm definitely glad this is the response I got! I was pretty worried when I found the carboy all alone and forgotten. I'll definitely be kegging and bottling this up as soon as I can, then!

 

[BoxofRain]

Whew! I'm definitely glad this is the response I got! I was pretty worried when I found the carboy all alone and forgotten. I'll definitely be kegging and bottling this up as soon as I can, then!

This thread will pretty much sum it up for you.

The yeast of 2011 are much healthier than the yeast of yesteryear when common practices of a short primary were the norm. Basically, the longer you primary, the more time the yeast has to clean up after itself. I try to primary for at least a month now.

 

[Rage]

With this question answered, I'm curious-

How long is too long in the primary? I know that eventually the yeast will begin to decompose after a period of time, but I'm not sure what time-frame to apply to that. Does it generally depend on the yeast?

 

[Captain Damage]

Yeast can go dormant and stay dormant for a long period of time. It happens all the time in brewing. We leave bottle conditioned beers at room temperature for months, sometimes a year or more. Jamil pointed out on a recent podcast that the autolysis scare comes primarily from two sources: poor handling and storage of yeast in the early decades of American homebrewing, and the practices of commercial brewers who are dealing with high pressures and heat control issues completely alien to homebrewers.

Time and time again we read here about brewers who've forgotten their beers in primary for months and the beer still came out great. Certainly there is an upper time limit, and prudence dictates that we don't routinely abuse our beer. But from reading here for the past couple of years it's clear that autolysis is really just a monster under the bed.

 

[bschoenb]

Never taken a batch out of the primary yet before 30 days...........

 

[Hang Glider]

this:

2 months for a porter? That is going to be one of the best beers you ever made.

.