Leaving Brwew In Fermenter

[fergiej]

My job requires me to be away for 8 days or more every two weeks, I normally put down a brew when I leave home and bottle when I return.

So far so good.

Has anyone had bad experiences leaving a brew in a frementer for too long after fermenting has stopped?

 

[Trev]

I've done the same thing quite a few times with no noticable side effects, I guess you've just got to confident that it wont suffer exteme temp variations and that the fermenter is tightly sealed.

I have read however a bit of comment about leaving the brew sitting on all that dead yeast etc and a lot of people recommend racking your brew at day 3 or 5 or...

Have a look at the following, it gives a good brief overview of it all.

Racking by Grumpys

Maybe you could put the brew down a week or so before you go away and then rack it the day before to give you that extra day just to check everything has settled down. That way you'll hopefully get the best of both worlds.

Trev

 

[Doc]

The longest I've left something in primary is about 14 days.
The longest I've left something in secondary is about 6 weeks.
I haven't noticed any bad side affect.
Normally as long as you get it off the trub from the primary you are fine.
A couple of months ago I was going overseas at short notice and had no available kegs, so racked my beer to secondary and put it in the beer fridge. Turned the fridge up a bit. There was no way I was going to leave it in the 40 degree temps that were happening while I was away. Even when I got home it stayed in the fridge for another three weeks and it turned out into a great beer.

Don't worry, relax have a home brew.

Cheers,
Doc

 

[RegBadgery]

I've left ales in primary for several weeks with no difficulties.

cheers
reg

 

[PMyers]

Personally, I leave my brews for at least seven to ten days to clear after fermentation has ceased. I have never had any problems with autolosys. I even left a brew in the primary for six weeks in winter (I went on holiday and forgot about it). When I came back it was crystal clear and quite possibly the best scotch ale I have made to date.

Cheers,
Pete

:chug:

 

[JWB]

I usually rack the brew into the secoond fermenter after 4 days..then you can leave it for as long as you like... :huh: (within reason.) I believe that if you get the brew off the primary dead yeast as soon as practible there is far less chance of disaster.. :angry: Cheers :chug:

 

[Snow]

John Palmer at howtobrew.com reckons three weeks is the maximum for primary before autolysis becomes a problem. He recommends you rack after one week or leave for two weeks if you're only going primary before bottling. Of course this might depend on the strength of the beer. I did a very thick stout that was still bubbling away after two weeks in the primary. I didn't know anything about racking to secondary back then, so I ended up leaving it for three and a half weeks before bottling. It's still the best stout I've made so far.