Time in primary - what is too long?

[croc4]

Hi All,

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I am new to HB and I am planning on starting my first batch on Sat. I am going to start with an English Brown, however, I have just found out that I 'may' be going to a customer site out of country some time mid next week(the length of time is still TBD, should not be more than a week..) So now my question, I have read that the reason you rack to a secondary is to get the beer off the trub because of 'off' flavors it may induce into the brew, but if I had to leave it in the primary for 2weeks what is the down side?, the recipe calls for ~7 days in the primary. Since it is a brown ale, it should have a heartier taste that should not be so delicate to some amount of 'off' flavors???


Croc4
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[Fast_Eddy]

It'll be fine. Just don't let the temp rise too high while you're gone...that will alter the flavor (diectyl, esters, etc) and will speed up yeast autolysis.

[mcarlson74]

Something else that could happen to is that your beer might actually finish it's primary before you leave. If it does do this than you can go ahead and transfer to the second before you leave and not have to worry about a thing. I know that the first couple of batches that I brewed with dry yeast finished fermenting in about 2-3 days. I would just keep an eye on it and it should be fine.

[croc4]

Thanks for the feedback, it eases my fears about the process
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[croc4]

mcarlson74 you may have hit the nail on the head, my airlock is only bubling ~once per 15 seconds, so it looks it may have done it primary fermentation?, I have not taken a hydro reading as yet.

I pitched the yeast(aka starter) on Sat ~4pm, the OG was 1.050 at 80deg, correcting for temp, I believe the OG is 1.048....

Is there a rule of thumb about the time between bubles in the airlock and the fermentation state?, currently they are about ~15sec apart. I know that a hydro reading is the best thing, but I don't want to disturb the beer without good reason.
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[sallad]

a good rule of thumb between the time between bubbles and the fermentation state is that there are no bubbles when its done!

other than that, well.. there are different styles of airlocks, so they will all vary somewhat in the amount of C02 they can hold before they bubble over. plus, if you use a bucket with a lid (as opposed to a glass carboy with a rubber stopper), the lids are usually not completely airtight.

to make sure fermentation is complete you need to take reading of the SG everyday for 2-3 days. if they are all the same, then you've probably finished fermenting.

that being said, i don't practice what i preach. when its in primary, i wait for it to have settled down, and when its in secondary, i just wait for the airlock to level out. :) also, i use glass for primary and secondary.

[Fast_Eddy]

Here's the general approach to primary that I kinda use - When the primary air lock has settled down(1 bubble ever 8 or 9 secs or more) significantly and at least(or around) 5 days have passed then it's probably ok to transfer to secondary. I use glass for primary and secondary.

I read someone suggest that you should wait until 50% of the fermentables are gone - which I guess really has to do with the increase in alcohol that should help prevent infection.

[mcarlson74]

I agree with sallad on this one. I don't practice what I preach either. If done by "the book" you are suppose to take a hydro reading when you think it is done and then wait about 2 days and take another one. Repeat this process until you get 2 readings in a row the same. With that being said I usually leave it in the primary until I think it is done then transfer to a secondary. I usually leave in the secondary for about a week. If you are still getting bubbles once every 15-30 sec personally I would leave it in the fermenter for a little longer. I usually wait until it's at least ~ 1.5 min. Then again as you will learn it's all about personal preference. Good luck and tell us how it turns out.

[croc4]

That is my fear, I don't want to open the primary (bucket type)
without being pretty sure the fermentation is done because I don't want to run the risk of getting it contaminated. Even though I would like to take a peek. But given that this is my first brew I guess I'm a little on the paranoid side. The second day of fermentation the airlock was going crazy (it was also a little on the warm side here ~80), and then yesterday it slowed to about a bubble every ~5 seconds and then today it is now every ~15 sec.

I guess I'll wait a day or so before cracking it open to take a reading, since this is only the 3.5 day of fermenting.
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[paul84043]

I'd give it at least a few more days.

When I started I was like you, it's so hard to leave it alone!!! But after a while you just let it do it's thing.
I agree with the week timeframe theory. Cook a batch on the weekend, transfer the next weekend, (if the foam has fallen) if not wait another week, two weeks in the sedondary minimum, bottle or keg, then another two weeks minimum before testing.
Yes...that's 6 weeks at least...but the time in the secondary is not wasted, it's still time that the beer is conditioning.
I know it sounds like a long time, it is! I conquered by sheer volume! I have so much beer going at any given time that I won't run out for a long time!


I'd pick up some glass carboys with handles and get another batch going asap. You'll wish you had when you wait a month and find out your beer is great.

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by paul84043
...
I'd pick up some glass carboys with handles and get another batch going asap. You'll wish you had when you wait a month and find out your beer is great.

Yeah, Amen to that, Paul...

Croc4 - you'll get at feel for it and you'll realize that, in all reality, there's very little you can do very wrong.