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Just wondering, is 12 days way too long in a fermenter?? I had a period of lack of bottles, so have only just been able to bottle up tomorrow, but 12 days, will the brew have gone off??

very much not. I always leave mine 14 days for extra awesomenes.

You can leave em longer if you want, it wont hurt but i would usually rack if i was going to leave for extended periods

I read on the net (maybe here) that if you leave your brew for too long, and the yeast no longer have anything to feed on sugar wise they'll start eating themselves and impart bad flavours or odours.

Don't know if that's true, but its the only reason I'm trying to get my brew from fermenter to bottle as soon as possible.

Is it true?

I try to leave all my brews in the primary fermenter for 3 weeks before bottling. Makes a huge difference to clarity, less bottle sediment, and why not just leave them getting some conditioning there instead of the bottles. Also, I find that the time required in the bottle before consumption is reduced proportionately by doing this, so nothing lost.

Autolysis (yeast self consumption) is reported to possibly occur with extended periods, but I would think that it would be over a much longer time frame than we are talking here. I certainly haven't tasted it in anyone's brews before.

Cheers, Ed

I totally agree with you Ed. Time before i drink my beers consists of how long its been since i put it down on day one, not just how long its been in the bottle. If its been racked and sitting there for a month then as far as im concerned it wont need long in the bottle before drinking. Anyway if it has been racked i don't see much difference between a fermentor and a bottle. They are both airtight.

I've told a few people this story and many don't believe me, but...

The man who got me into home brewing tells me he once had a dark ale in the primary for SIX MONTHS. He had it brewing in the laundry, the good wife got sick of it and shifted it out to the shed. He forgot about the brew and found it six months later. He bottled it anyway and it was very drinkable, i've sampled one myself.

So my point is, I don't think an extra week or so in the carboy is going to do too much damage.

I generally work on a weekly schedule, while the misses is at work.
sat/sun put brew down
sat/sun rack to secondary
sat/sun keg bottle

only slight variations depending on temps/time/OG of brew.

I started off following the cooper's idea of up to 7 days, but then left some in primary for longer and the results were only better.
I'm a uni student so I can homebrew any day of the week, as long as hydrometer tests are constant. Overcarbonation is very preventable.

Patience is always the best way to go.

I've got a brewcraft whrat beer that's been in the fermenter for 10 days now,and it's still showing full krausen.I used us 56 yeast ,and have kept the fermenter at 20 degrees during that whole time,burt it still brews like a lager.I will rack this brew if it keeps brewing much longer.

Mark68,

Just put down a Brewcraft wheat with Safwheat K-97 last night. It's at 20 degrees but no fermentation action yet. I'd appreciate your updates just to know what to expect.

Thanks,
DerFly

7 days primary, 7 secondary, 14 cc/lagering is a good standard.

Derfly,i bottled my wheat beer on day 11 after much frustration,and it was still showing krausen.I tasted it and it wasn't infected.It finished at around 1010 gravity,and i doubt it will go much lower than that with 1.5 kilos of malt in the brew.

Thanks Mark,

Mine's still going after a week. I'll probably rack to secondary tomorrow and see what happens, if only to get rid of the blanket of heavy krausen.

Cheers,
Derfly

I leave mine for 14 in primary and 7 in secondary.

As The Proud Anselmo says.. can only add to the awesomenes.

Ha, just finished racking mine into secondary. I guess it could've easily spent a few more days in primary. It's still brewing away handomely, I'll leave it at least another week and see what happens.

A smallish sample already had that fantastic weizenbier taste. I think I'm in love again

i recently bottled a coopers sparkling ale after 14 days even tho it had stopped fermenting after 8 days (because i was too lazy to clean the bottles earlier). I've also done a pilsener and lagers that were in primary fermenter for 16 days each (i don't rack) so in answer to your question sam, 12 days is definately not too long in the fermenter. If anything it will help to clear it up a bit.

The brews that I have left for two weeks or longer are much better than the ones that I have bottled sooner.

I like to get the beer of the yeast cake whilst it still has some CO2 producing capability. I wish I had kegs...