Possible to ferment too long?

[vogtenstein222]

So I did a Belgian blonde on Big Brew Day, I have been constantly busy ever since (SWMBO and I are buying a house) so it is still in the fermenter. I've been at FG for a bit now, but now we are headed out of town for the weekend so it will probably be next weekend before I can finally bottle, I believe that means 5 weeks fermenting. Is there a way to ferment too long, or is it just going to help it clear up even more?

 

[msa8967]

I let many of my beers go 4-5 weeks in the primary. Your beer should be just fine provided that it is not exposed to a high temperature location.

 

[woozy]

It may or may not be possible to ferment too long. But it's not possible to ferment too long in only five weeks. Come back in eight months and ask again and we'll talk.

 

[vogtenstein222]

This is just my third batch, and while I'm certainly more confident now than before, I wanted to make sure I wasn't in for a sour beer. Temps have been 64-68°f the whole time. I don't have a chamber but I do have a very steady basement with a temp recorder I got when my work thought it was broken! Thanks for the replies folks!

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

I would argue, solely due to personal experience with little "so called science" to back it up, that your beer will be just dandy. A belgian blonde is rather perfect for a slightly extended vacay on a yeast cake especially if it is fairly high gravity. At some point autolysis comes into effect, but the only downside I've personally encountered in long-term fermentations were with mid-gravity, high-hop beers where the hops that weren't filtered properly led to a bit of a harsh-grass taste in the long run.