Is this a bad idea?

[fatnoah]

I live in an apartment and have (unfortunately) limited space for my brewing operation. I've got 2 6-gal carboy fermenters, and I've got big beers in each (Belgian strong, OG=1.086 and Wee Heavy OG=1.082). They are both early in the primary fermentation process (2 weeks for belgian, 1 week for wee heavy). I am going to leave them both in the primary for 1 month.

The question is; in order to age them further would it be safer to leave them in the primary on the yeast for an additional 1-2 months then bottle, or rack to my bottling bucket, clean out the yeast in the fermenter, and rack back into the original fermenter (now clean and sanitized) and let it secondary age for 1-2 months. I guess it comes down to is the threat of autolysis worse or the threat of oxidation from racking twice?

Thoughts? Suggestions? Unfortunately, don't really have room for any more carboys, which would be the easy solution.

 

[Jsmith82]

Ohhh, a heavily debated topic here

Your beer is safe in the carboy, it has a nice blanket of CO2 hanging on top keeping out nasties, I would let them be - no reason to disturb it. This is the part that sparks the arguments but I have left and continue to leave beers in primary for very extended periods of time, months, never had a problem. The cake packs nice and tight, when I rack to the bottling bucket it's clean and clear, a simple priming solution works to carb every time giving the dormant yeast a last meal before we make them our meal.

Let it be is my 2 cents.

 

[bassassassin772]

I would pull it off the original cake if your going to ferment for any length of time. Risk of oxidation is minimal compared to the flavors the yeast give off after an extended time

 

[H-ost]

My vote is for leaving it. 2 Months is nothing compared to what many people boast. I would also say the risk of making my beer taste like cardboard from oxidation is worse because I don't see any risk of off flavors from the yeast in that short amount of time.

 

[BrewerinBR]

I have left beers on the yeast for up to 3 months and have never had any issue with off flavors. Unless I needed the fermenter for another batch I would just leave it.

My $0.02

 

[cyclonite]

Leave it. As has been said, you have a nice CO2 blanket, and many people primary for extended periods to good effect. I almost never secondary personally, have left primaries for over 2 months, and got fantastic beer as a result. That said, this is a very debated topic.

 

[DonutMuncher]

Maybe someone can chime in that thinks they have actually had autolysis before?

fatnoah, I can't speak to you from personal experience as I've never left anything for extended times in the primary. But I know from John Palmer's book and others around here, that people have left them in the primary for several months without noticeable side effects.

Based on what I've read, I wouldn't really be concerned unless it's going to be at least 10-12 weeks on the yeast cake.. and even then, I'm not sure how much of an issue it is.

 

[homebrewdad]

Another vote for leave it in primary. Autolysis is a boogeyman that doesnt exist for most homebrewing setups and situations.

 

[Tall_Yotie]

As DonutMuncher insinuated, no one really has had issues with leaving it on the cake too long.

"Rack it off the yeast cake! Off flavors! Autolysis!" "Oh, has this happened to you?" "...No, but I read it somewhere on the forums!" "Oh, and that happened to the poster?" "Um.... no, but they read it somewhere!" {continues until empty kegs are thrown at each other}

If your apartment brewing is limited by space (as I am), something as simple as racking can be a huge event. Leave it be, let it age. I am doing a Belgian blonde (don't tell my wife!) that has not been racked, and I have conditioned it for a month after fermentation. Tastes good so far!

 

[Revvy]

I would pull it off the original cake if your going to ferment for any length of time. Risk of oxidation is minimal compared to the flavors the yeast give off after an extended time

You mean there are still people who haven't heard that the people who wrote about this have changed their tune, and realized that there's no risk for prolonged yeast contact, in fact just the opposite, the beer's actually benefit from extended primaries....

Folks have left their beer in primary for a year with no off flavor issues. Autolysis is not a given even after a few months, like some might have suggested. It has more to do with yeast health than time on a yeast cake, and in this day in age our yeast tends to be much healthier than it was 30+ years ago when homebrewing was illegal in the states, and there wasn't a lot of fresh yeast readily available...Our yeast is healthier today, and isn't as prone to autolysing.

This is the most discussed topic on here, it has been readily covered. I suggest you read THIS thread, it's become the "uber discussion" on this topic thread. Every discussion, question, answer, citation, etch is in that thread....

To Secondary or Not? John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff Weigh In .

Many of us leave our beer in primary for a month minimum then bottle.....We find out beers to be clearer and better tasting.

I suggest you read that thread, and experiment for yourself, and make up your own mind.

There's thousands of threads where folks have ventured their opinions, and argued incessantly, but it ultimately comes down to what works for you......

 

[fatnoah]

Thank you all for the advice. I read the thread all the way through that Revvy suggested. The only reason I posted my original question was because it seemed like most of the debate covers beers with OGs in the 1.040-1.060 range, and people still seemed to rack things like barleywines over to a secondary for extended aging. But, given all of the comments here I am definitely leaning towards leaving them on the primary and not risking the oxidation (plus it's less work). I am pretty confident in my yeast health. Both were wyeast strains and I did nice 2L starters on both. Thanks again.

 

[pjj2ba]

Keep in mind that the longer the yeast cake remains in contact with your beer, the more influence it has on the flavor of the final product. No, it will not ruin your beer. As long as you have a good control on temperature (and sanitation) it will not result in "off flavors". It will have a different flavor however than if you racked it off of the yeast for longer aging. It is a matter of personal preference.

Conversely, using a secondary will not ruin your beer as some folks now believe. What the folks who have done side by side experiments have shown is that leaving the beer in primary for a longer time does not ruin your beer. They didn't do anything to suggest that one should always use a longer primary. They found that some folks prefer the flavors they get doing it one way, and others prefer the flavors from the other. Try the same recipe both ways and decide which YOU like better. You might find that which method you use also depends on the style of the beer.