How long is too long too ferment wort.
I’ve heard of keeping mash for long periods of time but not wort.
It’s been aboot a week since the activity has stopped and the Krausen fell out.
You can easily keep beer in the fermenter for a month + with no negative issues. As with any beer, you want to take 2 or 3 hydrometer readings a couple days apart each to verify that you’re at final gravity. If those readings are identical, bottle or keg the beer. Past that, you can leave the beer in primary for a while if need be.
Thanks alot, I Googled the hell out of that question and could not find anything.
Before bottling is a cold crash a good idea or is it a personal preference?
I appreciate all the help.
R,
Curtdogg
It’s ok to crash before bottling - I know it might seem like there wouldn’t be enough yeast left to help carb the beer but I assure you there will be. There’s always yeast in the beer, you just can’t see it below a certain threshold. So verify FG (doing the hydrometer checks I mentioned) then cold crash for a couple days, then bottle. Good luck !
Edit - This assumes of course that you didn’t brew a really big beer, say 1.090+ OG. Sometimes a beer that big needs a dose of fresh yeast at bottling because the high abv has left the yeast sluggish and often unable to carb your beer. Standard gravity beers, no worries.
If you can chill to about 35 F and hold it there for a couple of weeks, it will help make the beer a lot clearer. If not, cold crashing doesn’t really serve any purpose. Some people do it to arrest fermentation prematurely but it’s better to let it finish fully.
A couple days @ 32F definitely drops most (not all) yeast strains for me. Longer of course would make it clearer.
Yeast drops out without chilling. Just needs patience. Not chill haze though.
(Edited as I misread first time)
reality is, when its done, its done. cold crash means you don’t slowly drop temps. and yes, the longer you hold at low temps should almost always help you achieve clearer beer…whether that be in the keg or in the fermentation vessel. most of my beers get crashed at day 14 from pitching yeast…sometimes sooner but 2 weeks works into my schedule just fine.
FWIW, my routine is now to crash @ 32F for 2 days then gelatin fine (most beers). Crystal clear a couple days later.
+1. I mostly only cold crash for 24 hrs though. Gelatin helps clear the rest of the way…