Newbie question: Can I leave beer fermenting more than 10 days?

14 days is not too long. And you don't necessarily need a secondary either. If you want, you can dry hop your IPA in the primary after attenuation is done (or almost done), then bottle.

 

You could leave it in the primary for a lot longer than two weeks without a penalty. Ask us what to do when you return from traveling. Until then, let the yeast work their magic.

 

Im a rookie myself, but I can recommend getting "How to brew" by John Palmer.

His opinion on primary fermentation is that as long as its not in there for longer than 3 weeks you're ok.
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter8-2-3.html

Theres a brief bit of info from his website. But his book is the #1 stop I make for solutions or answers. Good luck on the brew and have fun.

 

The real question is: Is there a good reason for letting it ferment less than 10 days? (other than I am thirsty)

 

Not only can you let your wort fement for more than ten days but you should let your wort ferment for more than ten days.

Bottling too soon is way worse than waiting a wittle wonger.
-Elmer Fudd

 

On this same topic, I brewed an IPA (first batch) last Sunday. Last Wednesday, convection started to slow, so I checked gravity and it was at 1.016 (down from OG of 1.054). I added two ounces of dry hop pellets. They have all fallen out and the beer has started to clear up. I checked gravity today, and it is now down to 1.008. Final was supposed to be 1.016. Is this going to be a problem?

I don't really have time to bottle until this weekend. Can I wait 3 more days in the primary before racking to bottling bucket?
Thanks in advance,
Greg Booth

 

Your final gravity won't be a problem. You'll beer will just be a little drier and have a tab more ABV.

For what it's worth, I don't even check for my gravity until at least 14 days in(assuming the normal signs of fermentation were there). After that, if I'm dryhopping I'll dry hop for a least 7 more days before either bottling or kegging. So we're talking a grand total of 21 days in the primary sitting on the yeast. I've never had a problem with this. I probably wouldn't let it sit for on the yeast past 4 weeks. Keep in mind I'm taking an average IPA such as yours...higher gravity may need 3 weeks to ferment out then longer dry hopping...its all going to be relative to what beer you're making.

 

@boothbeer

Your lower than expected FG could be a problem if it's the result of an infection. Which yeast did you use? Extract or All Grain?

 

It can wait. Though you may get more dryhop flavor/aroma than you otherwise would have. Not necessarily a bad thing. But you don't know if your beer has reached final gravity yet. You need another hydrometer reading at least 2 days after the last one to determine that.

Only if it's infected. Or if you don't like dry IPAs. Did you taste the beer? Your attenuation so far does sound a bit high for a typical IPA, but that depends on many factors. Full recipe would be useful here.

 

I've let one go for almost 5 weeks in primary when I was on vacation. Yeast cake was nice and solid on the bottom which made racking off it a lot easier. So yea, if anything it's better to go longer (like 3-5 weeks). It can give the yeast time to clean up

 

14 will be fine. Welcome to the obsession!

 

I agree that his book is the #1 stop I make for answers, (other than this forum and Homebrewtalk.com) 1A is Charlie Papazian's Complete Joy of Homebrewing.
I disagree with the comment of "as long as its not in there for longer than 3 weeks."
I routinely let mine go 3 weeks, and in my experiences, the beer is better than when I would do 2 weeks. IN a couple instances, I have bottled after 2 weeks, if I had a time crunch, since I started the 3 week time frame, and the beer was not as good.
In any case, OP, don't worry about it until after you return from your trip. Test gravity at that point, then close it back up for another couple days. Test again. if the gravity is the same, OK to bottle. If not, give it a few more days.
I don't understand why kit instructions still rush you out of fermenters and into bottles (if they recommend racking to secondary after the 10 days, OK, though these days secondary is passe, unless bulk aging with wood, fruit, souring bugs and so forth.)

 

With a few exceptions, virtually all of my beers stay in the primary fermenter for at least three weeks. I don't do a secondary for 'normal' gravity beers. I tend to brew on the weekends, so three weekends later is when I try to find time to keg. But that's not critical - if I can't do it that weekend, it'll be fine until the next weekend. Or the next. Big beers may wait months. In those cases where it's going to sit much longer than 4-6 weeks, I'll usually move it to secondary, though I'm not convinced that's necessary. It's more of a 'better safe than sorry' thing.