I brewed an English Barleywine a little over a month ago. After about 12 days in primary, when active airlock activity had ceased for a good week, I transferred to secondary onto some oak cubes with the intention of giving it 6 months of age before bottling. However, there is now a good half inch of yeast trub in the bottom of the secondary fermenter. Should I consider transferring again, or should I be ok to let it sit on the yeast for that long?
Thanks for the input. That'll make things easier. Out of curiosity, what would be the conditions in which one would have to worry about yeast autolysis? That was my one concern with doing this.
Post about 8 to 12 weeks of the wort sitting on the yeast you may begin to experience the impact of yeast autolysis for ales. And perhaps half this time or less for far more delicate light colored lagers. That said, I presently have a Bohemian Pilsner which is lagering away at 34 degrees F., and which has been sitting on the primary yeast cake for 5-1/2 weeks overall now. I decided to experiment and see what the effect will be. https://mashmadeeasy.yolasite.com
My barly wines are always racked and I always gets more yeast falling out. If auto lysis has occurred I am not aware.
Those who bottle would experience yeast autolysis first hand for every batch if such was to actually occur, as there is a noticeable yeast cake sitting at the bottom of every bottle. Counter to many, I personally feel that bottled beers (sans for perhaps IPA's) reach peak flavor at about 2 to sometimes 4 months (or more for big gravity ales) in the bottle post carbonation.
Pressure, like that exerted by the weight of beer on the yeast at the bottom of a large SSFV, would be the first one. Time, the next. That's why it only rarely occurs on a homebrew scale.
