My first attempt at American Wheat beer and the primary fermentation has finished but I won’t be able to bottle it for another week.
What affect will this have on the beer?
it will only get better with another week.
rule of thumb is to leave it in the primary AT LEAST 2 weeks. sometimes i leave mine in the primary for 4 weeks
[quote=“marshall”]My first attempt at American Wheat beer and the primary fermentation has finished but I won’t be able to bottle it for another week.
What affect will this have on the beer?[/quote]
When you say “finished”, what do you mean? Stopped bubbling doesn’t mean finished, niether does reaching terminal gravity necessarily. Don’t forget that the yeast continue to make chemical changes as they settle and go dormant like absorbing diacytl. Knowing when a beer is “finished” is tricky, which is why many experts are now recomending against secondary fermentation (wort transfer to a different vessel) for ales that feerment in just a few weeks. Either way, an extra week on the spent yeast isn’t very likely to hurt things, and is very likely to improve your beer. If you just can’t get to bottling within 3 or 4 weeks just cool it down if you can. I’ve heard stories of forgotten batches left on the primary yeast cake for months without any off flavors.
How long has it been since you pitched the yeast?
