St. Paul's Porter - No secondary, how long in primary?

[goose153]

Howdy! I brewed the St. Paul's Porter yesterday. I've been reading through the forum and it's apparent that transferring to secondary is not necessary so I'll just keep it in primary until I'm ready to bottle. So my question is how long to keep it in primary? The recipe from NB says 2 weeks in primary and up to 4 weeks in secondary. If I forego secondary, when is safe to bottle from primary? Thanks!

[flars]

I go three weeks in the primary for porters and stouts. The day before planned bottling I take a second SG reading to confirm it has reached final gravity. I delay bottling even if it is at FG when there is still a large amount of CO2 in the sample. The CO2 will suspend sediments that will drop out in the bottle. I like to pour the entire contents of the bottle. Excess hop material or yeast can sometimes be bitter.

I age in the bottle. Won't try the first one for at least four weeks. Usually finishing a porter at six to seven months in the bottle.

[jimrmaine]

Flars is wise.
I also usually go 3 weeks from brewing to bottling. Although that all depends if I have accumulated enough empty bottles
Also, if I don't cold-condition (best not to call it a secondary if there really is no secondary fermentation), then I at least cold crash and hit her with gelatin. Even for a dark beer like a Porter, I do like a brilliantly clear pour. And I believe a cold crash does help compact the trub down to the bottom, preventing sucking some of that up while bottling.

[sneezles61]

So its telling 6 weeks... Thats what I'd do... The last 3-5 days put it in the fridge.... Collect all your stuff and proceed to package... I haven't bottle conditioned for so long, I'm not sure how you'd do that... But, the 2 brewers ahead of this post are very knowledgable, respected peeps... Sneezles61

[goose153]

Thank you all for the replies; much appreciated!