fermenting time issue

[johnluc]

Hi all, did a TT landlord last sat 19th pitched with S O5 still going like the clappers, my problem is i am returning to the UK on thurs, if it has not finished by Weds lunch time and i leave it in primary fv untill i return it will have been in there for 3 weeks, is that ok or should i rack off into a secondary fv. as i don't normally secondary ferment how much sugar (if any) do i need to add.
johnluc.

 

[Mark1964]

its border line but cant see a problem unless its kept very warm maybe if gravity is low enough before you go to put it in a secondary fv and keep cool

 

[johnluc]

thanks for your quick reply mark when you say keep cool, how cool? and should i add sugar to secondary if so how much.
ps how low would sg have to be to second ferment.

 

[Mark1964]

i wouldnt add sugar till you bottle or keg it cool just low enough to not let it ferment any more

 

[johnluc]

thanks for that mark will see what sg is on weds then decide what to do, what i can't understand is that when i started brewing my first 10 or so were finishing after about 7-8 days using s-04 or s-05 but my last 4 or five have been taking anything up to 17 days to finish out, the only thing different i'm doing is water treatment anyone got any ideas why this should be happening.
johnluc

 

[Mark1964]

it has nothing to do with treating the water look at the best before date on the yeast sometimes the older the slower it ferments we have had a few like that and temperature can be an issue too

 

[johnluc]

guess it must be the yeast as i ferment in a temp controlled fridge, never really looked at dates on packets, will now.

 

[graysalchemy]

I would drop it into a nice clean fermenter away from all that crud on the sides which will probably not be a sterile as the beer. I would keep it somewhere cooler as it will still ferment but be less prone to infection. If you have a narrow neck fermenter which you can put an airlock on then all the better.

At the end of the day all you can do is limit the possibilities of infection.