time in the FV

[jonesyboy]

Is there any benefit to leaving the beer for longer in the FV before bottling e.g. 3 weeks maybe more? Or is this a bad bad idea?

[Hoodlum]

provided your sanitation is top notch there shouldn't be any problems - that and ensuring you keep air and circulating nasties off your beer. Some folk on here have done this routinely (leaving it in the FV), although I tend to leave it for no more than 2 weeks max before kegging it. Once in there, it's been known to languish for oooh, six months (rarely!!)

[adm]

I've left beers for 4-5 weeks in the FV if I've been particularly busy. No problem at all. Although - as Hoodlum says, you need to make sure your sanitising is up to scratch...

And some of mine have been in the keg or secondary for over a year now..... I really must get round to drinking them....

[potatoes]

I tend to leave mine min 10 days, max 3 weeks. You might want to read the John Palmer guide about this. It suggests 3 weeks. Here is the link...

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter8-2-3.html