[hopfenundmalz]

I just leave mine in primary until it tastes right. No debate thee.

This is my take on it. Brewers sample often out of a conical.

[klickitat jim]

All at 55°. The mild usually finishes in about 18-20 days, and the other two by 28 days.

If that's the time it takes reach FG, then I'd say you have some sort of problem. Under-pitching, or pitching/fermenting too cool, or maybe inconsistent temperature, or some sort of nutrient deficiency… something though. 55°F is *really* cold to expect most ale yeasts to attenuate properly, so it could be that simple. I think a good rule of thumb is that ales should attenuate around 2°P/day, lagers half that. So a 5% ABV ale should reach FG in less than five days; even a two-week turnaround leaves plenty of time for maturation, crashing, fining, etc.

As far as fermenters per bright, it varies wildly. A brewpub might well have more brights (used as serving tanks) than fermenters, but a production brewery that filters and packages three batches a day would need 54 times the bright volume in fermentation just to keep up, assuming an average turnaround of 18 days.

I don't mind the wait and that mild is phenomenal. Was about 1.036 finished 1.008. I value the input, but I'm not changing that one.

[thirsty]

If it aint broke, don't fix it!