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**Chemfreak** · 02-19-2013, 01:16 AM

Aerate when racking to secondary or not?

My lager has been in the primary fermenter for about 3 days, I am ready to rack it and drop the temperature. Nowhere have I read where it says whether you should aerate again or not.

I am assuming no, because most of the fermentation is over, and the yeast is done multiplying, but I just want to make sure.

chiteface · 02-19-2013, 01:18 AM

That would be an emphatic no. It will taste like wet cardboard.

Hopittome15 · 02-19-2013, 01:19 AM

I wouldn't in fear of oxygenating the beer and producing some weird flavors. Like you said the yeast is done doing its thing already.

**Revvy** · 02-19-2013, 01:27 AM

You're ready to rack to a secondary after only three days?!??! You do realize that it is normal for yeast not to even start fermenting the beer for 72 hours, don't you? Why would you rack a beer, especially a lager which can be slow to start anyway after only three days? I give my lagers 2 weeks before racking and lagering.

Have you even taken a gravity reading yet to know what's going on with your beer? But heck I wouldn't even do that til at least day 10, or day 12.

**brewinchef_fairfax** · 02-19-2013, 01:30 AM

Some posts make me want to hop out of my skin.. This is one of them... Read - Search - Read some more... Then read some more... And heed the lessons in this forum...

ffaoe · 02-19-2013, 01:33 AM

1. There's is absolutly no way your lager is done in three days.
2. You should not aerate secondary when its finished in about two weeks.

**thadius856** · 02-19-2013, 01:37 AM

If you hadn't said lager, I would have assumed maybe a really hot saison or something.

Three days is far too short to move to secondary. If you're fully fermented at this point, there's something very wrong with your "beer".

I've had low OG beers with aggressive yeast strains finish and be ready for secondary in a 7 days when left at 72F, but that's even pushing it most of the time.

Slow down and let it become beer.

**Chemfreak** · 02-19-2013, 02:03 AM

I don't know if Rack is the right word. I thought I was ready to put it in the secondary to lager in the cold. It has been sitting in my house at about 68 degrees for, actually almost 4 days now I guess.

I was under the impression that you wanted to put it in the secondary after the krausen has dropped; it has. Bad idea?

Edit: I also made a 1 gallon starter, and pitched that into the beer. It had a thick layer of Krausen by the morning (pitched at night). The Krausen dropped about 6 hours ago.

**Revvy** · 02-19-2013, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chemfreak

I don't know if Rack is the right word. I'm ready to put it in the secondary to lager in the cold. It has been sitting in my house.

I was under the impression that you wanted to put it in the secondary after the krausen has dropped; it has. Bad idea?

You really want to determine if fermentation is complete with 2 gravity readings over a 3 day period. An accidental nudge can knock a krausen down. And at the other extreme a krausen can stay up long after fermentation is complete...No change in gravity over a several day period is hw you determine if fermentation is complete before doing anything. But really give it at least a weak before you even contemplate this. Let the yeast do some cleaning up after itself before you move it along. This is a craft that benefits from a degree of patience. Like Thad said, let it become beer.

**Chemfreak** · 02-19-2013, 02:17 AM

K I will wait the full week before taking the first gravity reading. This is why I ask questions, I was under the impression that is part of this board brewinchef_fairfax?

I have spent days and days reading up on how to lager, guess my comprehension is bad (I just went over the websites and book I have, and now I can't find where it said 3-4 days, but I could have swore I read that).

Thank you very much for helping me overcome the ignorance.