BigHead33

Recipes 

Hey guys, I brewed an IPA over a week ago (1/4). It had an OG of 1.063. I used white labs yeast and made a starter. I aerated the wort by shaking. Same with the starter which I did 2 days prior and shook that periodically until I pitched. The fermentation took almost 24 hrs to start and it never got to be very vigorous. I have blow off tubes installed and the krausen hasnt even risen into them. As of right now there are still intermittent bubbles coming out of the blow off tube. My question is: Is it possible it is still fermenting in which case I should wait til there are no more bubbles before racking? Thanks

SVB

Recipes 

It wont hurt it to sit on the primary for a while. I usually go 3-4 weeks primary no secondary.
If you want to rack it you can.
If you want to know if its done or not take a hydrometer reading today and another in 2-3 days, if they are the same its done.

Jayhem

Recipes 

3 weeks in primary minimum. Its not ready.

__________________
Next up: Red Zombie IPA
Primary #1 + 2: Centennial Blonde Summer Ale
Bottle Conditioning: Shmuck's Belgian Dubbel, Dry Irish Stout
Drinking: Citra-tennial APA, Honeybee American Wheat Ale

BigHead33

Recipes 

Thanks, maybe i'll let it sit in primary for another week. I have to dry hop so i have no choice but to rack it to a secondary after that.

241

Recipes 

When in doubt, just wait.

You could also do hydrometer readings and if it's the same for 3 days steady you can rack

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Bottled/drinking:
- ESB
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Fermenting: Fruity Blonde

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Jayhem

Recipes 

Most home brewers dry hop in the primary. A secondary is really unnecessary for an IPA.

__________________
Next up: Red Zombie IPA
Primary #1 + 2: Centennial Blonde Summer Ale
Bottle Conditioning: Shmuck's Belgian Dubbel, Dry Irish Stout
Drinking: Citra-tennial APA, Honeybee American Wheat Ale

greenhaze

Recipes 

++1
Slainte

Dirty25

Recipes 

I agree all my IPA's get dry hoped in primary. No secondary for them.

g-star

Recipes 

I disagree with the implication that there are some hard and fast rules for how long you need to leave the beer on the yeast.

Here's an idea...take a hydrometer reading. If it is steady for 3 days, the beer can be racked to a secondary vesel (unnecessary) or packaged. This assumes you had a healthy fermentation, with the proper pitch rate and O2 levels.

If you didn't ferment the beer correctly, leaving it on the yeast will aid somewhat in diminishing some off-flavors. But again, you're now trying to correct an avoidable problem on the back end.

The ever-popular "3-week primary!" that is so often parroted around here is an outgrowth of compensating for novice and/or poor fermentation practices. It is completely unnecessary for most average gravity beers, if care is taken at the start of the process.

Believe me, professional brewers don't leave their beer on the yeast for 3 weeks, and you shouldn't have to either. Why? Because they have impeccable fermentation practices. This is achievable at home.

Jayhem

Recipes 

While I agree with this, the OP is a new brewer and cannot possibly have impeccable fermentation practices at this stage. Even a perfectly fermented beer will not be damaged by leaving in the primary a bit longer and there is always that chance that something went wrong in your impeccable process so most leave it in longer than necessary for safe guard.

__________________
Next up: Red Zombie IPA
Primary #1 + 2: Centennial Blonde Summer Ale
Bottle Conditioning: Shmuck's Belgian Dubbel, Dry Irish Stout
Drinking: Citra-tennial APA, Honeybee American Wheat Ale