JamesJ

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Cheers! I have my first batch of an american pale ale from a Brewers Best kit fermenting in my secondary glass carboy. I started in my primary bucket and the yeast kicked in after about 12 hours and I had active fermentation for a little over 3 days. I then racked to my secondary glass carboy after the airlock bubbles slowed to once every 15-17 seconds. (after reading some posts here, I now realize that I did this a bit early) The airlock activity slowed considerably after the transfer and bubbled about once every minute. I'm now 7 days in and it bubbles once every 3 minutes. I plan to take a gravity reading over the weekend to guage where I'm at with everything. Anyone have any advice on how long I should keep it in the secondary and when I should bottle. I'm patient and want to avoid bottle bombs. Just a bit nervous since this is my first batch. Cheers!

jds

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When your hydrometer gives the same reading three days in a row, the yeast is done converting sugar to alcohol. However, there are advantages to letting the beer sit on the yeast a bit longer than that. In fact, I usually leave a beer to ferment for three weeks or more BEFORE moving it to a secondary for bulk aging.

If your brew were mine, I'd let it sit in that secondary tank for a minimum of two weeks before checking gravity. Once the gravity stabilizes, I'd leave it for another week before bottling. You can keep beer in a secondary tank a long time before anything bad happens. I've had beers in the secondary for six months or more.

I know you want to bottle and drink it ASAP. However, a little patience will pay off big time for the quality of your beer.

HOOTER

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I agree with jds. Leave it in secondary for at least a couple weeks. It appears that it probably wasn't done fermenting before you racked but you can't go back now. When you do this you can significantly slow the fermentation process or even cause a stuck fermentation. Just leave it alone and keep an eye on your hydro readings, and in the future leave it in primary for a couple weeks or even more.

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Some goog general advice for timing your brews

1 week primary
2 weeks secondary
3 weeks in bottles
Cool and drink

Again this is general advice and longer is better for most brews. Your typical pale ale will peak somewhere around 4 months.

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HOOTER

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The 1-2-3 rule is great for beginners, but I've found one week in primary just isn't always enough. I saw someone here mention the 2-2-6 rule recently, which makes sense to me. I have a a brown ale that's been in primary for three weeks now and maybe I'll get around to racking tonight. These "rules" are just basic guidelines and will vary depending on different variables like the gravity, temperature, yeast strain and so on.

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DeathBrewer

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2-2-6...that was me

i even do it with my hefeweizens now. i've found they do not lose their cloudiness from going into secondary, they just aren't annoyingly thick. i've filtered a few, too.

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Personally I like to do 2 weeks in primary 2-4 weeks in secondary, and then keg. I will let the keg condition as long as I can before I have a spot in the kegerator.

With this being a first batch thread I would say use the 1,2,3 rule and there will be no bottle bombs. I also recommend brewing as often as you can. It seems impossible, but you will eventually have a very nice supply of beer and letting it condition will become easier and easier.

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malkore

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most of my 1.040-ish beers finish in a week...but I also provide pretty optimal pitching and fermenting conditions.

but lately I've just let things go a good 10 days in primary, and then check the gravity...usually rack to secondary at that point.

i always say 7 days is the bare minimum for primary...you *can* rack at that point IF its actually done fermenting...however no great beer is ever rushed!

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Malkore
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The Blow Leprechaun

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I usually do two weeks in primary and two weeks in secondary. Really just because I don't like to take hydrometer readings (wastes beer!).

Revvy

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I do a month in primary then bottle...My beers have never tasted fresher, looked clearer and crisper...Not rushing and letting the yeasts do the cleanup is the best tip I learned on here...They know what they're doing.

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