jettaman

Recipes 

I started fermenting a batch last Monday (11/28/05). Within an hour I was getting some bubbles in the airlock. From Tuesday through Thursday it was bubbling away enthusisatically. By Friday the bubbles had slowed to a crawl and now there are none. Is it possible that fermentation could be complete?

El Pistolero

Recipes 

Yes, it more than likely is finished. Are you planning on using a secondary?

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[/I] Up Next - Hobgoblin
After That - Czech Pilsner
Primary - Humboldt Hop Rod (4/24)
Primary - NOT Wheat AG SNCA (5/5)
Secondary -
Conditioning - SNCA Clone (3/3),

jettaman

Recipes 

Unfortunately I haven't invested in one yet. I know it's supposed to be a good thing, but I'm still not clear on the advantages of doing a secondary. Can you please enlighten me?

Darth Konvel

Recipes 

Using a secondary gives your beer time to clear up (yeast / trub settles out), and bulk age a bit away from the trub. Aging your beer on a cake of trub like you see in your primary can lead to off flavors if it's left for a while.

If you grab a secondary, now is a good time transfer. If you stick with your current setup, let it sit for another week before bottling.

jettaman

Recipes 

I'm currently using plastic brewing buckets. I have a bottling bucket with a spigot. Is that appropriate to use for a secondary? Any issues with that?

God Emporer BillyBrew

Recipes 

Yeah, you can't seal it can you? Even if you could there would probably be too much air space at the top. I'll say that every since I bought my secondary, my brews have gotten much better. It's a good investment that costs less than the material for one batch of beer.

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Desert Planet Brewing Co.

Primary :Bloody Nose Porter
Primary 2: Bloody Nose Porter
Secondary: Blackberry Melomel
Secondary 2:air
Bottled : 14 Pound Hammer Cider, Punkin Ale, know ale, Domino wheat
Keg 1: **** Inside Her
Keg 2: IPA
Keg 3: one on a weeknight, two on a weekend IIPA
Future : Ginger Cream Ale,

Darth Konvel

Recipes 

Just leave it in your primary bucket until it's ready to bottle. Your bottling bucket might work, but would probably just end up complicating your bottling day.

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-LupusUmbrus
Up Next: ???

El Pistolero

Recipes 

Here's an interesting read on secondary fermentation.

Since you don't have a secondary yet, I'd just leave it in the primary for another week, then bottle it.

__________________
[/I] Up Next - Hobgoblin
After That - Czech Pilsner
Primary - Humboldt Hop Rod (4/24)
Primary - NOT Wheat AG SNCA (5/5)
Secondary -
Conditioning - SNCA Clone (3/3),

Orfy

Recipes 

How about rracking to the bottling bucket nice and gentle. cover it.
Go clean your primary and re rack into the primary.

If this is your first batch I'd just bottle it. (you don't need to secondary but it makes a big difference. IMHO)

Get your self set up for secondary next time and then you can compare the difference.

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GET THE GOBLIN
Have a beer on me.

DeRoux's Broux

Recipes 

you could do that orfy, but why risk contamination and exposure to more O2? better off leaving it in the primary until it's ready to bottle. there are some who swear that leaving the fermented beer on the spent hops and trub will not affect the flavor. i personnaly see an improvement in beers beeing conditioned in a secondary vessel. could just be me though.......
invest in a secondary, glass i might add! your beer will love u for it :^)

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Cheers!
DeRoux's Broux