Filter Hop From Primary Fermentation

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Ek0nomik

Ek0nomik

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I am currently brewing my first IPA. I threw in about 6-7oz of hops during the wort boiling, and then I dry hopped 2oz during the primary fermentation (I know secondary is most common, I probably will not do primary again).

My question is, how do I clean up the beer a bit? There is a nice thick layer of hop residue on the top, and after taking a sample of it to check the specific gravity, I could tell it was extremely cloudy. Now, I know it's still early (only fermenting for 3 days, but the fermentation is nearing completion I think), but I was thinking about getting it into a secondary fermenter soon, but I wanted to try and clean it up a bit.

Should I just transfer it to the secondary fermenter without any sort of filtering process? Should I use a cheese cloth to try and filter out some of the hops? Mostly I am looking for filtering suggestions, and the time as to when I should do the filtering.
 
STOP. Dont touch the beer. Dont open it again unless you want to take a gravity reading. I dont even think about a gravity reading untill after a week after 3 days you know its going to be still fermenting. If you want to rack to secondary in a few weeks thats fine. But I would leave the beer in the closet with a full airlock and leave it for a month.Check to be sure the airlock doesnt go dry once a week.
 
Seems like a good time for this:

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So I guess 24 hours then into the secondary is a no go. I guess I am a fidgeter... Thats my cross to bear...
 
BuffaloSabresBrewer said:
STOP. Dont touch the beer. Dont open it again unless you want to take a gravity reading. I dont even think about a gravity reading untill after a week after 3 days you know its going to be still fermenting. If you want to rack to secondary in a few weeks thats fine. But I would leave the beer in the closet with a full airlock and leave it for a month.Check to be sure the airlock doesnt go dry once a week.
Click to expand...

I haven't opened the lid, nor did I say that I had.

So, you are saying leave it in the primary fermenter for at least a total of a week? Then I could move it to the secondary?

Also, nobody answered my question for clearing up hop residue. I know a lot of it will be left behind when I siphon to the secondary, but there is still a lot floating around in the middle (not top or bottom).
 
Ek0nomik said:
I haven't opened the lid, nor did I say that I had.

So, you are saying leave it in the primary fermenter for at least a total of a week? Then I could move it to the secondary?

Also, nobody answered my question for clearing up hop residue. I know a lot of it will be left behind when I siphon to the secondary, but there is still a lot floating around in the middle (not top or bottom).
Click to expand...

and after taking a sample of it to check the specific gravity,
Click to expand...
If you took a sample, you opened the top right?

Yes. Leave the beer alone. Once you put the top on it, there is no need to do anything with it for at least a week. All the crap you see floating around in there will settle out. If it's still floating around, it means the beer is still working.... so you don't need to sample or anything.

Gravity is only oNE indicator... another is when all of the crap in the Krausen settles out and hits the bottom. That will all mix in with the trub and sit at the bottom. When you siphon to a secondary, the heavy crap will hold the leaves of the hops and all of that crap mostly at the bottom so your siphoned beer will be 75% clearer than what was in the primary. Also remember, you will siphon to ANOTHER vessel (your bottler) and it will leave even more crap behind.

I guess my bigger question in this whole process is - what are you doing with 7 oz of hops? What sort of hops did you pitch at that volume? Just curious.
 
kahunaman said:
If you took a sample, you opened the top right?

Yes. Leave the beer alone. Once you put the top on it, there is no need to do anything with it for at least a week. All the crap you see floating around in there will settle out. If it's still floating around, it means the beer is still working.... so you don't need to sample or anything.

Gravity is only oNE indicator... another is when all of the crap in the Krausen settles out and hits the bottom. That will all mix in with the trub and sit at the bottom. When you siphon to a secondary, the heavy crap will hold the leaves of the hops and all of that crap mostly at the bottom so your siphoned beer will be 75% clearer than what was in the primary. Also remember, you will siphon to ANOTHER vessel (your bottler) and it will leave even more crap behind.

I guess my bigger question in this whole process is - what are you doing with 7 oz of hops? What sort of hops did you pitch at that volume? Just curious.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help so far.

I didn't open the top, I took a sample from the bottom. The word is escaping me right now, but there is a valve at the bottom of what the fermenting wort is in, so I took a sample that way so I would avoid opening it from the top.

I use hop pellets, so does that mean more crud floating around after one week that will need to be filtered, or should dry hop pellets still mostly settle after about a week?

The exactly amount is just over 5 gallons, and the hops used were mostly cascade, but also some centennial and another one which is escaping me (I just woke up, it's early :)).

Edit: I was unfamiliar with the term krausen, but if my little research is correct, it's the real foamy stuff at the top of the fermenting wort. All of that is gone already, it looks like just a nice layer of green hop junk at the top, no more foam or bubbles. So, I don't think hop residue is in the krausen (but perhaps I misunderstood the term)
 
Ek0nomik said:
Thanks for your help so far.

I didn't open the top, I took a sample from the bottom. The word is escaping me right now, but there is a valve at the bottom of what the fermenting wort is in, so I took a sample that way so I would avoid opening it from the top.

I use hop pellets, so does that mean more crud floating around after one week that will need to be filtered, or should dry hop pellets still mostly settle after about a week?

The exactly amount is just over 5 gallons, and the hops used were mostly cascade, but also some centennial and another one which is escaping me (I just woke up, it's early :)).

Edit: I was unfamiliar with the term krausen, but if my little research is correct, it's the real foamy stuff at the top of the fermenting wort. All of that is gone already, it looks like just a nice layer of green hop junk at the top, no more foam or bubbles. So, I don't think hop residue is in the krausen (but perhaps I misunderstood the term)
Click to expand...

Wow that is a lot of hops. Anyway, I think someone did mention 1 week in primary on this thread but I think you'll find the nearly universal opinion that your beer should remain in primary for at least 3 weeks, not 1 week. Then a couple, few, more weeks in secondary to clear up and you will be ready to bottle.

You are trying to rush an unrushable process. If you wanted a quick beer you should have chosen a quicker beer as your first batch. I don't know if you realize the origin of IPAs but they came about because they were going to spend an extra long time in the cask prior to consumption.

I am looking at my crystal ball and this is what I predict. A lot of glasses of beer in your near future that taste "off" for some reason you can't quite put your finger on. Finally in about 4 months you'll pull out one of those off beers and it will taste delicious and you'll be bummed because you only have 3 or 4 bottles left. ;)

(PS. It's called a spigot.)
 
dontman said:
Wow that is a lot of hops. Anyway, I think someone did mention 1 week in primary on this thread but I think you'll find the nearly universal opinion that your beer should remain in primary for at least 3 weeks, not 1 week. Then a couple, few, more weeks in secondary to clear up and you will be ready to bottle.

You are trying to rush an unrushable process. If you wanted a quick beer you should have chosen a quicker beer as your first batch. I don't know if you realize the origin of IPAs but they came about because they were going to spend an extra long time in the cask prior to consumption.

I am looking at my crystal ball and this is what I predict. A lot of glasses of beer in your near future that taste "off" for some reason you can't quite put your finger on. Finally in about 4 months you'll pull out one of those off beers and it will taste delicious and you'll be bummed because you only have 3 or 4 bottles left. ;)

(PS. It's called a spigot.)
Click to expand...

3 weeks in primary + secondary time? I am not sure that is the universal opinion. I mean what about the 1 + 2 + 3 plan? Meaning ~1 week primary and then ~2 weeks secondary and then followed by 3+ weeks in the bottle? Certainly some will argue that the more time the in the primary the better but for non-high gravity brews you shouldn't need too much more than a week when racking to secondary.

Of course if you're skipping the secondary all together then I think many would recommend a 3 + 3 plan. Or ~3 weeks in the primary followed by 3+ weeks in the bottle. Again, high gravity brews might require more time.


Or do I have it wrong?
 
Eves said:
3 weeks in primary + secondary time? I am not sure that is the universal opinion. I mean what about the 1 + 2 + 3 plan? Meaning ~1 week primary and then ~2 weeks secondary and then followed by 3+ weeks in the bottle? Certainly some will argue that the more time the in the primary the better but for non-high gravity brews you shouldn't need too much more than a week when racking to secondary.

Of course if you're skipping the secondary all together then I think many would recommend a 3 + 3 plan. Or ~3 weeks in the primary followed by 3+ weeks in the bottle. Again, high gravity brews might require more time.


Or do I have it wrong?
Click to expand...


Those of us who use a long primary skip secondary all together...those of us who do this leave their beer 3-4 weeks in primary, then we bottle for another 3 weeks (@70) or until it is carbed and conditioned..
 
Eves said:
3 weeks in primary + secondary time? I am not sure that is the universal opinion. I mean what about the 1 + 2 + 3 plan? Meaning ~1 week primary and then ~2 weeks secondary and then followed by 3+ weeks in the bottle? Certainly some will argue that the more time the in the primary the better but for non-high gravity brews you shouldn't need too much more than a week when racking to secondary.

Of course if you're skipping the secondary all together then I think many would recommend a 3 + 3 plan. Or ~3 weeks in the primary followed by 3+ weeks in the bottle. Again, high gravity brews might require more time.


Or do I have it wrong?
Click to expand...

Yes, I tend to agree with what you say except for beers that I would dry hop in secondary.

I always do 3 weeks on the yeast. Then its decision time. If it has not cleared to my liking I might secondary for a week or so.

If I'm doing a big beer or a fruit beer (or an IPA) I might do 4 and 4. (Like my current Belgian Strong.)

The OP said that he used 6 - 7 oz of hops. Does anyone disagree that it is going to take quite a while for all of that alpha acid to normalize and meld into the brew? Personally, I wouldn't think about bottling until 5 or 6 weeks but maybe that's just me.

OTOH. If I'm doing a session beer, i.e. light grain bill and og less than 1.050 I have gone as short as 14 days in primary and then to bottle for 3 weeks. That was really kind of my point. There are beers you can do that can go very quickly. BM Centennial Blonde, or Ed Wort's Pale Ale are great examples. I would recommend to anyone starting out brewing to keep those big beers on deck until they have a nice drinkable pipeline of these session beers.
 
dontman said:
If I'm doing a big beer or a fruit beer (or an IPA) I might do 4 and 4. (Like my current Belgian Strong.)
Click to expand...

4 and 4 meaning 4 in the primary, 4 in the bottle?

Thanks for your help. I am in no rush to get my beer finished, I am just after a quality brew. Unfortunately I am back at school and won't be home until mid December. I think I will tell my dad to siphon it to secondary sometime next week which would give it a week and a half to two weeks in the primary, and then maybe shoot for another two weeks or so in the secondary. That's my plan of action atm.
 
Ek0nomik said:
4 and 4 meaning 4 in the primary, 4 in the bottle?

Thanks for your help. I am in no rush to get my beer finished, I am just after a quality brew. Unfortunately I am back at school and won't be home until mid December. I think I will tell my dad to siphon it to secondary sometime next week which would give it a week and a half to two weeks in the primary, and then maybe shoot for another two weeks or so in the secondary. That's my plan of action atm.
Click to expand...

Actually I mean 4 weeks in primary 4 in secondary. I plan 12 weeks in bottle before I try it. This is a very big beer plus it is my B'Day beer (for in March)

Your plan sounds good. The tough part will be waiting 3 or 4 weeks in bottle before it gets good.
 
dontman said:
Yes, I tend to agree with what you say except for beers that I would dry hop in secondary.

I always do 3 weeks on the yeast. Then its decision time. If it has not cleared to my liking I might secondary for a week or so.

If I'm doing a big beer or a fruit beer (or an IPA) I might do 4 and 4. (Like my current Belgian Strong.)

The OP said that he used 6 - 7 oz of hops. Does anyone disagree that it is going to take quite a while for all of that alpha acid to normalize and meld into the brew? Personally, I wouldn't think about bottling until 5 or 6 weeks but maybe that's just me.

OTOH. If I'm doing a session beer, i.e. light grain bill and og less than 1.050 I have gone as short as 14 days in primary and then to bottle for 3 weeks. That was really kind of my point. There are beers you can do that can go very quickly. BM Centennial Blonde, or Ed Wort's Pale Ale are great examples. I would recommend to anyone starting out brewing to keep those big beers on deck until they have a nice drinkable pipeline of these session beers.
Click to expand...

Would you consider an Amber Ale a good session beer? As in it can be bottled or transferred to the secondary after a week or so? The reason I ask is because i am going out of town for a couple of weeks, and I wanted to transfer the Amber to the secondary and get my double chocolate stout going and let it hang out in the primary for a bit longer while I am gone. The total primary time for the Amber will be one week. Also would you suggest yeast nutrients into the secondary to keep Amber yeasties kickin? I think why I want to mess with it so much is because making the wort was friggin sweet. Also a noob, I have come here to learn the way... I need another primary... and more bottles... and another refrigerator... damn't I better be good at this!! I could let the Stout stay in the secondary until I have enough bottles! I think the "pipe-line" will set me at ease, just imagine your house beerless while you sit and wait like a kid waiting for the beer Santa...
 
My optimal timing is for standard ales:
Primary for 1 week at 60-64F.
Secondary for 2 weeks, then 60-64F
coldcrash for 1 week 32-36F
transfer to keg
Age for 3 weeks 32-36F while force carbing

The reality that ends up happening is:
Primary for 1 week at 60-64F.
Secondary for 2 weeks, then 60-64F
Sometime while coldcrashing, I run out of beer on the wednesday end up transferring to keg after 3 days of coldcrashing or so. I force carb using shake method for 30 min or so and keg is drained before weekend is over.

I only Brew on Sundays, It works well for me because i transfer the week before beer into secondary and reuse the yeast. (I generally just add some cooled boiled water to fermenter, shake it, let it sit for a bit and pour off the liquid into the next batch)

I dont generally bother with hydrometer readings
 

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