Secondary fermentation: how long?

Hey folks,

This is my first attempt at brewing, using a kit I bought at a local supply store and a Brewer's Best Weizenbier kit (their instructions are here). An experienced brewing friend recommended a second fermentation to get rid of the dead yeast and was nice enough to let me borrow a carboy to do so. My main question is how long should this last? When I transferred the beer to the carboy it had been at least 2, maybe 3 days since it stopped bubbling.

My secondary question may be the bigger issue - when brewing, I read the hydrometer wrong and added too much water to the wort. Instead of the OG being around 1.05, I'm pretty sure it was around 1.005. Is there anything I can do fix this? I poked around here a bit and it seems that it will result in lower ABV and as long as it's drinkable, that's a good start.

thanks,

Arp

1.005 as a starting gravity? Are you sure? How much water did you add to bring it from 1.05 to 1.005?

On secondaries, honestly, there is no point to secondary unless you are adding oak chips, fruit, etc. It just risks picking up an infection or oxidation by transferring. Just leave it in the primary 3-4 weeks and package from there whether you are kegging or bottling. If you've already transferred, how long was it in the primary? Using the airlock bubbling as the indicator isn't very good just for future reference. Use your hydrometer and wait until it's stable for 3 days. Total time before packaging really is dependent on style you are brewing, but generally 3-4 weeks total is good for most styles I think.

Did you add BOTH cans of extract.. If you have anyewhere in the vicinity of 5 gallons your OG should be close to 1.050 as stated in the directions.

bosco

I'd skip the clearing vessel ("secondary" is a misnomer since there isn't any new fermentables to cause a secondary fermentation) and just keep the beer in the fermenter for 2-3 weeks and then bottle it.

If your friend really is an experienced brewer, he would know that "getting the beer off of the yeast" isn't really an issue for a very long time and the yeast actually clean up their own waste products after active fermentation ends. A weizenbeer especially doesn't need to go to a clearing vessel.

Since it seems like you've already transferred, leave it sit until it's pretty clear, so you have less crud in your bottles, for a week or so. Then bottle it. You can bottle any time the SG readings are stable (like now, probably), but you'll just have less stuff in the bottle if you wait a bit.

That OG cannot be correct. Bubbling is not a measurement of fermentation. Secondary is not necessary but can be done. A week or 3 is fine if u must do it at all.

Extract kits, providing you used all of the ingredients and followed the instructions and ended up with about 5 gallons will have close to the recommended O.G. so don't worry about that. Secondary as other have said is not needed but you will be fine there as well. I would wait about a week and check the gravity, if you get the same reading for 2 or 3 days in a row you can go ahead and bottle it up. Don't forget the priming sugar.

Believe me, I'm really sure I screwed up and added too much water - I confirmed yesterday that I was totally reading the hydrometer wrong on brewing day. Hopefully when it's finished it'll be drinkable but probably take 3-4 bottles to give me a buzz. Thanks for the tip on using the hydrometer rather than the airlock, btw.

Beer was in the primary for 7 days, I did add both cans of extract, and I definitely added too much water.

My friend is an experienced brewer and owns a bar with lots of craft beer on tap. He did mention that the racking wasn't necessary (more for clarity) but I'm thinking he's doing some vicarious brewing through me

New question: what's a smart way to get a hydrometer in & out of a carboy?

Oh - and thanks for all the replies. If the beer is remotely drinkable in the end I'll probably be up for a 2nd batch soon-ish.

I usually spray starsan inside and outside a turkey baster, and fill a test jar. If you don't have a test jar you can also spray the hydrometer and drop it directly into the fermenter, assuming it's a bucket and you can pull it out again. Post your ingredients and final volume of beer and we can check your SG. If you're doing extract, and taking the OG reading after adding top off water, the usual culprit is failure to adequately mix the wort and top off. (wort is heavier than water and sinks to the bottom. Sample comes from the top and shows artificially low)

Seriously tho, how much water did you add? I am interested in how much volume it would take to go from 1.050 to 1.005. In my estimation that would be about another 25 gallons. If you added all the extract and ended up with about 5 gallons you should be closer to the kit's given approximate OG.

On you question regarding the easiest way to use the hydrometer in and out of the carboy is to get a wine thief. Just sanitize it, stick as much of the thief in the carboy as you can and then bounce it up and down to raise the level inside the thief. Then pull it out, take you hydrometer reading right inside the thief and then taste the sample. It should be flat beer but will give you an idea of what you have created. If you don't have a wine thief, a sanitized turkey baster does the same thing, except you'll need something to hold the hydrometer that will allow it to float.

Effingbeer said:

Seriously tho, how much water did you add? I am interested in how much volume it would take to go from 1.050 to 1.005. In my estimation that would be about another 25 gallons. If you added all the extract and ended up with about 5 gallons you should be closer to the kit's given approximate OG.

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Exactly (I actually think 45 gal extra would have been needed). How big is your fermenter? It would be hard I think to go more than a gallon over and still fit, unless it is an unusual size bucket or carboy. At a gallon over you would still have OG about 1.042.

OP a tip - just about everyone has cell phones with cameras, if you have one, take a picture of your brewday as you do it, then you can go back and look at the photos for things like hydrometer readings.

As for going from an OG of 1.050 to 1.005, by adding a little water, you'd have had to add 45 gallons to your 5 gallons of wort (50/10=5) or forgotten to add a lot of malt extract. Taste the beer next time you check the gravity (don't bother to put it back, I always drink it all). It should have a warm flat beer flavor.

Doh - taking a pic would have been a lot easier than writing it down on a piece of paper I've managed to lose.

The total amount of liquid in the primary fermenter was close to 6 gallons, I think. I stirred it well, stirring from the bottom until it felt like there was no sediment then stirring some more but I took the reading after pouring into the fermenter. When I transferred into the carboy, it filled til about 6" from the top.

So is the 2nd fermentation just for clarity?

echoleaf said:

Doh - taking a pic would have been a lot easier than writing it down on a piece of paper I've managed to lose.

The total amount of liquid in the primary fermenter was close to 6 gallons, I think. I stirred it well, stirring from the bottom until it felt like there was no sediment then stirring some more but I took the reading after pouring into the fermenter. When I transferred into the carboy, it filled til about 6" from the top.

So is the 2nd fermentation just for clarity?

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The 2nd is pretty much for clarity, or some long term storage if you have a super high gravity beer or something.

Your comment on stiring reminded me, that it is possible to get a really off reading when doing extract brews (I've done that myself) but it is usually because the topoff water isn't sufficently mixed with the still concentrated wort. Heck I had that happen one time I thought I had it all mixed. Had an OG of 1.071 on recipe that max could have been 1.050. I realized later that I'd not mixed sufficently for the reading.

This isn't a problem with the ferment as 1 the yeast causes some motion in the water as it ferments (in a carboy as primary you can watch the movement) and 2 even if 1 wasn't happening, diffusion will equilize the concentration over time.

Thanks - glad I didn't royally screw up. Now I'm hoping that I managed to keep everything sanitized.

Did we have a consensus on how long it needs to stay in the carboy? A week, two weeks? I'm super busy through next Sunday (10/21) so that may decide it.

Need? or able? You could let it go until after 10/21 if you are busy til then. If you are just looking to clear the beer, then go until it looks clear - put a light on the other side and look through the glass. Be sure your hydrometer readings are stable, although if you let it go another week, they should be.

Thanks, looking forward to bottling this weekend.

Hi all, i posted a question a little earlier and it seems like no one is interested in helping me out... would you be able to take a look at it and maybe give me some sound advice?

I will be forever grateful! Thank you in advance.

Kind regards,
Stephanie

Here is the question: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/please-help-homebrew-kit-advice-361222/

Try a more concise question. I was going to try to help but I got lost. I'm not even sure what the question was.

Finally bottled on 10/28, final reading of 1.01. ABV should be 3.2% . Smells like beer, here's hoping it's drinkable.

How did you calculate the 3.2%, as it sounds like you never got an accurate OG? If your original recipe was for 5 gallons at 1.050 and you had 6 gallons instead it would give you about 1.042. Going from 1.042 to 1.010 I get about 4.2 % ABV.

I'm sure you are better at figuring it out than me, hoping I don't need 2 bottle to feel a buzz. And of course hoping it's drinkable!

Thinking due to how busy life is atm that the next batch will be 8-12 months away.