Transferring from fermenting bucket into carboy and other questions

Hello friends! I am in the midst of brewing batches #3 and #4, an Amarillo APA and a Simcoe IPA. I started the APA last Sunday and would like to try to get the IPA going on either Tuesday or Wednesday. Would it be alright if I rack the APA from my fermenting bucket into my carboy so that I can get the IPA going in my fermenter bucket? I seem to remember that I can rack to a different container after about a week into the primary ferment, but I can't find anything about it to reassure myself that that is correct. Similarly, if I do move the wort, I should leave as much trub behind as I can, is that correct?

TIA!

You really don't want to rack to a secondary vessel until fermentation is complete. Removing the beer form the yeast cake can stall the fermentation or not let the yeast have time to clean up the natural off flavors of fermentation.
Secondarys are really unnecessary unless you will bulk age high OG beers for months or have additions like oak cubes.
If you like to brew get more primarys.

What flars said is spot on, but if you've had your beer in the primary since last Sunday, it will probably be fine to rack over to a secondary before your new brew day. Take a gravity reading today, then Monday, if they're the same, rack it into your secondary to free up your primary.

As flars said though, if you plan on brewing a lot, look into getting more primaries!


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If it were me, I would go buy another bucket for the new batch. They are cheap and from the sounds of it, you'll be doing more than one batch more often!

Even if primary fermentation is done you risk not taking enough yeast with you that clean up after fermentation. I like to keep the beer on the primary yeast cake at least 2 or 3 weeks.

It'll be fine if you move it. By what you said it'll have been in the primary about 10 days. I would bet the farm all of the initial fermentation is complete...especially if you used the dry yeast.

Seems like more guys on this forum don't use secondaries. I can't imagine what kinds of chunks they're putting in their bottles.

brewprint said:

Seems like more guys on this forum don't use secondaries. I can't imagine what kinds of chunks they're putting in their bottles.

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I rarely use secondaries, and I don't put any "chunks" in my bottles. Good fermentation control helps my beers finish fairly quickly, and then careful racking to the bottling bucket, including NOT continuously mashing my racking cane into the trub keeps things out quite nicely. If I'm feeling really anal and looking for a super clear beer, I'll cold crash the primary for a couple days before racking. I'd rather not risk oxidation or contamination by transferring to secondary any more than necessary. The idea that you can't make clear, clean beers without using a secondary is a bygone concept.

brewprint said:

Seems like more guys on this forum don't use secondaries. I can't imagine what kinds of chunks they're putting in their bottles.

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I can't speak for the entire forum, but I've never once used a secondary, and all of my light beers have come out crystal clear. No "chunks" at all. I average about 3 weeks in primary, then bottle. No gelatin, no cold crashing.

It isn't rocket surgery. I've found so many things in brewing have been made more complicated than they need to be.

My main point here is that he can rack to a secondary without any issues whatsoever and does not need to buy another primary. Myself I have two primarys and two secondaries. I have 2 beers in secondaries and am about to brew a batch.

Thank you everyone! It seems like the preference is to not rack into a secondary, but not that it cannot be done. I did think about getting another primary, but as I live in a studio apartment and have limited time (except during summer break) I probably will only be doing this as a one off this summer. Thanks again.

surffisher2a said:

If it were me, I would go buy another bucket for the new batch. They are cheap and from the sounds of it, you'll be doing more than one batch more often!

Even if primary fermentation is done you risk not taking enough yeast with you that clean up after fermentation. I like to keep the beer on the primary yeast cake at least 2 or 3 weeks.

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At the end of three weeks the cake is well compacted in the carboy. I strain the hop debris as I pour into the fermentor. This also removes a lot of the break material. The yeast cake is very clean making harvesting the yeast easy.

When I rack to the bottling bucket I clip the auto siphon well above the cake. I unclip it when three quarters of the beer is in the bottling bucket. I'll then hold it just above the yeast cake. No trub or yeast is transferred. This also leaves just enough beer to cover the harvested yeast in a quart jar.

I didnt see it posted above, but why not put your new batch into the carboy and not worry about transferring the first one?

flars said:

At the end of three weeks the cake is well compacted in the carboy. I strain the hop debris as I pour into the fermentor. This also removes a lot of the break material. The yeast cake is very clean making harvesting the yeast easy.

When I rack to the bottling bucket I clip the auto siphon well above the cake. I unclip it when three quarters of the beer is in the bottling bucket. I'll then hold it just above the yeast cake. No trub or yeast is transferred. This also leaves just enough beer to cover the harvested yeast in a quart jar.

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I need to learn how to harvest yeast.

brewprint said:

I need to learn how to harvest yeast.

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http://youtu.be/lPYUFJ4bPD4

UWDawg13 said:

I didnt see it posted above, but why not put your new batch into the carboy and not worry about transferring the first one?

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That was my intention initially, but it seems that doing the primary ferment in a car boy is not recommended unless I want to deal with it exploding all over the place or am willing to invest in more hardware. Like I said, this is not intended to be a constant thing, it's more of a time where I can so I want to take advantage of it. Also, my carboy is only 5 gallons, and that doesn't seem like enough space.