jeffg
Well-Known Member
I have a general question on primary versus secondary fermentation that i have always been curious about. For most ale-style beers I brew, my general method is to pitch a liquid yeast in the primary fermentation vessel (glass carboy), let ferment 3-4 days with a blow-off tube, replace with air lock, ferment for a total time of 1-2 weeks in primary and then rack to a secondary vessel (glass or plastic) for another 1-3 weeks before kegging.
Living in New England and depending on time of year, there is a fairly wide range of temperatures my house is at for fermenting--all are within range of the requirements of the yeast package, but if it's closer to 70 things tend to ferment more quickly than if they are at 65. Bottom line is, sometimes my primary fermentation is not completely done after two weeks in the primary, yet I have always been encouraged by the various brew books and other "brewing experts" to rack the beer into the secondary after two weeks so as not to pick up off flavors from the trub collecting in the bottom. Inevitably when i do this, the airlock never moves again on the secondary. So:
Am I better off leaving the beer in the primary until the fermentation is complete (via gravity reading or lack of activity in the airlock)?
Does racking the beer while there is still active fermentation kill the fermentation or is the secondary fermentation so minimal that it does not generate enough pressure to move the airlock?
Other thoughts/comments? Either way, I have never ruined a beer, just curious what the "right" method is and if other people experience this.
Thanks,
Jeff
Living in New England and depending on time of year, there is a fairly wide range of temperatures my house is at for fermenting--all are within range of the requirements of the yeast package, but if it's closer to 70 things tend to ferment more quickly than if they are at 65. Bottom line is, sometimes my primary fermentation is not completely done after two weeks in the primary, yet I have always been encouraged by the various brew books and other "brewing experts" to rack the beer into the secondary after two weeks so as not to pick up off flavors from the trub collecting in the bottom. Inevitably when i do this, the airlock never moves again on the secondary. So:
Am I better off leaving the beer in the primary until the fermentation is complete (via gravity reading or lack of activity in the airlock)?
Does racking the beer while there is still active fermentation kill the fermentation or is the secondary fermentation so minimal that it does not generate enough pressure to move the airlock?
Other thoughts/comments? Either way, I have never ruined a beer, just curious what the "right" method is and if other people experience this.
Thanks,
Jeff