Alright,
I have done some research on here and the world wide web and I am astounded by the multitude of answers for these 2 questions and why there isn't a clear cut answer. I guess it may be b/c it depends on how much money or equipment or time someone has and that is why you get the varied answers. But here are a few questions.
When to transfer my beer from a primary to a secondary?
- Some people say DON"T transfer. Some people say you should.
- Here is my take. I don't want to open up my beer to chances of oxidation but I also know that there is a small chance if you leave it on the yeast cake too long that some proteins will leach back into the beer and possible cause some off flavors.
- So I am on my 6th batch now and all the preivous batches have been just ok. So I did some research and we decided to step up our yeast and use some better water to hopefully make alittle better tasting beer. But I also thought that maybe transferring my beer from a primary to a secondary after just a week might have also affected my beer. No I know I am not being very scientific about this and only changing one variable but i assume if i change 3 and my beers improves drastically I know all 3 needed to be changed.
So I am doing a Centennial and cascade Hop IPA. With Northwest Yeast. We put 2 smack packs in the 5 gal batch of beer. There are still bubbling going on in the airlock every 30-45 sec. Its been exactly 7 days since we brewed and there is still a big yeast cake at the top
So here are some questions
- When if at all should I transfer to a secondary??
-I have heard people say 7 days, 2 weeks, Never, When the bubbling in air lock has stopped. When you reached your target SG. Also I have heard you should cold crash then transfer.
So what is the correct answer?
- I am leaning towards SG b/c thats the most scientific. So if that is the method I should take. Then how do you take samples of that to test with your hydrometer without opening your beer up to oxygen to take samples with your wine/beer thief or turkey baster( I have a 6.5 gallon glass carboy for primary)??
- do you use a rubber carboy cap and like put a racking cane and air lock in the 2 holes and then just keep racking out samples till your at a proper SG?? thats the only way I can think to do it without having to take the bung and airlock off and put your wine thief in over and over to get samples?
- maybe I am making this too difficult put hopefully someone can help me
-Should I read up on cold crashing and Do this?? I have a fermentation chamber so I definitely can do this if this is recommended.
- Now you may ask why am I racking to secondary. there are 3 reasons
- 1 reason is the kits usually tell me too after 7 days
- I wash the yeast to use it as starters
- I want to clear out my primary carboy so i can brew more. As I only have 1 6.5 carboy and I have 2 5 gallon carboys.
- Now i have no problem buying another carboy and never transferring to secondary again. But i just want to know what would be best for my beer.
- So hopefully I can get 1 solid answer on WHEN TO TRANSFER!!
- Next Question is when/how do you dry hop?
- After you have reached a certain SG or just have a certain amount of days or when is the proper time?
- I have heard 5-10 days before you transfer to secondary or before you bottle? When is the proper time to dry hop and usually how long?
- Also how do you dry hop in a glass carboy?
- i have always used a muslim bag with 1-2oz of hops in them and shoved them down in the carboy and they just usually float at the top of the beer.
- Should I put like a weight of some sort to get them down in the beer or anything or just sitting on top fine?
I don't want to give my beer a metal taste by putting some weight in the bag.
Looking for the best method for dry hoping in a carboy.
THANKS for answering my questions and clarifying some thing for me. Hopefully it will result in me making better beer.
I have done some research on here and the world wide web and I am astounded by the multitude of answers for these 2 questions and why there isn't a clear cut answer. I guess it may be b/c it depends on how much money or equipment or time someone has and that is why you get the varied answers. But here are a few questions.
When to transfer my beer from a primary to a secondary?
- Some people say DON"T transfer. Some people say you should.
- Here is my take. I don't want to open up my beer to chances of oxidation but I also know that there is a small chance if you leave it on the yeast cake too long that some proteins will leach back into the beer and possible cause some off flavors.
- So I am on my 6th batch now and all the preivous batches have been just ok. So I did some research and we decided to step up our yeast and use some better water to hopefully make alittle better tasting beer. But I also thought that maybe transferring my beer from a primary to a secondary after just a week might have also affected my beer. No I know I am not being very scientific about this and only changing one variable but i assume if i change 3 and my beers improves drastically I know all 3 needed to be changed.
So I am doing a Centennial and cascade Hop IPA. With Northwest Yeast. We put 2 smack packs in the 5 gal batch of beer. There are still bubbling going on in the airlock every 30-45 sec. Its been exactly 7 days since we brewed and there is still a big yeast cake at the top
So here are some questions
- When if at all should I transfer to a secondary??
-I have heard people say 7 days, 2 weeks, Never, When the bubbling in air lock has stopped. When you reached your target SG. Also I have heard you should cold crash then transfer.
So what is the correct answer?
- I am leaning towards SG b/c thats the most scientific. So if that is the method I should take. Then how do you take samples of that to test with your hydrometer without opening your beer up to oxygen to take samples with your wine/beer thief or turkey baster( I have a 6.5 gallon glass carboy for primary)??
- do you use a rubber carboy cap and like put a racking cane and air lock in the 2 holes and then just keep racking out samples till your at a proper SG?? thats the only way I can think to do it without having to take the bung and airlock off and put your wine thief in over and over to get samples?
- maybe I am making this too difficult put hopefully someone can help me
-Should I read up on cold crashing and Do this?? I have a fermentation chamber so I definitely can do this if this is recommended.
- Now you may ask why am I racking to secondary. there are 3 reasons
- 1 reason is the kits usually tell me too after 7 days
- I wash the yeast to use it as starters
- I want to clear out my primary carboy so i can brew more. As I only have 1 6.5 carboy and I have 2 5 gallon carboys.
- Now i have no problem buying another carboy and never transferring to secondary again. But i just want to know what would be best for my beer.
- So hopefully I can get 1 solid answer on WHEN TO TRANSFER!!
- Next Question is when/how do you dry hop?
- After you have reached a certain SG or just have a certain amount of days or when is the proper time?
- I have heard 5-10 days before you transfer to secondary or before you bottle? When is the proper time to dry hop and usually how long?
- Also how do you dry hop in a glass carboy?
- i have always used a muslim bag with 1-2oz of hops in them and shoved them down in the carboy and they just usually float at the top of the beer.
- Should I put like a weight of some sort to get them down in the beer or anything or just sitting on top fine?
I don't want to give my beer a metal taste by putting some weight in the bag.
Looking for the best method for dry hoping in a carboy.
THANKS for answering my questions and clarifying some thing for me. Hopefully it will result in me making better beer.