Secondary or wait?

I've had an ale in the primary for about a week now. There has been no airlock activity but plenty of krausen. I don't think the lid is very tight so should I transfer to a secondary or will it ok for another couple of weeks in the primary? When I take a sample for gravity check will this compromise the CO2 blanket?
Thanks.

If you still see krausen then leave it be. Wait for the krausen to die down then take a gravity reading. Once the gravity is stable for two or three days then you can transfer it. But even then I wouldn't even bother with a secondary. Just go straight from primary to keg or bottling bucket. If it's a high gravity beer you might want to leave it in the primary a little longer.

F secondary. For ales, it's about as needed as a lobotomy. Just leave it in primary until it's ready for bottle/keg and then bottle/keg it. IMO/IME, you're better off waiting until it's otherwise ready to drink (just needing carbonation) and then bottle/keg it up.

I go 2-4 weeks in primary for my low to moderate OG brews/ales (under 1.065 OG). Higher OG batches get longer in primary. Or until they're ready.

BTW, you need to CONFIRM it's at FG before you do anything. That's at least two matching gravity readings 2-3 days apart.

What about beers that are designed to age, such as olde ales and barley wines? Still no secondary in your opinion? (sorry for pseudo steal)

Thanks for the replies. I'll start checking the FG this weekend and leave it in the primary for another week at least as the OG was 1.70.

TapeDeck said:

What about beers that are designed to age, such as olde ales and barley wines? Still no secondary in your opinion? (sorry for pseudo steal)

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Let them age in the bottle or keg.

NewkyBrown said:

Thanks for the replies. I'll start checking the FG this weekend and leave it in the primary for another week at least as the OG was 1.70.

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Assuming you meant the OG was 1.070. I'd give that brew at least 3-4 weeks in primary and then taste a sample. Until you learn how the yeast you use works in a higher OG brew at temperatures, you're better off giving it more time.

As for the attempted thread theft... It all depends in the brew. A true barley wine (10%+) will need more time all around. I do shift to another vessel (aging keg) for adding things like oak. But otherwise, it stays in primary.

Golddiggie said:

Assuming you meant the OG was 1.070. I'd give that brew at least 3-4 weeks in primary and then taste a sample. Until you learn how the yeast you use works in a higher OG brew at temperatures, you're better off giving it more time.

As for the attempted thread theft... It all depends in the brew. A true barley wine (10%+) will need more time all around. I do shift to another vessel (aging keg) for adding things like oak. But otherwise, it stays in primary.

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Thanks
My only concern with leaving it in the primary for that long was that the lid does not seal tight. Will I be ok with the amount of Co2 been produce to keep out oxygen?

NewkyBrown said:

Thanks
My only concern with leaving it in the primary for that long was that the lid does not seal tight. Will I be ok with the amount of Co2 been produce to keep out oxygen?

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What are you fermenting in?

Plastic bucket(40ltrs) . The lid sits on ok but isn't a tight seal

Use tape/bungees or something to get it on tighter. Probably won't be a big issue, but Co2 will slow down after fermentation is done and oxygen could get in as well as other things, potentially.

Push the lid until it closes/seals. This is one of the main reasons I ditched using buckets after just two times. IMO, a total pain to get to seal, and then open up later.