Timing of moving to secondary

This is my first brew. I currently have a Holiday Ale (from a William's kit) in my primary. I am on day six of fermentation. The instructions that came with the kit say nothing about a secondary and they also say to check the gravity at 12 days (and we should be able to bottle at 12 days, according to the directions).

I want to use a fining technique to get a clearer, tastier brew and I'm wondering when I should move it to the secondary and apply this technique. I also plan to wash the yeast from the trub when I do this. Any tips on that would be greatly appreciated, also.

Personally I'd ignore the time line from the directions - 12 days is too early to bottle, even if the beer is technically done. It will benefit greatly from some extra aging time. I'd leave it in the primary for the 12 days and check the gravity - if it's done, I'd move it to secondary at that point and leave it there for 2 weeks and then bottle.

I've never used finings myself, so I'll leave that for someone else. You probably won't need to use them if you use the longer timeline - your beer should be nice and clear after 2 weeks in secondary.

You don't want to move to a secondary until your sure the fermentation is complete. A good rule to follow is to take hydro samples and when they are the same for three days....the beer is safe to secondary. As far as cleaning the yeast there is a good 'sticky' on this site.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/yeast-washing-illustrated-41768/

It is a very easy technique and I've used it many times..

Good luck!!!

Thank you so much! But this means we'll have to wait longer to drink it! Boo! I know it will be worth the wait, though!

start a pipeline.... more patience = better beer.

The rule of thumb I always see referenced is 123. One week in primary, two weeks in secondary, three weeks in the bottle.

Of course, getting two identical FGs three days apart is still required before bottling.


Check out Wirlfloc tabs also. I am a brand new brewer, but they seem to work like a charm. Directions say one tab at 15 minutes, but on advice from this board I used a half a tab.

Pez.