primary to secondary sfter 3 days??

Hello all, a new brewer here. I just brewed my first beer (brewers best IPA). My OG was 1.061/62. I put it into my basement and left it alone for the most part, just peeping in ion it every so often. On day 3 i took a gravity reading which read 1.019. The kit states that the OG should be 1.062 so i was right on there. It says my FG should be around 1.014-1.017. The beer had calmed down alot so while i had it up stairs with the lid off i decided to put it into a secondary fermentation. I have read many things about getting it off the sediment bed and also to leave it in primary for at least two weeks. well i put it in a 5 gallon glass carboy and added some citra hops to it. I just checked on it and it looks like the fermentation has kicked up again. I am wondering if i should have left it alone in primary to let thye yeast do more work on it or switching it was okay. Just looking for experience and or advice.

you should have left it alone. two weeks minimum time before even checking it. especially a higher gravity beer like an IPA. patience is going to be the next thing to accomplish when brewing. primary could have been done in three days but don't bet on it. did your krausen fall? that would be the big ugly looking head of foam on the top of the beer in the fermenter. that is helping protect your baby beer until it is strong enough to survive on its own. chances are low that you ruined anything but just leave it alone for a while. usually the time line is 2 weeks in primary, 2+ weeks in secondary, (7-10 days to dry hop) and 3+ weeks in bottle. if you use a secondary. (Don't get me started, )

getting it off the sediment bed is no longer an issue and many new book have come out and say don't worry about it. the sediment is just yeast and hops (both good).

Best of luck and remember patience

I-Pee-Ale said:

Hello all, a new brewer here. I just brewed my first beer (brewers best IPA). My OG was 1.061/62. I put it into my basement and left it alone for the most part, just peeping in ion it every so often. On day 3 i took a gravity reading which read 1.019. The kit states that the OG should be 1.062 so i was right on there. It says my FG should be around 1.014-1.017. The beer had calmed down alot so while i had it up stairs with the lid off i decided to put it into a secondary fermentation. I have read many things about getting it off the sediment bed and also to leave it in primary for at least two weeks. well i put it in a 5 gallon glass carboy and added some citra hops to it. I just checked on it and it looks like the fermentation has kicked up again. I am wondering if i should have left it alone in primary to let thye yeast do more work on it or switching it was okay. Just looking for experience and or advice.

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You should have left it alone in primary. Most of us leave our beers in primary for a month these days and don't secondary. If i do secondary or recommend it, I suggest folks wait til day 12 after yeast pitch to take their first grav reading, and then on day 14...if the grav reading is the same then they should go ahead to rack it. But most folks these days only use a secondary if they are adding oak or fruit.

The whole "get the beer off the yeast" thing is 30 years out of date, and the authors that have touted it have since re-canted. People now believe that there are conditioning processes that are best done on the yeast after fermentation is complete.\

Many yeast don't even take off for three days so moving it really was pre-mature as shown by the beer re-krausening, since it wasn't quite finished yet it is trying to complete the job.

Just walk away and leave it for at least three more weeks. Just let things finish out.

An next time don't be so quick to rack, even if you choose to use a secondary, let the yeast clean up after itself.

Read this for more updated information.

Thank you for the quick response. I am definetly working on the patience part. There was little to no kraussen on top. I could see the beer pretty easily. I was thinking that it would still ferment do to the fact all i am doing is changing containers. I know in my mind i should have let it sit longer in primary (the patience thing..lol). Here was my figuring, i figured tghat it would continue to ferment in secondary alao I put it from a 6.5 gallon bucket into a 5 gallon glass carboy due to the bucket not seeming like it was not seeling that great. Also after taking my reading i was pretty close to where it says I was pretty close to where should be. Is the beer still benefitting from the yeast even after fermentation is done? < just a curious question. To the point, is my beer gonna be okay. I tasted it and it actually tasted pretty darn good, a lil sweet but i figure that will drop a lil with the continuing ferentaion. Also am i loosing anything in that sludge at the bottom of my primary bucket?? Thanks for the help.

THANK YOU REVVY!!! I get so aggrivated when someone comes here asking about how to do secondary and they get reply after reply telling they shouldn't use a secondary. And some of them are kinda snotty replies to be honest. I appreciate that you told him how to do it but also tossed in that it is not necessary without trying to make him look dumb for even asking.

I-Pee-Ale said:

Thank you for the quick response. I am definetly working on the patience part. There was little to no kraussen on top. I could see the beer pretty easily. I was thinking that it would still ferment do to the fact all i am doing is changing containers. I know in my mind i should have let it sit longer in primary (the patience thing..lol). Here was my figuring, i figured tghat it would continue to ferment in secondary alao I put it from a 6.5 gallon bucket into a 5 gallon glass carboy due to the bucket not seeming like it was not seeling that great. Also after taking my reading i was pretty close to where it says I was pretty close to where should be. Is the beer still benefitting from the yeast even after fermentation is done? < just a curious question. To the point, is my beer gonna be okay. I tasted it and it actually tasted pretty darn good, a lil sweet but i figure that will drop a lil with the continuing ferentaion. Also am i loosing anything in that sludge at the bottom of my primary bucket?? Thanks for the help.

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If you leave it alone....It will be fine.

yeast produce off flavors and letting them sit on the beer will allow them to "clean" the beer and take out the bad tasting stuff. think of it like "green beer" and the yeast will help it taste better if you let them. i started out with a primary and then secondary but have since forgone the secondary and let them sit. but that was when i didn't have homebrew and was excited to try my new ones. after a few batches you will have an easier time leaving it alone. you will get into a flow and have plenty on hand and plenty in the chambers and have some ready to bottle and some ready to make. once you have a couple of buckets and carboys on hand, keeping track of dates and styles will be the hard part. (and coming up with the $$$)

Best of luck

I-Pee-Ale said:

Thank you for the quick response. I am definetly working on the patience part. There was little to no kraussen on top. I could see the beer pretty easily. I was thinking that it would still ferment do to the fact all i am doing is changing containers. I know in my mind i should have let it sit longer in primary (the patience thing..lol). Here was my figuring, i figured tghat it would continue to ferment in secondary alao I put it from a 6.5 gallon bucket into a 5 gallon glass carboy due to the bucket not seeming like it was not seeling that great. Also after taking my reading i was pretty close to where it says I was pretty close to where should be. Is the beer still benefitting from the yeast even after fermentation is done? < just a curious question. To the point, is my beer gonna be okay. I tasted it and it actually tasted pretty darn good, a lil sweet but i figure that will drop a lil with the continuing ferentaion. Also am i loosing anything in that sludge at the bottom of my primary bucket?? Thanks for the help.

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As Revvy said, leave it alone and it will be fine. As you already know you should have left it alone in primary. Your bucket not sealing was a non issue as CO2 production was keeping anything from getting into the bucket. I have no idea why or even if it is true but I have heard of ferments stalling out when they are moved to soon. So next time patience. You are losing nothing of value in the trub( sludge) in the bottom. It is break material, hops and yeast. If you want to delve into another aspect of the hobby read up on yeast washing and that will give you a use for the sludge. The wort will taste a bit sweeter ( in my experiences) prior to carbonation plus as you said it may drop a few more points. Let it set a couple of weeks where it is then bottle it if the FG is steady for 3 days.

Ty for all yur posts. I wasnt too worried about the beer being ruined just unshure of the science behind fermenting as i have been reading alot of feeds and formus on how long to let yur brew sit (prolly too many). I will let my brews sit for a couple weeks before messing with them from now on. I am ready to brew again so i have another batch coming up behind this one so i get some in rotaion so that i am less eager to "play" with them. Cheers, and i am glad i found this forum. It is Very helpfull. I am already on my way to setting up my AG setup. gonna do another kit or 2 first to learn the brewing but i have some ideas i want to try. a mole stout (chocolate and smoked peppers). Cant wait!!

I may need to change my name to Revvy Stalker. My notepad will be full of links that he has posted. All the info has been great. It's possible this could be my last post.