Am I fine to rack to the secondary?

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Hoppopotomus

Cedar Hollow Brewing
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Brewed my first batch on Sunday, an american IPA. Had bubbling in the air lock within the first few hours. By monday morning, the airlock was going crazy! Unfortunately, my wife and I had to work monday and she went home to a laundry room showered in krausen and hop residue. The airlock obviously plugged up and created a beer bomb. I lost minimal volume in beer and the pail was foaming over, so everyone is telling me the beer will be fine. It is now 4 days in and the fermentation has slowed with the airlock bubbling at a rate of 2-3 perks per minute. Am I fine to rack to the secondary at this point?

It was an American IPA kit and this is my FIRST time. The Kit recommends racking to the secondary in 4-6 days, before the primary fermentation is completely over. I'm new to this process and am not sure if I should wait until it reaches FG and disregard the instructions from Brewer's Best?

I plan on doing my second bath (Imperial Brown) on Sunday, so I want to get the primary cleaned and retrofitted for a blow off tube....No more beer bombs for me!
 
It is now 4 days in and the fermentation has slowed with the airlock bubbling at a rate of 2-3 perks per minute. Am I fine to rack to the secondary at this point?

Using airlock activity to judge fermentation is never a great idea. Invest in a Hydrometer and measure every day or two - when the gravity doesn't change after 3 days - then you truly know it's done.

If you are going to guesstimate based on airlock activity - 2-3 bubbles per minute is still far too early. 4 days is usually not quite enough. You usually want to give it a good week at least. The airlock shouldn't be bubbling at all if you sit and watch it for 2 or 3 minutes. But again, judging by airlock activity is very hit and miss.

One of the biggest issues in general when starting homebrew, which I'm learning, is patience. Patience, or the lack thereof, is the cause of - and solution to - many homebrew problems.
 
assuming you had good sanitation when putting it in the primary, and your cleanup didn't compromise that, you should be fine.
 
First RDWHAHB. The beer will be fine. Rack on gravity. The hydrometer is you friend. 2-3 perks per minute is still pretty good fermentation, DO NOT rack it now. What does your recipe call for as the FG? Let the fermentation go for 2 or 3 more days (while you're waiting, read about OG and FG), then check the gravity. Once it stabilizes, you can move it to secondary. If for some reason, you didn't take an OG, still RDWHAHB and let it sit in the primary for 3 days after you see any airlock activity, the go to secondary.
There are a couple of good lessons here for all of us. The science part of this hobby (temperature compensation, checking gravities, etc) is pretty important, if nothing else to keep you transferring/bottling your beer before it's ready. Also, we all need to RDWHAHB more. Any time you have a question about part of the brewing process, ask here on the board. Other than when you're actually cooking the beer, it's almost never an emergency. The emergency part is why it's always good to develop a good relationship with your LHS. Luck and let us know how it turns out. - Dwain

Dang, y'all type fast.
 
Thanks guys. I promised myself that if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right. I am a "by the book" guy and I tend to follow instructions and guidelines closely. I guess that's what 8 1/2 years of college will do to you. I have read several brewing books that have recommended reaching FG before racking to a secondary, so when BB's instructions suggested to do it before the the primary fermentation was complete, it threw me for a loop. Trust me, I do not want to rush things, I want to do it right. Hence my posting for advice. As indicated, this is my first batch and I want it to turn out the best it can.

I do have a hydrometer and my OG was 1.058. BB's guidelines for FG are 1.014-1.017 for this particular IPA. With the top blowing off of this thing during the first day, I guess I was just paranoid about opening it up routinely for hydrometer readings. Thanks for guiding me through this!
 
I do have a hydrometer and my OG was 1.058. BB's guidelines for FG are 1.014-1.017 for this particular IPA. With the top blowing off of this thing during the first day, I guess I was just paranoid about opening it up routinely for hydrometer readings. Thanks for guiding me through this!

Im just curious (and NOT a beer expert!) as to what your readings are now. The beer i pitched is already at 1.013 after 4 days. I plan on "charting" brews eventually to get fermenting profiles of yeast and mashes etc.
 
Haven't tested it yet....just got home. Before I started this thread earlier today, I was very paranoid to open it up to test. I'm not sure if you read my earlier post, but this thing exploded in our laundry room the first day of fermentation leaving krauesen/hop residue all of the walls, floor, etc. My wife was not pleased! I re-sanitized the lid and airlock (the air lock was filled with hop residue and plugged) and it has been fine since....just percolating away. Lost very little liquid volume during the blast and the bucket was overflowing with krauesen, so I'm certain that the batch was protected. I'll take a reading and let you know.
 
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