Is it OK to rack this beer to a secondary?

Ok, so I know most of you guys around here prefer to keep the beer in the primary until bottle time. But, I have a scenario that I would like some advice on:

I brewed my first batch of beer about a week ago, an extract kit of the Cariobou Slobber from Northern Brew. I made a few mistakes, but the big one was I pitched the yeast when it was too warm. I was at least 80, possibly higher. As a result, I achieved a very active fermentation within 5 hours, then all visible signs ended within 24 hrs.

I am assuming I will have some off flavors because of this.... So, this brings me to my question: I would like to free up the primary this beer is in so I can brew up a new batch of beer this weekend. But, would I be better off leaving it in the primary and not brewing with the hopes of the beer getting better while leaving in the primary? I have read that the yeast can help clean up the off flavors, and I am unsure if this would still be the case if I racked it to a secondary. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

If it was me I'd just pickup a second bucket/carboy for the next batch and let this one sit. But, you can probably transfer it without too much trouble. There will still be some yeast in suspension after you transfer to secondary.

However, are you sure it's done fermenting? Have you taken any final gravity readings?

You'll continue to condition if you rack the beer, but the conditioning will be better if you leave the beer in primary on the yeast cake.

You could always rack, and actively try to take some of the cake with the beer.

^+1 on the second bucket. But you could transfer to a secondary if'n ya want to free up your bucket. People did it for years. But the buckets are cheap......

Have you tasted it???


Taste it and determine whether or not it has off flavors, if so leave it on the yeast, if not and its at FG then rack it

duboman said:

Have you tasted it???


Taste it and determine whether or not it has off flavors, if so leave it on the yeast, if not and its at FG then rack it

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Ok, so I just took a sample taste and reading... Im not sure if I am a good judge on the taste, as its my first brew. I do not taste any offensive flavors, so I guess thats a good sign?

Granted, I am not a big brown ale fan. Its a bit light tasting, but its only been a week. I was expecting a really nasty taste, but I was kinda surprised. I imagine another 3-4 weeks and it will just get better? Oh, and cold and carbonated might help too.

So, here is a pic of my gravity reading. Am I understanding this right in saying it reads 1.016? I wish I could tell you what the OG was, but I never took it. I forgot

A week is a little early too rack to a secondary in my opinion. At the least, wait a couple more days and take another gravity reading. If it hasn't lowered any more at least you know your fermentation is done.

Yeah, that looks like 1.016. Keep in mind that carbonation and bottle conditioning has a big effect on flavor. Even if you had some mild off flavors now, they might disappear by the time it's ready to serve.

I'd transfer it to secondary (with some yeast to improve conditioning), and let it sit until you get a couple consistent FG readings to show that fermentation's stopped, then bottle.

arborman said:

Ok, so I just took a sample taste and reading... Im not sure if I am a good judge on the taste, as its my first brew. I do not taste any offensive flavors, so I guess thats a good sign?

Granted, I am not a big brown ale fan. Its a bit light tasting, but its only been a week. I was expecting a really nasty taste, but I was kinda surprised. I imagine another 3-4 weeks and it will just get better? Oh, and cold and carbonated might help too.

So, here is a pic of my gravity reading. Am I understanding this right in saying it reads 1.016? I wish I could tell you what the OG was, but I never took it. I forgot

Click to expand...

That looks good but I would leave it another week in primary, let it clear and maybe it will drop a bit but that's pretty good.

If it doesn't smell or taste overly fruity and has a nice malt smell and taste that's good, it will improve once conditioned and carbonated !

arborman said:

I have read that the yeast can help clean up the off flavors, and I am unsure if this would still be the case if I racked it to a secondary. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

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Yes, yeast clean up the byproducts of fermentation. However, it is the yeast that are in suspension that do this. The yeast that have settled out have gone fairly dormant. If you rack to a secondary you still have the active yeast and they will do the clean up job just fine. Yeast cakes do not contribute much to the active metabolic clean up of off flavors

What's the temp of the beer on that gravity reading? I let mine sit in primary for 3 weeks then bottled. My fg was 1.019.

Are your primary and secondary fermenters different sizes?? 6 gal prim and 5 gal sec? If so do like Wyoming brew said previously grab another bucket n go at it again!!!

For what it's worth I've impatiently pitched at 88 degrees - don't ask me why cuz I don't know. Even if the air lock isn't doing a whole lot it doesn't mean the process has stopped. Hydrometer readings are your best indicator as to what's happening in the brew...