racking question

A week ago today i brewed an oktoberfest. I am using my carboy with a blow off tube. it has been bubbling since saturday and is still going today. Is it ok to rack it to a secondary while it is still bubbling?? thanks for the help!!!!

Gravity readings? What is your target gravity? Current gravity?

ok.....that brings my next question because this is the first time i have done my fermenting in a carboy. How do you take a gravity reading and be able to retrieve the hydrometer?

use a sanitized turkey baster or siphon hose and fill a long thin cylindrical vessel of some sort. or fill a tall narrow glass with a cup or so of the beer. put the hydrometer in that. I used the plastic tube my hydrometer came in and taped one end. filled it with the beer/wort then took the grav reading. dont pour the beer back in the fermenter....drink it instead. You can order a tube specifically for this purpose or pick it up at your LHBS

Use a turkey baster or wine thief. But don't worry about that for another 2 weeks. Relax don't worry and go buy a microbrew. Really I'm serious. Give the yeast more time than they need, you wont be disappointed. In the meantime plan this weekends brew .

i'll have to buy something like that. In the mean time should I not rack the beer? From what i read a general idea is to rack about a week later? Should I wait for hte bubbling to stop? sorry for the questinos but new to this..

Why don't you do what a lot of us do and let it sit for another 2-3 weeks in primary, then bottle..your beers will thank you for leaving it on the yeast to let them clean up all the byproducts they made during fermentatiom. I leave mine in primary for 1 month, and they are much better than when I used to rush them to secondary....

This isn't making coolaid...you are dealing with living micro organisms...and therefore their timeframe may be different from yours...either way the proper time to rack if you want to secondary is when the hydrometer readings have stayed the same for three consequetive days...not before...

relax...let the yeasties finish their jobs...

Thanks Revvy, I'm not drunk enough to explain the reasons.

Is this a lager, or an ale? If it's a lager, it definitely needs more time. If it's an ale, it might need more time.

Just leave it. don't take a reading either no need. BTW if you have a blow off tube what's bubbling?

TeleTwanger said:

BTW if you have a blow off tube what's bubbling?

Click to expand...

I arrange my blowoff tube so that the end sticks out of the water. It bubbles/gurgles.