To keg... or not to keg

I started a Burton bridge porter kit 8 days ago which bubbled like made for the first 3 days and then stopped. Current gravity reading is 1.012 and has been for 3 days. (Instructions say it should finish at 1.008)

Will transferring to a secondary fermenter help bring it down further?

Is it really worth using a secondary fermenter or should I just keg?

Is bottling better? I have got enough bottles but wanted to get a Belgian abbey on next which I would prefer in bottles.

Thanks

If fermentation is not finished, then maybe there is a lack of oxygen or something to that effect. You could try waking the yeast up to do their job by gently stiring and maybe even bump up the temperture a little.

Alternately, you could try pitching more yeast. Champagne yeast is a cheap, dry yeast that you can add without adding any significant flavor to the beer.

In any case, if you expect it to ferment more, then you might consider waiting. I have no idea what fermenting inside a keg can do, but I know over primed bottles can happen if the beer's not done fermenting.

gdoggy said:

I started a Burton bridge porter kit 8 days ago which bubbled like made for the first 3 days and then stopped. Current gravity reading is 1.012 and has been for 3 days. (Instructions say it should finish at 1.008)

Will transferring to a secondary fermenter help bring it down further?

Is it really worth using a secondary fermenter or should I just keg?

Is bottling better? I have got enough bottles but wanted to get a Belgian abbey on next which I would prefer in bottles.

Thanks

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A secondary won't do anything to the FG, and in my opinion, racking to a secondary is just asking for trouble.

What was your OG? And what yeast did you use?
If your OG was higher than planned, it could be that your attenuation is just fine, or that your hydrometer is a bit off. Also, did you correct for temperature?

OG 1043, currently 1012 corrected values. Just over 4%, target was 4.5%.

Not sure on the yeast, it's a kit.
Tastes ok.
Only my 3rd try but this is the first time it doesn't taste like an obvious home brew.
Think that was down to forking out for "Geordie beer enhancer" rather than using sugar.

Wanna get into extract brewing but stuck with kits until I can at least get a decent brew from a kit and gather the right equipment.

Hmmm... I've just read the instructions that came with it. They are generic for different types of beer but I've just noticed...

"For porter you will need to add an extra 200gms of sugar and you can also use dark dried malt"

Do you think it's too late to add this now?

If I was to add it, should I boil it in a small amount of water first?

Is stirring a brew at this stage ok?

Maybe I could boil the sugar in water, put that into another fermenter and get the brew off the old sediments.

Any thoughts?

I don't think your beer is done with the ferment yet. While it went through the easy sugars quickly I think it has more to go yet and will take it's sweet time doing so. Give this another week and it will probably finish near the projected FG and end up tasting better too.

If I leave it, will the sediment taint it?

Let it go it will not hurt to leave it in the primary. Every beer I brew sits in primary for a month. This gives the yeast time to clean up.

Noticed a few bubbles today... Only one blow every half hour... I'll leave it a few more days. Thanks

Litfa

Well it's a good job someone does... I ain't got a clue...

gdoggy said:

If I leave it, will the sediment taint it?

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Yes, if you leave it long enough the sediment will taint it. How long is too long? One of the brewers I chat with has tried 8 months and says that that isn't too long. How long were you planning to leave yours?

Think I'll give it another week. Gravity was 1.011 today so it's going in the right direction. Tasted a bit like a weaker ruddles county. Thanks for the advice.

Someone said above that secondary will not affect FG. That is absolutely untrue. It is called a secondary fermentation, fermentation will alter FG. When I rack to secondary, and I do, fermentation usually starts up again. This is why I always do a secondary.

Well now I'm really confused...

I always get activity after I rack to secondary. I leave it on primary for 7 to ten days, then rack. When I mention secondary people get mad, I don't know why. Try that try it the other way and see what works for you.

I was thinking about it... Clearer beer. But then people say your dont, your more likely to oxidize or introduce infection.

revolutioned said:

Someone said above that secondary will not affect FG. That is absolutely untrue. It is called a secondary fermentation, fermentation will alter FG. When I rack to secondary, and I do, fermentation usually starts up again. This is why I always do a secondary.

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Whether you call it a secondary fermenter or a bright tank, the purpose of the transfer to a secondary container is not to start a second fermentation or to continue the primary fermentation. It is to allow the beer to clear, allow yeast to fall out of suspension and to allow for bulk aging of the beer. In fact, you are not supposed to transfer to a secondary until your beer has completed fermentation and it has reached its FG. The reason you may have seen airlock activity when you transferred to secondary was either because your fermentation was not complete before you transferred or because the transfer caused co2 to come out of solution.

pjm said:

whether you call it a secondary fermenter or a bright tank, the purpose of the transfer to a secondary container is not to start a second fermentation or to continue the primary fermentation. It is to allow the beer to clear, allow yeast to fall out of suspension and to allow for bulk aging of the beer. In fact, you are not supposed to transfer to a secondary until your beer has completed fermentation and it has reached its fg. The reason you may have seen airlock activity when you transferred to secondary was either because your fermentation was not complete before you transferred or because the transfer caused co2 to come out of solution.

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+1

Wow, a bright is not a fermentation vessel. A secondary is a fermentation vessel, because the temp is the same as the primary. My beer , of course is not finished fermenting because it's only been half the fermentation time. I finish fermentation in my secondary. When I want my yeast to fall out I lower the temp a few degrees each day. At that point it ceases to become a secondary because I don't expect fermentation anymore. I can transfer to a BRIGHT tank, filter or keg and serve. What happened I blacked out.

revolutioned said:

Wow, a bright is not a fermentation vessel. A secondary is a fermentation vessel, because the temp is the same as the primary. My beer , of course is not finished fermenting because it's only been half the fermentation time. I finish fermentation in my secondary. When I want my yeast to fall out I lower the temp a few degrees each day. At that point it ceases to become a secondary because I don't expect fermentation anymore. I can transfer to a BRIGHT tank, filter or keg and serve. What happened I blacked out.

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whatever you call it it's not necessary to move a beer into another vessel before the fermentation is complete. i'm not saying not to do it or that it's wrong but it's not necessary.

I agree, do what works for you

gdoggy said:

I started a Burton bridge porter kit 8 days ago which bubbled like made for the first 3 days and then stopped. Current gravity reading is 1.012 and has been for 3 days. (Instructions say it should finish at 1.008)

Will transferring to a secondary fermenter help bring it down further?

Is it really worth using a secondary fermenter or should I just keg?

Is bottling better? I have got enough bottles but wanted to get a Belgian abbey on next which I would prefer in bottles.

Thanks

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1) depends. sometimes yeast miss some of the sugars present in your primary and then fall asleep at the bottom of your fermenter. waking them up when transferring them to a secondary could cause them to notice these uneaten sugars and then munch away on them.

...however, the most i've ever seen them lower my gravity when transferring to a secondary was ~0.0005, so this will not make much of a difference.

2) this post seems to have a lot of secondary fermenter haters. when i first started brewing, i was all for the modern theory of primary only fermentation. however, i'm convinced i get clearer and crisper beer from using a secondary. it's also much easier avoiding the yeast cake when transferring my beer to a keg/bottling bucket from a secondary than a primary...which i think makes my beer clear faster.

with that being said, it all depends on the style. i have a wit beer that i don't plan on transferring to a secondary simply because i want a lot of yeast in it because of the style.

...so if you've mastered your sanitization and anti-oxidation procedures, i say give secondary fermentation a whirl (metaphorically). however if you're not confident you can avoid infection and oxidation, i would recommend sticking to the single fermentation vessel method.

3) no need to age a porter when you got a belgian capable of some complexity coming up. keg that ***** :rockin:

gdoggy said:

Hmmm... I've just read the instructions that came with it. They are generic for different types of beer but I've just noticed...

"For porter you will need to add an extra 200gms of sugar and you can also use dark dried malt"

Do you think it's too late to add this now?

If I was to add it, should I boil it in a small amount of water first?

Is stirring a brew at this stage ok?

Maybe I could boil the sugar in water, put that into another fermenter and get the brew off the old sediments.

Any thoughts?

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You can add sugar now -- though you don't need to. I almost always add sugar additions directly to the fermenter after krausen subsides (granted, I'm talking about beers about twice this gravity). This could actually help to get a point or two down more than it otherwise will, but just realize that it would mean more sugar than your OG says. (and you can pour that sugar right in the fermenter... The yeast know what to do with it)

Also, leaving the beer on yeast is better than taking it off yeast. In my opinion, you should raise the temp a bit, and wait a week. Or if you add that sucrose, add it, wait a few days, then raise the temp and wait a week.

revolutioned said:

Someone said above that secondary will not affect FG. That is absolutely untrue. It is called a secondary fermentation, fermentation will alter FG. When I rack to secondary, and I do, fermentation usually starts up again. This is why I always do a secondary.

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I said it.
The OP asked if moving to secondary would drop his FG lower. It won't. Not any lower than just leaving in primary for longer.

The correlation between racking to a secondary and a drop in FG is simply not causal. The cause of the drop in FG is not the secondary, the cause is the time.

You might argue that racking to a secondary rouses the yeast and restarts fermentation... In which case the cause of the drop in FG is rousing the yeast and not the secondary.

Ok, it's been another week. Three all together. Gravity is still 1011.

Did notice the odd bubble every once in a while... But very few and far between.

Should I risk adding the additional 200g of sugar I forgot?

Should I keg?

i would keg it.

I'm pretty sure it's done. Despite what your directions said, 1.012 is a perfect FG for a porter. Keg it and enjoy.

Would it be worth adding the sugar I missed in the beginning and leaving it some more?

gdoggy said:

Would it be worth adding the sugar I missed in the beginning and leaving it some more?

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i don't see what you would gain by doing that.

it seems to me that your beer has basically been finished for about a week now. However, leaving it in the primary after fermentation is complete is not a bad thing, it gives the yeast time to clean up after themselves. I think you should be all set now, go for it!