Secondary ferment, must it be two weeks?

My ale was in the primary for one week. Syphoned it into the secondary (5 demijohns each with an airlock), checked the SG and it's 1.010! From a starting gravity of 1.050. Left it for a couple hours and I couldn't really see any bubbles coming through. The yeast seems to be settling quite visibly in the secondarys too, ie it's clearing up. Probably be clear by morning.

So would there be much difference if I was to leave it just for a couple days and then prime/bottle it?

Sure, you probably could. If the SG readings are steady over a three day period, you can go anytime.

But as a general rule, I always leave my ales in secondary for 14 days, minimum. I feel it helps clear and mellow the beer. It's your call

I like to leave mine in the secondary for at least 2 weeks. More depending on the type of beer. I'll lager one for a month before bottling. But, in answer to your question, it will probably be fine if you bottled it sooner. Sounds like your SG is low enough.

I would have to agree with the others unless there is a reason for bottling earlier i always let it sit in the secondary for two weeks most three.

if your so worried about the time in the secondary, just skip it and go straight to bottling. i've never used a sacondary and i've had good beer every time

Hey 2nd Street. Cool avatar! That's a classic.

What if you go in the prime for 2 weeks? Is 2 in the second still a must? I have family coming in town who are eager to taste my pumpkin and it will be ready JUST IN TIME if 2 in the first and one in the second is OK. That'll give me a week to prime then it'll be served a tad green, but hopefully good enough to be impressive.

Cheesefood said:

What if you go in the prime for 2 weeks? Is 2 in the second still a must? I have family coming in town who are eager to taste my pumpkin and it will be ready JUST IN TIME if 2 in the first and one in the second is OK. That'll give me a week to prime then it'll be served a tad green, but hopefully good enough to be impressive.

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Go for it. You should be fine.

BTW... is that you sipping in your avatar?

billybrew said:

Hey 2nd Street. Cool avatar! That's a classic.

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Thanks, just came across it last night. Great show and great movie. I found it on DVD in the cheap-o bin. Take off you hoser. Eh

Rhoobarb said:

BTW... is that you sipping in your avatar?

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I'd hardly call that 'sipping', but I was also wondering if that was actually Mr. Cheesy or not.



-walker

May actually leave it for the full two weeks, or one week at the very least. It's SG was 1.010 (after correction, was 1.008 before) but for some reason, 2 days later and it's still bubbling away in the secondary. Every 5-10 secs!

I don't get it. What the hell is fermenting??

well whats the general time rule for bottle conditioning? i mean for good carbonation and head to be built.

2 to 3 weeks.

-walker

is that in response to me or him?

sorry.. that was in response to you, subwyking.

Many people use the "1-2-3" fermentation schedule.
- 1 week in primary
- 2 weeks in secondary
- 3 weeks in bottles

I find that my beer often has acceptable carbonation after only 2 weeks in bottles, but I try to wait for 3 weeks to pass before really cracking into the bottles.

-walker

ok thanks for the info.

subwyking said:

well whats the general time rule for bottle conditioning? i mean for good carbonation and head to be built.

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That was random..

well.. it was a little off topic, but hardly random.

We were disussing time needed in the secondary, and he just moved one step further and asked about bottle conditioning time.

-walker

Duvel said:

That was random..

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didnt know my thought path was that far off.

subwyking said:

didnt know my thought path was that far off.

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I dunno. Suppose it wasn't random on second read.

I was a bit inebriated when I wrote that.

Actually, I've done really well with one week primary, one week secondary, and one week in bottles. I've found that a second week in secondary results in poor carbonation, and I do have to wait that extra week or so for carbonation to finally develop. A third fermentation for a week works well, but slows the carbonation even further. Clarity isn't too good, but if I wanted clarity, I'd buy a BMC.

A batch of homebrew only lasts for two weeks around me and my friends, so it doesn't stay in stock to begin with.