Fermentation and Secondary...

Fermentation only in Primary? I.E. leave it there untill FG reached, if you need to hop in Secondary (per recipe)??

Recipie is a Belgian 1.07+OG (7.5abv) Wyeast 1338 (if I recall correctly).


Ok the recipie isn't too clear on the subject... "5-10 day's in Primary"... is all it says, then "transfer to secondary and dry hop".


So, I'm thinking I'll check FG this w/e (7-8 days) and see where I'm at before moving to secondary. But I thought I'd check here to see what the consensus is on this part as all my prior beers were lower abv and finnished fermentation in a week or less.

Reasons for asking... Looking at my primary and taking my records, I don't think this beer is close to reaching FG... the start of fermentation was very slow and there hasn't been the standard 1-2" crousen at the top. It's only about 1/2" foam on the top and even with the brew belt warming it to 68 deg, there realy isn't much going on (well from the usual). There is about 1/4" of fall out (yeasties) on the bottom, I'm thinking there should be more if it were finnished fermenting.

Your input desired.

Cheers

Then do like a lot of us, and leave your beer in primary for a month. Let it do it's job. If you want to dry hop in primary do it after two weeks, if you want to do it in secondary, check grav at the 12th and then at the 14th day, and check to see if it's at terminal gravity.

The thing about recipes that say that, or uce the 1-2-3 rule is that they don't really factor in a yeast's lag time, or it's rate of fermentation. The recipe is just based on how the person brews but doesn't necessarily reflect your brewing situation.

That's when you start trusting your yeasts and relying on your own process and experience.

Remember there's many ways to skin the brewing cat, and the finished product always ends up being beer.

My process is to take gravity readings once a week. If it has been stable for two weeks in a row, I consider it done. That typically takes 2-3 weeks from pitching. Then I'll crash cool it for a week, transfer to secondary and keep it cool for another week before bottling.

The 1-2-3 rule is really only appropriate for medium gravity ales. High gravity ales and Belgian yeasts can take a lot longer to completely ferment out.

Ultimately you need to figure out a process that works for you but I think you'll find that the general consensus is to give it more time in the primary and that secondary is completely optional.

Thanks for the quick response.

I'm just learning as much as I can. Granted this isn't a big beer for most here, but for me it's a new experience and more learning. Additionaly it's a new yeast variety for me, and it appears that each yeast type is significantly different in how it performs/acts (and I suppose it will taste much different too..)

So, from your response, I take it the primary fermentation should be complete before "Dry hop" addition (or nearly so).


I did read another Belgian (in the recipe section) where by they staggered the suggar additions to keep the gravity low and keep the yeast working.

How does one go about that? My recipe had about a pound of suggary looking white/clear balls (size of the end of your thumb). Would boil them after a few day's of fermentation of the wort and add them to bring the gravity back up? (boil then chill to pitch temp and add)

I take it this is an effort to not stress the yeast by dumping it on high OG wort, but rather a normal OG wort and keep adding suggars durring the ferment.

Is this a comon process? What might one expect to accomplish tast wize? Does it avoid undesireable yeast by-product? If so what are your experiences with this techneque?

FxdGrMind said:

So, from your response, I take it the primary fermentation should be complete before "Dry hop" addition (or nearly so).

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Yes...whether you chose to secondary or long/primary dry hop (and that really is your decision- The arguments and discussions on that subject have already been covered thoroughly and don't need to be re-invented here -look around if you haven't read it ), you really want to wait til the agitation or high co2 production of fermentation dwindles down before adding more hops.

The reason is because, since dryhopping is mostly for aroma purposes, the action of fermentation will drive off all those nice hop aromas you want to have in your beer.

FxdGrMind said:

How does one go about that? My recipe had about a pound of suggary looking white/clear balls (size of the end of your thumb). Would boil them after a few day's of fermentation of the wort and add them to bring the gravity back up? (boil then chill to pitch temp and add)

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Sounds like a late in fermentation sugar addition. I have done a total of 2 additional in primary big brews before...what I do is wait til I see the krausen fall on the initial fermentation, THEN I boil up the sugar and add it to the primary...Usually a new krausen will form and fall over the course of another few days.

Yes, it doesn't stress the yeast that way AND it helps to get the yeasts swimming again and they will eat any unfermentables left frm the first fermentation.

So if you are dry hopping you want to wait til THAT fermentation winds down before adding the hops.

FxdGrMind said:

I did read another Belgian (in the recipe section) where by they staggered the suggar additions to keep the gravity low and keep the yeast working.

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Yes, it's called incremental feeding. There are several reasons why it's preferable to do it this way. Since I brew nothing but Belgians, it's a normal part of my process. After a week (some do it as soon as 3 days or wait for the krausen to fall, but I like to wait a bit longer) boil the sugar (I use a ratio of 2 cups of water per pound of sugar). I just put it all in a saucepan and slowly bring it to a boil and hold it for 5-10 minutes. Chill the sugar solution in an ice bath to the temperature you're fermenting at and pour it into your fermenter. The yeast will kick into gear and chew through it pretty quickly. Then wait until your gravity is stable.

I have been leaving my brews in the primary for three to four weeks and they are turning out better. The waiting is the hard part. Now I am allowing two months from brew to drink and it just seems like a long time.

Thanks for all the insight! Yup this one's going to be a Patience "Tester"! I can just feel it.

I had thoughts of haveing it on tap for New Years... that appears to be "Out the Window".... SAZM FRAZM.

Guess I had better pick up a Heff or something quick to have on tap instead.... Hmmm Time to look through the recipie section and see what sounds good for an X-Mass Heff.

Hey Revvy.....do you still leave the beer in primary for a month with an ale? I thought I heard there was a difference how long you can leave it in primary if it was an ale or lager but I'm probably mistaken...

Shoemaker said:

Hey Revvy.....do you still leave the beer in primary for a month with an ale? I thought I heard there was a difference how long you can leave it in primary if it was an ale or lager but I'm probably mistaken...

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I leave ales in for a month.