secondary fermemtation

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toorudez

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Hi all!
This is my first batch of home brew that hasn't been made in a Mr. Beer kit. I purchased a Brew House beer kit and am curious when to move the brew into the secondary fermenter. The directions provided with the kit say after 3 to 5 days, and with a hydrometer reading of 1.02 or lower. When I started this process I had a reading of 1.052, and after 6 days have a reading of 1.031. Yesterdays reading was 1.032.
Should I wait a couple more days until a lower reading is reached or move it into the carboy?
Thanks,
Damien
 
Hey man.
From my experience, 3-7 days is just a guideline. Yeast can sometimes do whatever it wants. Just wait till all activity has completely stopped and you get a low gravity read. I just did an AG batch that even with a yeast starter took 16 days in primary
 
So I should wait until the readings flatten out for a couple/three days?
 
Never, ever, put your beer on a schedule! The beer tells you when it's ready, not the other way around.

Go by your hydrometer. That is the only way to know when a beer wants to get moved/bottled. So wait until you hit the magic number. And don't be worried if the gravity falls below 1.020 before you transfer, that's more than OK.
 
toorudez said:
So I should wait until the readings flatten out for a couple/three days?

First, be sure your hydrometer is calibrated. It should read 1.000 in 60 degree distilled water

Then be sure you are reading properly, gravity will not and can not go up as the fermentation occurs, it can only go down so you can't have gone from 1.031 to 1.032

IMO you should leave it for at least 10 days and then take a reading. If you get the same reading again on day 12 then add a week for it to clear
 
Lots of great brewers never secondary unless storing for many months, lots of extra work, slightly if at all cleaner beer.
 
With the Mr. Beer kit, I just left the beer to ferment for around 4 weeks in the keg. I imagine this could be treated the same way. I'll just monitor this brew with the ol' hydrometer and transfer it when it reaches 1.02. In the mean time, I'll have to settle with some Scotch....
 
First off, I am squarely in the "no secondary" camp - I leave my beers in primary for 2-3 weeks and then bottle...UNLESS I am brewing a high gravity beer and want to age it a while (months) before bottling or if I am adding fruit or if I am lagering it. That said, it is your beer...do what you want...there are plenty of folks here who use a secondary regularly for their own reasons.

I generally let the beer go at least 10 days before checking the gravity. In your case, I would have expected the reading to be lower after 6 days though (although after only 6 days I wouldn't worry too much about it). What kind of yeast was this? What was your fermentation temperature? Also, are you using a hydrometer or a refractometer to take your gravity readings?
 
I'm using a hydrometer. The fermentation temperature has been steady between 18 and 19 C. The yeast I used was whatever came with the beer kit.
 
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