Just Transferred

I just transferred my batch from primary to secondary and the bubbling rate has dropped from 4-5 seconds to pretty much zero.

There was a foam on the surface of the carboy during the transfer and I think there may of been an airleak somewhere in the shipon.

Do I have a problem or am I just expect too much too quick? The last batch seemed to bubble immediately.

The krausen dropped thursday morning (or through the night).

Thanks,

No worries mate! Its been said before but I'll say it again....the term "secondary fermenter" is somewhat of a misnomer. Depending upon the original gravity of the beer, very little fermentation actually takes place in the secondary. The secondary is used more for conditioning and clearing of the beer.

The krausen has already dropped, so fermentation should be nearly complete. Did you take a gravity reading? If so, was it on target? Thats really all that matters. Your previous batch may have bubbled some immediately because of some residual CO2 in the beer after the primary.

You'll be fine.

Igorstien said:

I just transferred my batch from primary to secondary and the bubbling rate has dropped from 4-5 seconds to pretty much zero.

Click to expand...

in my humble opinion, if you were getting bubbles from the primary at a rate of one bubble every 4 or 5 seconds then you racked your beer to the secondary way too early. You really want fermentation to be done before racking, and getting 10 to 15 bubbles each minute is far from done. One per minute is close to done, less than this is probably better.

the beer will be fine, but you may end up with a highe gravity that you were shooting for.

-walker

So I just got home from work and checked the batch in the carboy and it bubbling every 5 seconds again....WOOHOO!

Now I'm wondering.....WHEN DOES A PERSON TRANSFER TO THE SECONDARY? Is it after the Krausen has dropped, is it after the fermentation has completely ceased..........Opinions Please!!!!

The general rule is to let the beer remain in the primary until fermentation has almost stopped. That's a subjective comment, but a hydrometer is one way to do it. Watching your airlock is another.

My rule of thumb is to not transfer until 5 days have passed AND the krauesen has fallen AND the bubbling has slowed to less than one bubble every 90 seconds. I require all three things. And then I wait one or two additional days for good measure. All in all, this means my beer is in the primary for anywhere from 1 week to 2 weeks.

I also rouse the yeast in my primary (rough around the carboy a bit) when the bubbling has slowed to one bubble every 60 seconds, just in case the yeast are slacking on the job. This can wake them up and kick off more active fermentation.

After racking you will see SOME bubbling, but this should be mostly due to your perturbing the beer and knocking dissolved CO2 loose rather than bubbling caused by new fermentation.

-walker

I usually just wait for the kreusen to fall, but that's my process.

Here's my opinion.....feel free to disagree. You can transfer anytime you want. A vast majority of the time you'll transfer enough yeast to finish the fermentation.

The main reason we use a secondary is to let the beer settle out and clear. Therefore, the main problem with transferring too early is that your beer will continue an active fermentaion, and will release too much trub, defeating the purpose of a secondary.

The only time you might get into trouble by transferring too early if if you're using a highly flocculent yeast, and/or are doing a really high gravity brew. Transferring too early in these cases might result in a stuck fermentation.

So, I see no need to be really anal about when you transfer. Most of the time, 1 week is fine. There are no hard/fast rules, and you'll learn to go by feel after you've done a few. The guidelines by Walker are fine, too, but again....don't get all wrapped around the axle with the numbers. One of the best things you can do is read up on your yeast. Some are highly flocculent and slow. This is the case with many of your Belgian strains.....some British as well. For example, the tripple in my sig spent two weeks in primary and only got down to about 1.025. Which reminds me....I need to take a hydro reading.

P.S. We need to put together a "secondary" FAQ.

I'm a 'bubble-watcher'. I wait until the bubbles in my airlock are about one every 45-60 seconds, then rack to secondary. It usually takes about 5-7 days in the primary for most ales, although I've had a couple brews where the primary fermntation was quick - about 4 days.

Yeah, ideally you beer should pretty much finish out in primary, but if it doesn't no biggie....most of the time, it'll finish out in secondary.

Sam75 said:

So, I see no need to be really anal about when you transfer. Most of the time, 1 week is fine. There are no hard/fast rules, and you'll learn to go by feel after you;ve done a few. The guidelines by Walker are fine, too, but again....don't get all wrapped around the axle with the numbers.

Click to expand...

agreed. of all my homebrew buddies, I am the most anal about when I rack (they call my method the Holy Trinity and make fun of me for it.) One friend, who brews a lot and makes great beer, leaves his beer in the primary for 14 days come hell or high water. Then he racks to the secondary.

-walker

Walker said:

agreed. of all my homebrew buddies,
-walker

Click to expand...

You have homebrew buddies, cool. Do you swap ales?

Like Rhoobarb, I am a bubble watcher. When I get one bubble every 60-90 seconds, I transfer.

BlightyBrewer said:

You have homebrew buddies, cool. Do you swap ales?

Click to expand...

No so much any more, unfortunately. I've moved around the country a bit, and I'm currently several hundred miles away from those guys. We see each other at holiday time, and we usually exchange brews then.

I should have a mixed six pack of 22oz homebrews for each of them when I go back to Ohio for Christmas this year. A very cheap christmas gift from me, but one that will be thoroughly enjoyed by the recipients.

-walker