andylegate
Well-Known Member
Got ahold of some recipes from some different sites, some sound interesting, others good, others nasty, and still others sound like "Oh my god, I've GOT to make that!".
Thing is, some of the recipes call for primary fermentation of only 3 to 4 days. Then rack to secondary for 14 days or so. Sounds like they are cutting the primary and extending the secondary.
Now I know a lot of it depends on what you are making. Largers taking much longer than ales, etc, etc. And that some yeasts are much more aggressive and active than others due to higher alcohol tolerances.
So far I've done all ales since I'm waiting to get my freezer to do any largering. And I've been using the same yeast for all my batches so far: Safale US-56 which is a dry ale yeast. It hasn't failed me yet, easy to pitch (just sprinkle it on straight from the package). Most of my batches I have a lot of activity start within 12 hours easy. It will stay pretty active for 3 to 4 days then stop. But I still have a good foam for about another 2 days until it too falls. So every batch I've kept in the primary for 7 days, waiting for the foam to fall, and then I rack it. And so far every batch has turned out great. (the one exception to this was Cheesefood's Carmel Cream.....Gods almighty, it stayed very active for almost the whole week!)
So here is the question:
If the activity has decreased to almost nothing after only 3 to 4 days, but you still have the foam should I rack it like the paticular recipe calls for or wait the full 7 days?
Thing is, some of the recipes call for primary fermentation of only 3 to 4 days. Then rack to secondary for 14 days or so. Sounds like they are cutting the primary and extending the secondary.
Now I know a lot of it depends on what you are making. Largers taking much longer than ales, etc, etc. And that some yeasts are much more aggressive and active than others due to higher alcohol tolerances.
So far I've done all ales since I'm waiting to get my freezer to do any largering. And I've been using the same yeast for all my batches so far: Safale US-56 which is a dry ale yeast. It hasn't failed me yet, easy to pitch (just sprinkle it on straight from the package). Most of my batches I have a lot of activity start within 12 hours easy. It will stay pretty active for 3 to 4 days then stop. But I still have a good foam for about another 2 days until it too falls. So every batch I've kept in the primary for 7 days, waiting for the foam to fall, and then I rack it. And so far every batch has turned out great. (the one exception to this was Cheesefood's Carmel Cream.....Gods almighty, it stayed very active for almost the whole week!)
So here is the question:
If the activity has decreased to almost nothing after only 3 to 4 days, but you still have the foam should I rack it like the paticular recipe calls for or wait the full 7 days?
