Hefe FG question

My second batch, 1st with a hydrometer.

OG was 1.44 on saturday, fermented like mad since saturday. slowed to a crawl yesterday, only 1/4" of Krausen left. I took a reading yesterday, 1.011. Should I rack to a secondary? give it a few more days and bottle? Should I be scared that it may ferment too much?

Give it a few more days. You may get another point or two out of this.

Yeah, I would probably wait until the krausen has fallen also. This may be a dumb question as I've never brewed a hefe, but how could it ferment "too much"?

Glibbidy said:

Give it a few more days. You may get another point or two out of this.

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Not to disagree with someone who appears to have much more experience than me, but, I think I would go ahead and rack it. It is not like you are putting it bottles where you need to worry about explosions. Besides, the transfer may awaken the yeast and help them finish up those last couple of points in the secondary.

Really, no harm done either way.

mgt2000 said:

Yeah, I would probably wait until the krausen has fallen also. This may be a dumb question as I've never brewed a hefe, but how could it ferment "too much"?

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I did a search, and read some obscure post, where a poster said that he was scared that the beer would ferment past his target FG and become too dry.

Well, that can happen in some rare cases where you have a high attenuating yeast (especially champagne or other wine yeasts) and lots of fermentables in your brew. But, you can't put the brakes on it. You have to let it finish fermenting, otherwise you'll end up with bottle bombs. And how dry would be "too dry"? I've never had a beer that I couldn't drink because of the f.g!

I'm a big believer in leaving the beer in primary until it's done, then letting it clear up in the secondary a bit. I leave my beers in primary about 10 days, usually.

ski36t said:

Not to disagree with someone who appears to have much more experience than me, but, I think I would go ahead and rack it. It is not like you are putting it bottles where you need to worry about explosions. Besides, the transfer may awaken the yeast and help them finish up those last couple of points in the secondary.

Really, no harm done either way.

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Right no harm done. Either way is fine. Here is a pretty good method which may work for you.

Ales
7 days primary
14 days secondary
21 days bottle/keg

Lagers
10-14 days primary
21-28 days secondary
6-8 weeks lagering

This can be said for most beer. It really depends on the yeast strain, the qty of yeast ptiched, temperature, and the gravity of the beer you are making. On the other hand I have found that some strains of yeast like American ale 1056, and Irish Ale 1084 can ferment out in 3-4 days if the conditions are optimal.

You can't hurry beer.

I think I'm going to go directly to ottles with this one. I'm in no hurry... Give it a few more days and let it finish it's thing. It's a Hefe so I'm not so worried about clearing it up

if you have a hydrometer, then measure the gravity again. Once it stops changing, it's done fermenting. I usually check 2 days in a row to ensure completion, but if it's the same, it's done.