I'm brewing redskinnfan's Nugget Nectar Clone, partial mash version, Wyeast 1056, O.G. was 1.082 on 5/25. After 8 days I racked to secondary to dry hop, and the gravity was 1.023. I took another gravity reading on 6/13, 1.020, and another today, 6/16, 1.020. However, there is still a tiny bit of activity in the airlock, about 1 bubble every 5 min. Have I reached asymptote, is it ok to bottle?
When is fermentation finished?
- Thread starter mikeho
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
TipsyDragon
Well-Known Member
you can bottle when the SG stays the same for 3 or more days in a row.
You racked too soon that's why there is fermentation happening. If you choose to rack to a secondary vessel, you should wait til fermentation is complete. And you determine that NOT by a calender, NOT by airlock bubbling, BUT by taking 2 consequetive HYDROMETER readings, three days apart. I usually recommend the new brewer not even tak their first reading til it's been between 10 and 12 days since you pitched the yeast.
If you arbitrarily move your beer, like to follow the silly 1-2-3 rule, you will often interrupt fermentation. Because sometimes the yeast won't even begin to ferment your beer until 72 hours after yeast pitch, so if you rush the beer off the yeast on day 7 then you are only allowing the yeast a few days to work.
Besides, fermenting the beer is just a part of what the yeast do. If you leave the beer alone, they will go back and clean up the byproducts of fermentation that often lead to off flavors. That's why many brewers skip secondary and leave our beers alone in primary for a month. It leaves plenty of time for the yeast to ferment, clean up after themselves and then fall out, leveing our beers crystal clear, with a tight yeast cake.
Never go by airlock activity.....or a calender...
The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....
Thinking about "doing anything" without taking a hydrometer reading is tantamount to the doctor deciding to cut you open without running any diagnostic tests....Taking one look at you and saying, "Yeah I'm going in." You would really want the doctor to use all means to properly diagnose what's going on?
And read this for the latest info on not using a secondary. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/secondary-not-john-palmer-jamil-zainasheff-weigh-176837/
Just leave your beer alone in secondary now for another 2 weeks...give it time to do it's thing, and next time don't be so quick to rush your beer.
If you arbitrarily move your beer, like to follow the silly 1-2-3 rule, you will often interrupt fermentation. Because sometimes the yeast won't even begin to ferment your beer until 72 hours after yeast pitch, so if you rush the beer off the yeast on day 7 then you are only allowing the yeast a few days to work.
Besides, fermenting the beer is just a part of what the yeast do. If you leave the beer alone, they will go back and clean up the byproducts of fermentation that often lead to off flavors. That's why many brewers skip secondary and leave our beers alone in primary for a month. It leaves plenty of time for the yeast to ferment, clean up after themselves and then fall out, leveing our beers crystal clear, with a tight yeast cake.
Never go by airlock activity.....or a calender...
The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....
Thinking about "doing anything" without taking a hydrometer reading is tantamount to the doctor deciding to cut you open without running any diagnostic tests....Taking one look at you and saying, "Yeah I'm going in." You would really want the doctor to use all means to properly diagnose what's going on?
And read this for the latest info on not using a secondary. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/secondary-not-john-palmer-jamil-zainasheff-weigh-176837/
Just leave your beer alone in secondary now for another 2 weeks...give it time to do it's thing, and next time don't be so quick to rush your beer.
The secondary stage of fermentation is done when your SG stays the same, then it's a matter of beer style how long you leave it conditioning before bottling.
It's been 3 weeks that your beer is bubbling, you may be fermenting at a low temperature and it's just going slow... not a problem at all.
Wait till the SG reading remains the same before bottling. It should be almost done...
It's been 3 weeks that your beer is bubbling, you may be fermenting at a low temperature and it's just going slow... not a problem at all.
Wait till the SG reading remains the same before bottling. It should be almost done...
TipsyDragon
Well-Known Member
actually secondary fermentation occurs during and continues after primary fermentation. so just because the SG stops falling doesn't mean secondary fermentation is over.
I said the secondary stage of fermentation, meaning the attenuation part...
There are three stages to the fermentation process... adaptive, attenuative and conditioning... we are talking about the same thing when you refer to secondary fermentation and conditioning which is the third phase of the fermentation process...
+1
Secondary vessels, and the secondary phase of fermentation are two different things, and most new brewers don't really grasp that at first.
The "secondary phase" actually happens in primary. A secondary vessel is used to clear the beer. NO FERMENTATION SHOULD BE HAPPENNING IN SECONDARY.
Though many of us no longer use secondaries or "brite tanks" and opt instead for a month long primary.
Those interested like the OP should read this for a discussion of the difference between secondary fermentation and secondary vessels. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/multiple-questions-about-secondary-fermentation-140978/#post1601829
Thanks for all the replies. I would be happy to leave it alone for a while, except that I'm going away for a week this Sunday. I probably should have waited to dry hop, since now I'm going on day 14 of dry hopping in the secondary. I wouldn't have secondaried at all except I needed to free up the primary for another batch. So I'm still confused about whether I can bottle if the gravity has not changed for 3 days. Since it's highly hopped (8 oz) I would prefer to drink it younger.
sdufford
Well-Known Member
Racking to secondary too soon can actually stop fermentation? As in, the yeast is interrupted and it can't get going again? I thought things would continue just fine in the new vessel...
ChshreCat
Well-Known Member
You're taking your beer away from the majority of the yeast. You're also changing it's environment by racking it which can affect yeast. Fermentation is done in the primary. Clearing, dry hopping, fruit additions, oak and the like are done in the secondary. The OP also would have been better off not dry hopping until fermentation is finished.
Sometimes. Sometimes they re-krausen, and nervous new brewers start an is my beer infected because it has this ugly growth on it (since they often don't see a krausen in a sealed bucket.) And sometimes it gets stuck.
sdufford
Well-Known Member
I thought any active yeast at the time of transfer remains in solution and would get carried into the secondary? In other words, any yeast that has settled out at this point is "spent" yeast and inactive anyway.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong?
ChshreCat
Well-Known Member
Not completely. The yeast at the bottom is flocculated, but it's still alive and kicking at least in part. But yes, there are still lots of active yeast cells swimming around in the beer still.
