Should my fermentation be complete when I transfer to secondary?

My belgian tripel has been in the primary for 11 days now. I would like to transfer it to a secondary fermenter to age it for two months and to free up my primary. My OG was 1.071 and I am expecting 1.017 as my FG. Do I transfer when I reach my FG, or sooner?

I don't understand whether my fermentation still needs to be active or needs to be mostly done when I transfer. I am worried about not having enough yeast left in suspension to do a proper job in the secondary.

Typically, you would want to wait until active fermentation is finished, which you can only know based on a hydrometer. You'll have enough yeast in suspension, but if you are concerned about it you could just skip the secondary all together.

So, once my SG stays the same for a few days I should transfer?

The reason I want to transfer is because I would like to brew again and I don't want to buy another fermenter just yet.

Pixalated said:

So, once my SG stays the same for a few days I should transfer?

The reason I want to transfer is because I would like to brew again and I don't want to buy another fermenter just yet.

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Sounds about right. Good luck!

A good judge is if the krausen has fallen from the top of the fermenter. You might not be completely attenuated but if the krausen has fallen, rack to secondary and let the yeast kind of re-suspend in the beer and gravity will creep down just fine (assuming your mash temp was correct and you didn't mash too high).

2 months is a decent time for aging...but you don't really need that long. I would almost let it sit in secondary for 3-4 weeks, bottle and age it in the bottle. You don't have anything special going into the secondary do you? If not...a long secondary isn't really needed.

Have you tried a sample yet?? How does it taste

It's an extract kit, so there was no mashing involved.

The kit called for 2 months in the secondary, and I know that with beer patience is key. I am willing to wait that long. I plan to brew a hefeweizen next, so that will be drinkable before the tripel.

I didn't taste it yet. Maybe I'll take a sample form under the krausen tonight to take a gravity reading and taste it.

Make sure that it is done fermenting in the primary before you move it. Secondaries are used for clearing and aging (and sometime dry hopping). When you reach your final gravity, you can move it so that you can get to brewing that hefe. Don't worry about moving that one. Just let it sit a few weeks in the primary and bottle.