Brew House Primary Time

Hello all, first time poster long time reader.

I just put together a Brew House kit this morning. Now usually I do all my fermentation in a primary, 2-4 weeks depending on patience etc. This kit instructs you to rack to secondary after 3-5 days, then leave for a few weeks. My question is that if it hasn't reached FG, and I rack it, will that stop fermentation or give a higher FG? I dont mind going to secondary if thats what they want, but 3-5 days seems like a pretty short time to rack.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

idrinkstuffnthings said:

Hello all, first time poster long time reader.

I just put together a Brew House kit this morning. Now usually I do all my fermentation in a primary, 2-4 weeks depending on patience etc. This kit instructs you to rack to secondary after 3-5 days, then leave for a few weeks. My question is that if it hasn't reached FG, and I rack it, will that stop fermentation or give a higher FG? I dont mind going to secondary if thats what they want, but 3-5 days seems like a pretty short time to rack.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

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My first question would be" what's different about Brew House kits that requires a secondary? Without a compelling reason, I would recommend you stick to your SOP.

Depending on the yeast it could be done in 3-5 days. US-05 ferments quickly, usually in that time range for me.

Secondary is more accurately known as "conditioning." You're letting the yeast drop out of suspension as well as any hops floating around. I almost always do at least one week in secondary so that the final product is a little cleaner.

forstmeister said:

Depending on the yeast it could be done in 3-5 days. US-05 ferments quickly, usually in that time range for me.

Secondary is more accurately known as "conditioning." You're letting the yeast drop out of suspension as well as any hops floating around. I almost always do at least one week in secondary so that the final product is a little cleaner.

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Sure. The secondary or not debate is old hat, and I've no interest in it. It's just that the OP says his SOP is primary only, 2-4 weeks... So I'd say stick with that unless there's something very different about these particular brews.

Ya im not into the secondary debate, read enough of those for a lifetime. I think I'll keep her in primary. Never had a bad batch yet doing it that way.

Thanks all

Update: within 10 hours BIG action. They suggest a 10 gallon primary and now I know why. Lid, sides, airlock all coated with krausen. Looks like its goin into secondary. Just don't like the look of all the krausen dangling over my tasty beer.

idrinkstuffnthings said:

Update: within 10 hours BIG action. They suggest a 10 gallon primary and now I know why. Lid, sides, airlock all coated with krausen. Looks like its goin into secondary. Just don't like the look of all the krausen dangling over my tasty beer.

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I did a lot of the brew house kits first when I started out. They are about the best you can make without going extract or AG. I really like the red ale. I usually leave it in primary for 8-10 before touching it. Take a gravity reading and rack to secondary.
Going to secondary too early won't stop fermentation or cause any problems. Secondary is only used as a clearing vessel, or for long term aging. If you rack too early (during fermentation) you'll get a lot more yeast and trub in the secondary, making it pointless. IMO if you really want to use secondary you should leave it in primary until it starts to get clear, then rack to secondary. First when I made these kits I didn't even take readings. Id leave it in primary until it starts to clear, then rack to secondary for 3 weeks.

If you want to get a little better quality with these kits, I'd suggest using a liquid yeast to match the style, and you can dry hop to play around with things. Have fun!

Well ****. Read the calendar wrong. Had a SG of 1.020 for 12 hours. Racked to secondary. It had only been goin for 3 1/2 days. Hopefully she gets a lower FG as its an IPA and starting gravity was 1.052. Most all signs of fermentation were over but I was hoping for a little higher ABV.

idrinkstuffnthings said:

Well ****. Read the calendar wrong. Had a SG of 1.020 for 12 hours. Racked to secondary. It had only been goin for 3 1/2 days. Hopefully she gets a lower FG as its an IPA and starting gravity was 1.052. Most all signs of fermentation were over but I was hoping for a little higher ABV.

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No biggie! Like I said if you rack to secondary to early you won't necessarily do any damage, but you'll have a lot more yeast settle out then you should.

Well good enough then. Does that seem a little high for IPA FG? Only be about 4.5% at that. And I only did bout 21 litres too.

Antler said:

No biggie! Like I said if you rack to secondary to early you won't necessarily do any damage, but you'll have a lot more yeast settle out then you should.

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Sorry, have to disagree. The secondary vessel is also called a bright tank and there should be no further fermentation occurring.

Fermentation should completed on the yeast, in the primary. You should not rack beer to a secondary until FG has been confirmed.

By removing the beer from the yeast early you risk stuck fermentation or the inability of the yeast to complete those last few points and clean up after themselves.

Yes there is still some yeast in suspension but they are the least healthy, vigorous, slowest flocculating of the cells. In all it's just not good practice to rack before FG regardless of any other concerns you may have.

the primary vs secondary debate is kind of pointless. does the secondary have benefits? Absolutely. Are the Necessary? no. Youll have to make up your own mind. Me, I secondary every brew I make until I'm happy with the flavor and I make a solid product every time. Secondary or not find a system that works for you. It will take trial and error.

As for your beer it will be fine. Let it sit in the secondary /w airlock and dont touch it for a couple weeks. After that take an fg reading once a day for Three Days. If your readings are the same each day fermentation is complete, feel free to do another secondary or just bottle. This is how you would normally determine that primary is finished. yeast is suspension is plenty health and will finish out your beer. it will however take longer because you are now at a much lower cell count. Oh and dont be afraid to sample your product. it will taste green but you can get a good idea of how it will turn out.

I don't care whether or not secondary is good or bad. Just worried I did it too soon and that this will effect my FG.

To go back to the OP's unspoken question: The reason why the instructions suggest going into secondary quicker than you are used to is that if you rack to secondary a few points above terminal gravity, you are less likely to oxidize the beer as the CO2 given off by remaining fermenation will blow off the air in the carboy's headspace.

Very few people I know actually purge their carboy with CO2 before racking, so this is a "homebrewer's solution" to the problem of oxidation. As to it stalling yeast out? Not in my experience. Often I get a renewed air-lock activity after the agitation of racking and it's pretty common for me to pick up those last few SG points I'm looking for in secondary. But you should be aware that, as duboman points out, there is now less yeast. So if they get thermally shocked or something, it may become more difficult to perk them back up. That is why it is why I find it prudent to maintain or slightly raise temperature in secondary for a few days (like you would a lager) before doing any cold-conditioning.

idrinkstuffnthings said:

. . . its an IPA and starting gravity was 1.052.

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IPA? I'd be calling that a Pale Ale.

idrinkstuffnthings said:

I don't care whether or not secondary is good or bad. Just worried I did it too soon and that this will effect my FG.

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This. no danger in krausen, my friend.

And I would guess yes, your FG will remain higher than you want. Ideally, an IPA should be below 1.016 and I like them 1.010-12, but that's just personal.

Could I pitch new yeast or just leave her be. I purposely sucked up a little cake from the bottom when I racked. Would that have enough hungry yeasties to keep it goin?

idrinkstuffnthings said:

Could I pitch new yeast or just leave her be. I purposely sucked up a little cake from the bottom when I racked. Would that have enough hungry yeasties to keep it goin?

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I'd leave it for another week. Check the FG a couple days and see if it changes. If it doesn't, bottle it. I think you'll have plenty of yeast in there for it to finish up, just give it some time and I think you'll hit or expected FG. If not, you can pitch another packet of yeast to finish it off, but don't do it unless you need to.

I did probably 20 batches of brewhouse kits, there hard to mess up IMO. The only batch I had problems with was when I tried to ferment it too warm, thinking I'd speed up fermentation. It did ferment quick, but it tasted like dish soap. That's when I decided to start focusing my reading to fermentation.

Welcome to the hobby, it's very, VERY addicting. I've been brewing for close to two years, and I still find myself on these forums every spare minute.

Ha It is addicting. Alright ima just KCCO for a few weeks. Hopefully she comes down a few. Be happy with 5% so I'm close anyways.

Seems to have settled at 1.014. Good enough for me. Got the go ahead from the old lady to buy AG gear, 1 month from now (backorder on 50L pot) I'll be making an IPA that deserves the name. Yeehaa

idrinkstuffnthings said:

Seems to have settled at 1.014. Good enough for me. Got the go ahead from the old lady to buy AG gear, 1 month from now (backorder on 50L pot) I'll be making an IPA that deserves the name. Yeehaa

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Great news all around!

Wahoo your going AG! It's great stuff!