Did my first boil on Friday, 5 gallons of blonde ale from AHS. The recipe is:
5 lb malt extract
1 lb corn syrup
14 oz alcohol boost sugar
1 oz bittering hops
White Labs German Ale / Kolsch yeast
BrewVint yeast fuel (1 capsule)
So I have it in the primary fermenter right now and from the looks of the airlock, it's chugging along as expected. Question is, what is the best way to know when to transfer to the secondary fermenter?
I have several books that say fermentation time should be anywhere from 7-14 days. One resource just says to do 7 days in the primary and then 7 days in the secondary as a rule of thumb. However, I feel like this brew should ferment slightly faster due to it have a relatively low alcohol content (4.3%) and I am more than eager to bottle it and get it closer to the day I can drink it. Of course I don't want to rush things and screw it up, so I'm looking for the smart way to find the balance, instead of just needlessly adding extra days for the sake of playing it safe.
So can I use my hydrometer as a good indicator? The recipe tells me what FG to expect, so do I need to be close to that before racking, or is it reasonable to still be higher and let it decrease more during secondary fermentation?
5 lb malt extract
1 lb corn syrup
14 oz alcohol boost sugar
1 oz bittering hops
White Labs German Ale / Kolsch yeast
BrewVint yeast fuel (1 capsule)
So I have it in the primary fermenter right now and from the looks of the airlock, it's chugging along as expected. Question is, what is the best way to know when to transfer to the secondary fermenter?
I have several books that say fermentation time should be anywhere from 7-14 days. One resource just says to do 7 days in the primary and then 7 days in the secondary as a rule of thumb. However, I feel like this brew should ferment slightly faster due to it have a relatively low alcohol content (4.3%) and I am more than eager to bottle it and get it closer to the day I can drink it. Of course I don't want to rush things and screw it up, so I'm looking for the smart way to find the balance, instead of just needlessly adding extra days for the sake of playing it safe.
So can I use my hydrometer as a good indicator? The recipe tells me what FG to expect, so do I need to be close to that before racking, or is it reasonable to still be higher and let it decrease more during secondary fermentation?