Noob Questions RegardingTransfer to Secondary

OK,
I'm brand new to this, and decided to start very slow, with a Barron's kit.
I haven't done the amount of research I would have preferred, but just jumped right in.

So my questions -
I have the brew in a primary (plastic bucket) fermentor, where it's been for about 8 days. I noticed that the fermentation stopped Friday morning, but I was heading out of town.
I plan to transfer to a carboy tonight using an autosiphon, but I really have no idea at all what to do or how to do it.
For instance - do I just pop the lid off the pale and start siphoning, or does it need to remain airtight?

And, is it hurting the brew to be sitting in the pale these extra days?

I saw the FAQ, but the kit I bought had an autosiphon, so I'm still a little unsure how to handle it all.

Any input would be appreciated, Thanks!

Yes, its ok to pop the top off when you are ready to siphon. Just make sure the inside and outside of the autosiphon is properly sanitized. hmmm i forgot the second part... i will be right back


oh yeah the time thing.....It is def. not hurting your brew to sit there a few more days...in fact it is helping it.

Just pop the lid off the bucket. It does not need to be air tight when you transfer to the carboy.

The beer has not been hurt by an extra 3 days in the bucket, it may even have been helped.

Welcome to the Forum!

Some here have stopped using a secondary entirely. I rack to secondary sometimes so that I can pitch another batch on the yeast cake!

you mean the stuff on the bottom of the primary after you siphon it? How many batches of beer can you get off of on packet of yeast?

Thanks all -
And thank you, Beerthoven, for the welcome.


I noticed surfing around that some don't use secondary. Pardon my ignorance, but is the main reason to transfer is simply to get a smoother brew? I'm attempting a brown ale, btw.

Another question, and this might be really dumb, but I notice the bung for the carboy has a hole in the top, am I supposed to just use the air lock that I used in the pale, or is this for a blow out tube or something?

A secondary should really be called a clearing tank, since that's what it's really for. It's to let the less flocculent yeast fall out of suspension, and give it a little more time to age. You don't NEED to do a secondary if you don't want to, in fact, some beers are fine like that. Brown ales and hefeweizens don't need to clear.

Yes, use the same airlock that you did for the initial fermentation. It's also for a blowoff tube too, if you have one that will fit in that hole.