Imperial IPA Question about Brew Instructions

I bought this Imperial IPA kit from Williams Brewing and the instructions say to rack the beer to secondary after 7 days then let it sit in secondary for 15 days to finish fermenting. My beer is on it's seventh day and the airlock is still bubbling a few times a minute. Should I follow the instructions rack to secondary and risk stopping the fermentation early or should I wait and rack after fermentation stops?

What are the risks of leaving it (over - fermentation?)?


Thanks for the input!

NICK

Id say let it sit for a while until it slows down. It should happen soon.

There are no serious risks to leaving it for up to another week or two. After that the yeast start to canabalize. It will not over ferment. Once the sugar is gone, the yeast will fall out.

If you rack to early you risk a stuck fermentation.

- magno

Leave it. No risks at all until the fermentation has stopped.

The best thing to do is get a wine thief and sanitize it, check the gravity. I would leave it in primary for at least another 7 days. I've left beer in the primary ffor 2 weeks until I saw only 1 bubble every 2 min's. Let the yeast do it's job and finish cleaning up all the nasties. Good luck.

david_42 said:

Leave it. No risks at all until the fermentation has stopped.

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Which you'll know by taking hydrometer readings. Not by attempting to divine the intent of the brewing gods by their bubbling incantations (or lack thereof) in your airlock.

Thanks. Exactly what I was thinking in my gut, but had to hear from everyone before I could go with it. The trick to the story is I leave tommorow for a 3 day trip and if I rack tonight when the kit says to then I can, but otherwise it sits for an extra 3 days regardless. I will wait until I get back and take some gravity readings then rack to secondary.

NICK