Harrowing Hefeweizen Habitat

Bwahaha alliteration is hilarious.

To my problem:

I've a hefeweizen/Irish red mix in a primary fermenter (always wanted to combine 2 of my favorites... think of it as a dunkel)

The wort has been in there at about 60deg F for about 10 days... a day ago the temperature went up to 70deg or so and I was getting this great banana smell...

whenabouts should I jump to secondary? There's still krausen on the beer...


also... I lack bottles and kegs... would it ruin this beer to sit for another week or so?

There is a great post from BierMuncher about this very subject. Click Here

Don't rush putting it in the secondary. A longer primary allows the yeasts to clean up some of the byproducts of the active fermentation phase. This clean up will only make the beer better and it's main benefit is preventing diacetyl.

You can then choose to secondary or not.

Wait until the beer is done before racking!!! Give it at least 2 or 3 weeks in primary then do SG test. Why do you want to secondary? Probably not necessary for this beer. I only secondary when I lager or dry hop.

Don't rush putting it in the secondary.

Click to expand...

My primary does not have an airlock - it's simply a bucket with a loose fitting lid. Does this advice still apply to me?

I've been told that once vigorous fermentation is over, it's no longer protected by the exhausting CO2. I don't want to leave it exposed to potential infection. So basically I always rack after 7 days into an airlocked carboy where it will be safe.

The beer is always done after 5-7days, at least according to my hydrometer

I'd suggest buying an air-tight lid and an airlock for next time, or replace with a carboy or better bottle.

For this one, seal it up as well as the lid will allow, as this will (hopefully) keep the bad stuff out. If you allow the beer to sit on the yeast for a couple weeks, it will clean up quite nicely, prevent off-flavors, and will reach it's FG.

As the previous poster mentioned, with this being a hefe, the secondary isn't necessary. If you were brewing a style which you wanted to be clear, the secondary is still an option, although several people skip it. Since you will likely go directly to bottling with this beer, all the more reason to let it sit, to guarantee that it's done.