Ready to Rack to secondary..

I know about the 1-2-3 rule of thumb, but I also know that i should get the wort off the trub asap after fermentation.

Activity in the airlock has stopped and there is no longer any bubbling after 2.5 days of fermentation. Is it ideal to rack to the secondary now or should I leave it in the primary longer?

2.5 days is not very long. You either need to take a gravity reading that's the same for two days in a row or follow the 1-2-3 method.

Don't worry - one week on trub is not nearly long enough to cause any ill effects

1-2-3 is a rule of thumb for guidance.

All beers are different and all brews are as well.
After fermentation's mainly complete then clearing begings. It's a balance, rack too early from primary and you'll have more trub in secondary. If most of the gunks fell then it should be okay.
But if you haven't taken an hydrometer reading then there's always the chance that you may have a stuck femerment.

Basically I'd say take a reading, and if there's no visable suspended matter then go for it.
I just do it when it's convenient.

I've only had one beer that I transferred out of the primary after only seven days, and I think it stunted my fermentation somewhat. Everything else has been at least ten days in primary, and a few have been two weeks or more. I think that initial fermentation is too critical to rush, and I've learned it the hard way. Patience is the key.

Torchiest said:

I've only had one beer that I transferred out of the primary after only seven days, and I think it stunted my fermentation somewhat. Everything else has been at least ten days in primary, and a few have been two weeks or more. I think that initial fermentation is too critical to rush, and I've learned it the hard way. Patience is the key.

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I was just worried about leaving it on the Trub, this is only my second batch, its BB english brown ale the same thing both times and im getting a flash fermentation in the first 48 hours. Then it dies, same thing both times. maybe its the type of yeast. Or because I re-hyrated the yeast 4 hours before. I cant figure it out.

I've had brews do in under 48 hours before now No detrimental effects.

Some of us don't bother racking to secondary and let it sit in the primary for up to two weeks and then to keg for another 2 weeks or so for conditioning.

The trub is your friend! You aren't in danger of any off flavors for at least 4 weeks. I did a Brown Ale that sat in the primary for 3.5 weeks and it recently took first place in a home brew competition. The yeast will clean up after themselves when fermentation is complete.

My beers really improved once I threw the 1-2-3 rule out.

seyahmit said:

The trub is your friend! You aren't in danger of any off flavors for at least 4 weeks. I did a Brown Ale that sat in the primary for 3.5 weeks and it recently took first place in a home brew competition. The yeast will clean up after themselves when fermentation is complete.

My beers really improved once I threw the 1-2-3 rule out.

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Interesting, was it in a primary only. Also, when racking to a secondary do we loose a lot of the yeast we may need for bottle conditioning or is that still usually afloat after 1 week in the primary.

Lots of people use the 1-2-3 method and have enough yeast for carbonation.
But like I said before it's a guide line only.

Unless you filter, it's almost impossible not to have enough yeast for carbonation when making the typical ale. My Brown Ale for example was fermented with Pacman, a highly flocculating yeast, in the primary for 3.5 weeks and in the secondary for 2 weeks. My beer still carbonated perfectly.

That BB English Ale is the best kit I ever did. If I was going to do another kit, that would definatley be the one, that was an excellent beer.

JohnnyK68 said:

That BB English Ale is the best kit I ever did. If I was going to do another kit, that would definatley be the one, that was an excellent beer.

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I must have f'ed up the first one, Ive been following the 1-2-3 rule and after 1 week in the bottle there is 0 carbination, Since i opened it I drank it, it was kinda watery and sour. Hopefully that will get better with time.

I just figured out it might have something to do with the fact that I boiled with the lid on half of te 60 minutes, i didnt realize i wasnt supposed to.