Did I mess up?

I started my first home brew, a Bass copy, 7 days ago. The instuctions said to let the must ferment for 2 days then rack into a secondary for 5-14 days.
I missed the part in the instructions that said "rack after 2 days".
The must was in the primary for 6 days.
I then tried to correct my "mistake" and racked into a seconary on day 6.
I just realized (day 7) that I may have dumped out important yeasts etc. that may be needed to continue the fermentation.
Do I add more yeast or should I continue as normal and add the sugar when the fermentation stops for bottling?

CC

brewman,

I would take a gravity sample and compare that to the recipe. If you had a relatively vigorous fermentation then it very well could have fermented completely. At 6 days there is probably enough yeast in suspension to clean up the brew. I don't think there's much benefit to be had from repitching.

In the future I would recommend that you leave your beer in primary longer. I leave my beer in primary for at least 2 weeks and sometimes a month (or a hair over if I'm feeling exceptionally lazy).

A month? Will the yeast stay alive that long for the bottling fermentation to complete?
Is there any benifit to waiting instead of the 7-14 days?

Thanks
CC

Yes, Yes, and Yes. You will get better beer (short answer)

As long as fermentation is complete (ie: duplicate gravity readings for 2-3 consecutive days), you can rack to a secondary. However, there is much debate on whether a secondary is worthwhile or not. Leaving it in the primary and skipping a secondary will still help with cleaning up/clearing the beer.

Thanks for the info...I will let it age a little longer...I should still let it "age" a couple of weeks in the bottle..Right?
CC

Leaving the beer on the yeast longer will help the yeast clean up some of the other, less desirable by-products of fermentation. This will lead to a cleaner tasting beer. I usually do 2 weeks in the primary, 2 in the secondary (if I do one, if not, I leave it in the primary a month or so).

brewman988 said:

A month? Will the yeast stay alive that long for the bottling fermentation to complete?
Is there any benifit to waiting instead of the 7-14 days?

Thanks
CC

Click to expand...

I just brewed my first batch about 7 weeks ago. My LHBS said to leave it in the primary for a week, then bottle and condition for a week. Well after reading alot of posts here and asking alot of questions that scenario was out the window.

I kept it in the primary for 4 weeks then bottled and let sit for 2.5 weeks. and I have to say it was well worth the wait. It tasted way better than I ever expected, well carbed also.

So my advice is to be patient and you wont be sorry.

phidelt844 said:

As long as fermentation is complete (ie: duplicate gravity readings for 2-3 consecutive days), you can rack to a secondary. However, there is much debate on whether a secondary is worthwhile or not. Leaving it in the primary and skipping a secondary will still help with cleaning up/clearing the beer.

Click to expand...

The instructions said to rack after 2 days then let ferment for 5-14 day then bottle when the gravity remains constant for 2 consecutive days.
I only racked it after learning I was "supposed" to do it after 2 days.
I'm not sure if I should done it at all.
Do you guys leave it in the primary then bottle from the primary?

CC

I usually leave my beers in the primary for 3-4 weeks. I then rack to a bottling bucket, bottle from there, and let the bottles sit at least 3 weeks before drinking (aside from a few snuck down early here and there...).

Your beer is ruined, after it's been in the secondary for about 2 weeks add priming sugar and put it in bottles and ship it to me for disposal.

Seriously though, the beer is fine. Might of racked it too soon but oh well it'll still come out great. Just leave it in the secondary for a good 1-2 weeks. I'd say RDWHAHB but you dont have any HB soooooo relax and have a beer.

Primary 10 - 14 days then secondary a couple of weeks before bottling. If you aren't going to secondary, 3 - 4 weeks in primary before bottling.

Here's a thread that discusses the benefits of Primary/secondary.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/when-go-primary-secondary-if-all-43014/

You may have just swallowed Neo's red pill. Welcome to the obsession.

I let all my beers stay in primary for at least a month, if they need more time, then I rack to secondary. Most of the time I bottle after the month in primary.

Your beer will be just fine & dandy. No worries at all.

I left my last batch (my 3rd) in the primary 4 weeks, then bottled. As far as bottle aging, it has been my preference to allow a minimum of 4 weeks. Some beers are drinkable after 2, but (again my experience) better with additional time. Bigger, high gravity brews may even need months.

Primary / Secondary: empty
Bottled: Edwort's Apfelwein (carbonated--awesome! )
Bottled: AHS Gold Seal Holiday Ale
Up next: Northern Brewer Cream Ale