Timing on transferring to secondary

OK, So I brewed last Sunday and plan on brewing tomorrow. I have a pair of 3 gal better bottles and brew in 2.5 gal half batches. I currently have a cascade/willamette blonde ale in one and the other is empty. The general plan is to transfer the primary to the empty secondary and then either wash yeast from the primary and repitch or just pitch the next batch right on top.

The problem is the yeast has not dropped yet in the golden ale after 6 days. Am I safe to transfer to secondary or do I need to wait until the yeast falls? If I can transfer, do I just be careful not to siphon yeast over, or is it good to have some carryover?

Any ideas on a backup plan putting the new batch into the empty fermenter?

I know what the optimal answer is and that is to wait until it clears more and fermentation is done. However, I would take a gravity reading and if it looks like you are close to your theoretical finishing gravity I would think it is safe to transfer so you can pitch onto the yeast cake.

I would just be wary of transferring if it is still actively fermenting

Seems pretty black and white to me. But, my opinion only:

Option 1: You have reached FG (unlikely from your description). Rack to bottles or keg.

Option 2: You have not reached FG. Buy another fermenter. Or reschedule your brewday.

Eric

Kinda what I figured. I'll check the gravity and see where it's at. I also have a 6 gal glass carboy I could use as the secondary, but I prefer the smaller bottles because of less transfer loss and I really like the geometry of the bottom of the better bottles for minimizing losses.

People used to use secondary fermenters all the time with great results and the transfer was usually done after 4-7 days and before the FG was reached. Keeping wort in primary for 3-4 weeks or longer (though I do this and think it is a better way to brew) is a development that has come only in the last couple of years. I say that because I think if you really need/want to re-use yeast and use your 2.5gal better bottle, I don't see a problem with racking now and letting your first beer finish fermenting in secondary (once again, the way it was done for years). Then you can pitch your new batch on top of the yeast cake.

By the way, you said the yeast had not dropped, after a week there should be plenty of yeast ready to be used at the bottom of your fermenter as most of the heavy yeast work is usually done in the first few days.

Good luck!

Ok, so here's what I did. I went ahead and transferred the blonde to secondary. I siphoned off and stopped right before I sucked yeast off of the top of the falling level of beer. I then used about a pint of sterilized water to wash the yeast. Added the pint to the fermenter, shake well and poured off into a quart jar. I did all of this after the second batch went into boil (then ran out of propane while I was doing this, but that is another story). I let the trub settle in the jar and repitched about 4 oz back to the secondary to make sure it finishes (gravity was about 1.019 from a 1.053 start, about 4-5 points from my target). I think it would have finished ok in the secondary without the added yeast, but tossed a little back in for peace of mind.

I then cleaned and resterilized the original fermenter and proceeded as usual with today's batch. I then pitched all but the bottom 4oz of trub from the quart jar on the new batch.

In about 2 hours I already have activity in the secondary, and the airlock is floating but not bubbling yet in the new primary. Standby for further results.

Thanks for the feedback.

I think you will be fine. Did more than you probably needed to, but I think taking the extra precautions will pay off down the road. Hope all goes well. Good job!

Typically though, will all the yeast (ale yeasts) either fall to the bottom or stay inside the beer suspension at the end of the fermentation? That is, when I reach my desired FG, should there be any floating yeasties on top of the beer? Or by then it should have all fallen into (or to the bottom) of the beer?

I have an english mild in my primary which I popped the top off after 11 days and it looks like this. I suppose I need to leave it in the primary (I have no secondary carboy yet) for a while longer to settle out? The beer itself is pretty darn clear, and I was going to bottle it, but I wonder if I should wait until it falls all to the bottom.

OG was 1.04, and the gravity reading from last night (when I took that pic) was 1.02. FG should be ~1.004 to 1.018.

portalgod said:

Typically though, will all the yeast (ale yeasts) either fall to the bottom or stay inside the beer suspension at the end of the fermentation? That is, when I reach my desired FG, should there be any floating yeasties on top of the beer? Or by then it should have all fallen into (or to the bottom) of the beer?

I have an english mild in my primary which I popped the top off after 11 days and it looks like this. I suppose I need to leave it in the primary (I have no secondary carboy yet) for a while longer to settle out? The beer itself is pretty darn clear, and I was going to bottle it, but I wonder if I should wait until it falls all to the bottom.

OG was 1.04, and the gravity reading from last night (when I took that pic) was 1.02. FG should be ~1.004 to 1.018.

Click to expand...

Different yeasts will flocculate to varying degrees, but if your gravity is 1020, your beer is not done yet. Did you mean that the FG should be 1014? 1004 is very low for that beer style.

What yeast did you use? How much? What was your recipe? What is your fermentation temperature?

Eric

Portalgod, if you are not going to condition in a secondary fermenter then you are on the right track by covering it and leaving it alone for another 10-17 days (3-4 weeks total). You are correct that leaving it will finish fermenting and then let the yeast and any other sediment settle out to clear your beer for bottling or kegging. By the way, with an OG of 1.040 you are looking at getting close to 1.008 - 1.012 (70-80% attenuation). So as EricCSU said, your beer isn't finished yet.

Good luck!

@EricCSU, the instructions with the kit I bought from costco.com says it should be between ~1.004 and 1.018, but from what I can tell, the instructions are generic for all their beer ingredients kit. See here. I didn't keep the package, but it was a small yellow packet of dry ale yeast. About 2 inches by 2 inches square. I sprinkled the entire package on the top of the aerated wort in the primary. I have no idea what kind of yeast it was specifically. I should have kept it for records; I guess you learn something every day The temps have been just about 68F according to the fermometer.

Not sure what is in the recipie, it had about 2-2.5lbs of light DME, bittering hops, speciality hops (pellets), and steeping grains. None of them were labeled with specially what types.

@Jmiltime : I'll leave it alone for at least another 10 days or so and see what happens. I just hope I didn't open a window for oxidation by opening up the fermenter lid and letting the CO2 blanket escape. It wasn't open for that long. We'll see soon!

portalgod said:

@EricCSU, the instructions with the kit I bought from costco.com says it should be between ~1.004 and 1.018, but from what I can tell, the instructions are generic for all their beer ingredients kit. See here. I didn't keep the package, but it was a small yellow packet of dry ale yeast. About 2 inches by 2 inches square. I sprinkled the entire package on the top of the aerated wort in the primary. I have no idea what kind of yeast it was specifically. I should have kept it for records; I guess you learn something every day The temps have been just about 68F according to the fermometer.

Not sure what is in the recipie, it had about 2-2.5lbs of light DME, bittering hops, speciality hops (pellets), and steeping grains. None of them were labeled with specially what types.

@Jmiltime : I'll leave it alone for at least another 10 days or so and see what happens. I just hope I didn't open a window for oxidation by opening up the fermenter lid and letting the CO2 blanket escape. It wasn't open for that long. We'll see soon!

Click to expand...

That is a very wide range and I agree that it is probably generic in nature. Without knowing more specifics, I would guess that your beer should probably get down to the 1012-1016 range. I would leave it in the bucket for another ten days. I wouldn't worry about oxidation. The exposure probably wasn't much and you will probably drink all of the beer before oxidation can take full effect.

Eric

Aha! I did some research on google and I found a couple of items about the ingredients kit.

English Mild Draught Ale
Batch Size (Gal) : 5.00
OG: 1.043
SRM:25
IBU: 17
Anticipated FG : 1.011
Anticipated ABV: 4.3%
Included: Windsor Ale Yeast

If it went from 1.04 down to 1.02 in 11 days, I'll let it sit at least another 10 days to get it down to the anticipated 1.011 FG. By then the remaining Windsor ale yeast, (here, will flocculate down.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

Eric

It's pretty common for extract brews to just die at 1.020.

f.y.i 3 weeks in the primary, 10 days in a secondary (5 gallon better bottle), bottled tonight at it's nice and clear at ~1.017. 5oz of corn sugar to 16oz water, bottled, and lets see what happens!