lowering ABV

should I be concerned that I might have lowered alcohol content by transferring from the primary to secondary to soon. I transferred on day 8 and still had kraeusen on top. I read on one of the threads a few days later that the kraeusen should drop or fall, then transfer. Did I screw up?? My thought was that I might have left some fermentable sugars in the bottom of the primary, in turn lowering the ABV.

sandman24 said:

should I be concerned that I might have lowered alcohol content by transferring from the primary to secondary to soon. I transferred on day 8 and still had kraeusen on top. I read on one of the threads a few days later that the kraeusen should drop or fall, then transfer. Did I screw up?? My thought was that I might have left some fermentable sugars in the bottom of the primary, in turn lowering the ABV.

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Most of your alcohol is created the first few days. I would worry more about taste being affected.

What kind of beer, and what are the details?

The main concern is not necessarily the lower ABV (though that certainly could be the case if it fails to finish out), it's that you could get bottle bombs from bottling beer that continues to ferment in the bottle because there was too much residual sugar. It also may taste sweeter than you want. Once you transfer to secondary you've lost a high percentage of the yeast that was working on the beer, so you want to make sure it finishes in primary before transferring.

The only true way to know if you racked too early is to take a gravity reading. If the beer is at or very near your expected final gravity then it should be okay. If it's still high you'll probably want to give it more time in the secondary than usual, maybe raise the temperature to 70* and basically encourage the yeast that's left to finish the job.

In the future, wait 10 days and take a gravity reading before transferring. If it's not finished, wait a few more days and check it again and transfer when it's dropped as much as it should. If you don't have a hydrometer, you should get one.

Its the belgian white from austin homebrew, if your familiar with it.

I just pulled a sample and the had a reading of 1.008... I of course had to taste it and besides only being 13 days since brew, I thought it had a good flavor. Ill also throw in that in have a new kraeusen on top as well. Do you think I'm still good.

You are still good. For one thing, even if it's a bit early, the secondary will allow the yeast to finish up. The plus side is that it's a Belgian White, which is usually preferred with yeast stirred up with it, so even if you got extra yeast in the beer, no big deal!

I highly doubt there will be significant amounts of sugar sitting in the trub. It will have dispersed with the fluid of the wort. Also, Belgian Whites contain wheat, which helps form krausen and good head. I think you should be looking forward to a very tasty brew! (keep the temps in line...)

+1 on hydrometer. Although some make due with proper temps and extra time, the best thing is to use a hydro and KNOW what's going on.

sandman24 said:

should I be concerned that I might have lowered alcohol content by transferring from the primary to secondary to soon. I transferred on day 8 and still had kraeusen on top. I read on one of the threads a few days later that the kraeusen should drop or fall, then transfer. Did I screw up?? My thought was that I might have left some fermentable sugars in the bottom of the primary, in turn lowering the ABV.

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The sugars in the wort should be fully dissolved in the wort so transferring the beer at any point will not affect the potential alcohol of the beer.

However it is beneficial to the final product to have the beer finish fermenting before transferring it off of the yeast trub. The larger mass of yeast in the trub will finish the ferment faster and will begin to metabolize some of the byproducts produced during the ferment. This will help to clean up the beer and improve the flavor.

For best results leave the beer in the primary for atleast 7 days or when there is no signs of fermentation, which ever comes later. Then transfer to a secondary for 2 weeks.
Alternatively leave it in the primary for 3-4 weeks, then transfer to a bottling bucket and bottle.

Craig

If you transfer too early then you'll be moving the fermentables and it will continue to ferment to the same ABV.
You need an hydrometer to check the gravity and then you can stop guessing.
Why the rush to move?

I learned from the first batch not to rush anything so this time I was following the 1,2,3 rule. Still new to the process but im learning that the hydrometer is god. Do whatever god tells you.

Ive read some posts explain the 1,2,3 rule two ways. 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary, 3 weeks bottles. Others say to take the amount of time it takes to stop fermenting in the primary and multiple that number by 1,2,3... i.e. ten days to stop fermenting in primary so 20 days in secondary and 30 days in bottles. since this is the 2nd batch, I think I just got excited and even though I still had bubbles in the air lock.. The 1,2,3 rules said I need to transfer today. After I transfered I got scared I botched the batch... I got excited again when I tasted the sample I pulled... Its amazing what beer can do for the mental...:rockin: