Secondary Fermentation (or lack thereof)

I've looked at pics of member's secondaries, and a lot seem to have activity going on. Brewed my first batch of Amber partial grain - OG of 1.040 (on target per directions), after 2 days all activity died down. I checked the SG at the 4 day point, it was at 1.020. Checked again at 1 week (when I racked) and it was at 1.012. FG should be 1.008-1.012 per instructions.

It's been in secondary for 1 week now, and I haven't seen any activity whatsoever, other than about 1/2-3/4 of an inch of trub settling.

I assume this is normal (and I should relax and have a store-bought brew as I have no homebrew yet), but I just wanted to check. If this is normal, is it certain brews that have activity in secondary, while others don't?

That's totally normal- secondary fermentation really isn't a good term for it. It should be called a "clearing tank". Fermentation should be complete or almost complete before you rack it into secondary. If you rack too early, you might end up with a stopped fermentation.

It might go down a couple of points in secondary, but not much at all. Next week when you bottle, you should have a nice clear beer.

Lorena

Thanks lorenae...I figured secondary was just for clearing, it just seems that a lot of pictures of people's secondaries have a foamy head on them, while mine is perfectly still. I assumed it was fine because the SG's were right on target, and I had some at the time of racking and I can attest that there's alcohol in there.

Looking forward to bottling and getting this brew aged! :-D

You may have noticed that after you racked to the secondary the beer on top got darker. In actuality, the yeast was dropping out, hence the trub, and the beer becoming clear.

The "trick" to clearer beer is to not be so greedy (trying to get the last drop) when racking from one container to another. Leave as much sediment in the containers as you can sacrifice. The less (sediment) you rack to the bottling bucket the less you'll have in your bottles.

Thanks homebrewer! I actually did a 6 gallon batch in the primary just to make sure I had enough as this was my first time. I didn't want a half-full carboy

Anyway, at racking I filled the carboy first, and ended up with enough left to fill a pitcher. It had a lot of trub in it as trying to get the last pitcher's worth stirred up a bit, but tasted good when it settled and I got less trub in the secondary than I would have if I had brewed less.


And, just checked - just as you said, the top looks darker.

If your gravity is good then all you have to do now is wait for the brew to clear...unless it's a Weizen.

Every day you'll notice the dark beer (clear beer) line will drop nearer to the bottom of the carboy. When it hit bottom you're ready to bottle...as long as the gravity is in the range for the style.

FWIW, in your sig you say you're going to brew an Oktoberfest on 9/4? Actually, an O'fest is a Marzen (German for March)...that's when it should be brewed, then lagered until September.

homebrewer_99 said:

FWIW, in your sig you say you're going to brew an Oktoberfest on 9/4? Actually, an O'fest is a Marzen (German for March)...that's when it should be brewed, then lagered until September.

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Oops Can't say that I knew that. Got myself a partial grain kit. I guess it'll be a pseudo-Octoberfest. That's why I'll spell it with a "c" instead of a "k" (nice save on my n00b spelling mistake in the sig ).

One thing I really like on this forum, is people aren't complete asshats when a new brewer makes mistakes or says something incorrectly, they just politely correct them. I thank all of you experienced folk - I've been on MANY message forums for many different hobbies/interests, and this is one of the most supportive and inviting.

THANKS EVERYONE!

Just thought I'd let you know, even though everyone here has already assured you everything is fine:
My first batch was a kit, the primary finished in just 3 days. After I racked it, it didn't do anything that I could see, except get clearer. Turned out to be a very good Brown Ale.
Right now I've got my Chocolate Cherry racked and in a secondary, and the air lock bubbles every once in a while. So when I racked it, it seems I stired up enough left over sugars to get the yeast eating rapidly again, but much slower. I remember reading that this stage is more for "Conditioning" the beer. I do know that I ended up with trub on the bottom with my first batch and it cleared up greatly after spending a week and a half in the carboy.

Atrus said:

Oops ... That's why I'll spell it with a "c" instead of a "k".

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Actually, I always spell it with a "k" because it's inseparable from the culture and country that celebrates it. ("Oktober" in German versus "October" in Americanese).

Case in point, do you say "Mardi Gras" or "Fat Tuesday"? "Mardi Gras" translated into English means "Fat Tuesday". But what do you call the celebration of all the other days prior to "Fat Tuesday"? Everyone calls the entire time "Mardi Gras" which is technically wrong. Some people even go "down to Nawlins' Madri Gras on Fat Tuesday"...translation..."...visit New Orleans Fat Tuesday on Fat Tuesday".

Same goes for "Shrimp Scampi"..."scampi" means "shrimp" in Italian...so most people order "shrimp shrimp".

Language...we all speak one, but have no idea what we're talking about...

Hello out there!
I'm a first time brewer and just today I transferred my AmericanWheat kit to my secondary(and started an O'fest in the primary) after 7 days.It seemed fermentation stopped after about 4 days.I planned on the 1-2-3 schedule.My Og was 40 and today was about 8.Does this sound right?The kit didn't give any gravity #'s.It smelled great(like beer!!!!!!)and i tasted my test sample and it was great too but seemed a wee bit on the light side.I would guess(hope)that it will strengthen after aging a while.Any tips,comments and observations would be appreciated.This looks like a great forum and i'm glad to be on board.Thanks.
Bill