secondary question

i transferred from primary to secondary 2 days ago, sampled, seems like it is on its way... my question is since transferring, there has been very little airlock action, almost none, is this normal? the recipe says to keep it in the secondary for 5-7 days. should i bottle at 5, or 7, or even sooner, maybe even later? any advise?

There isn't supposed to be significant release of CO2 when the beer is in the secondary. The beer shouldn't go into the secondary until primary fermentation (converting simple sugars into alcohol and CO2) is nearly done. There can be small amounts of CO2 still produced after transferring, and the act of transferring often knocks CO2 out of solution and into the air, so some bubbles are ok. But for the most part there shouldn't be any bubbles.

that is good to hear. when i transferred, the primary was bubbling maybe once every few mins. so i should continue to follow the recipe and bottle in 5-7 days? should i wait till it gets good and translucent?

You do not need a secondary for ale. It needs to condition on the yeast for 2 to 3 weeks then keg or bottle.

Whether your beer is ready to bottle in 5 days depends on whether it was finished. Was it? How long was it in the primary and what is the FG?

it was in the primary for nine days and was finished, i beleive(this is my first batch). og 1.055, fg 1.010. the recipe did recommend use of a secondary.

There you go! It can be bottled at five days OR you can leave it for a couple weeks and let it clear. The second choice is the best BUT since it's your first batch, it will be the harder choice.

Nurmey's right...

Telling someone making their first batch that they should wait longer before they bottle because it'll make better beer is like telling a teenager they should wait to lose their virginity. Sure, it's the best advice. The person getting the advice may even know it's right. But I know I counted the days until I could bottle and the days until I could open the first one in the shortest amount of time possible.

So... if you can... do as we say, not as we did.
But if you can't, then do it next time.

one more thing.... the color. when transferring, i couldnt help but notice the color was a lot more amber than pale ales i am used to drinking. will it lighten up? just a question, i am not too concerned, this being my first brew, i'd drink it if it was purple.

The red ale i just finished, recomended a secondary also. So I did, and it really cleared it up.

scottie said:

one more thing.... the color. when transferring, i couldnt help but notice the color was a lot more amber than pale ales i am used to drinking. will it lighten up? just a question, i am not too concerned, this being my first brew, i'd drink it if it was purple.

Click to expand...

There's a ton of stuff in solution that'll drop out in your fermenter, so it'll lighten up quite a bit.

Agreed...I just bottled a belgian strong pale ale and I noticed the same thing. When I racked to secondary, I noted that it was definitely darker than anticipated/desired. But at bottling, more sediment dropped out and it had time to clear up more, and it's at the range that I'm happy with. I agree with ChshreCat in that you'll notice a difference, maybe not alot, but you'll probably see some.

ChshreCat said:

Nurmey's right...

Telling someone making their first batch that they should wait longer before they bottle because it'll make better beer is like telling a teenager they should wait to lose their virginity. Sure, it's the best advice. The person getting the advice may even know it's right. But I know I counted the days until I could bottle and the days until I could open the first one in the shortest amount of time possible.

So... if you can... do as we say, not as we did.
But if you can't, then do it next time.

Click to expand...

I'm struggling with this too. My first batch( a pale ale) has been in primary for a week now. I still have to take an FG but I really want to bottle it as soon as possible. After reading a million and one posts on this site, I know its better to let it sit for another week or two to let it clear up. Its like when your parents have to work on christmas and you can't open any gifts until they get home. I'm going to leave it but its taking a lot of will power!

My instructions say to dry hop w/ cascade pellets. I believe ChshreCat recommended just dry hopping in the primary in one my last threads but how long should I leave it in there for? The instructions say 3-5 days before bottling but i've read some people leaving it in for a week or longer.

I'd use a secondary to dry hop. If I recommended doing it in primary, it's because that was a better option that the alternative. I think that one was a choice of the primary or using the bottling bucket to secondary and dry hop in.

yeah, thats all I have is my bucket primary or my bottling bucket. I'm planning on picking up either a glass or plastic carboy for a primary. Any recommendation on how long I should dry hop for?