How long in secondary "fermenter"?

Hi everybody!

I'm new to this site and it looks to be a fantastic resource - can't wait to spend more time looking through it!

I have brewed maybe ten batches in the past, but it's been probably 5-6 years since my last batch (I think I must have lost my mind - that's the only explanation I can come up with for the big gap!).

I've currently got a Cream Ale in my secondary carboy.

My recipe was:

9lb pale liquid extract
1lb corn sugar
1oz Willamette
1.5oz Fuggles

.5oz Willamette
1tsp Irish moss (both added with 15 minutes remaining in the boil)

.5oz Willamette
8oz maltodextrine (both added with 5 minutes remaining in the boil)

London Ale Yeast

OG was 1.08, was down to 1.03 three days later - was still 1.03 on the fourth day so I transferred to the carboy secondary.

My question is: for this type of beer, how long should I allow it to remain in the secondary to settle and clear before bottling? There is a nice layer of sludge (maybe 1/2") (is it still referred to as trub at this point?) on the bottom of the carboy. It's been in the carboy for almost four days now.

Any advice that anyone can give will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!!

If you only hit 1.030 as a FG you may have moved it too soon. Did you use Wyeast 1028? If so, that should finish dry and you really should have come down to a much lower FG. If you're seeing a lot of material collect in the bottom of the secondary already you may be seeing more yeast dropping out of suspension as the fermentation was probably still ongoing when you transferred.

You should at least let it sit for a few more weeks before thinking about bottling, but ideally you would have wanted to keep it in the primary for longer so the yeast could do their job and clean up. But what's done is done, so time is your best friend.

Thanks Marubozo! I actually used White Labs WLP013 - but I doubt that the result would be much different from the Wyeast strain.

So, basically it sounds like I jumped the gun...

What should be my guide as to when to bottle at this point? Should I just wait two more weeks and then bottle, or should I continue to monitor gravity or watch for the beer to clear?

I'd definitely give it about two weeks and then you may want to check the gravity again then to see where it stands. It may have come down a bit, or it might not, but at the very least your beer will taste better with a week or two of rest before bottling.

You typically don't want to bottle with a gravity as high as you say yours is, so hopefully it comes down. I'd also test your hydrometer and make sure it's giving you accurate readings going forward