Fermenting Process

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HEGENSCHWARTZ

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I just did my first all grain and everything is doin well so far but I have a question. The recipe calls for fermenting in the primary for 2 weeks at 68 degrees. It has been fermenting for about 5 day and the fermentation has about stopped. Once the fermentation stops is there any reason to keep it in the primary for an extra week or should I just transfer to the secondary and start the cold conditioning for the 3-4 weeks like the recipe calls for?
 
It is very likely the primary is complete, take a hydrometer reading and see if you are in a reasonable range of you F.G. A number of people like to transfer to the secondary while there continues to be a little activity in the airlock so that when they transfer into the 2° vessel the yeast produce enough CO2 to blanket the beer and protect it from oxidation or purge the vessel with CO2 first. When you transfer to the 2° a portion of the dissolved CO2 will come out of solution; you'll see increased airlock activity for a bit. Chances are the 1° is complete, but measure it to be certain. I wouldn't cold condition right away; allow the yeast to clean up a number of the by-products of the 1° for another week at 65-68°F. If you cool it too low then the ale yeast will be quiescent and not very active but if this is a California Lager yeast then you'd been golden.
On another note there is a big debate as to whether clarifying in a secondary is really necessary and does it outweigh the risk of oxidation, etc. IMHO I prefer to go 2 weeks in the primary at the desired temperature. Raise the temp. up to 65-68 °C if it was a lager yeast for a couple of days then crash cool down both lagers and ales to 34°F before kegging. Keg, lager if necessary, and enjoy. There isn't really a right way of doing it; it's whatever works for your brewing schedule.
 
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