How longer before transfer to secondary

[HomeBrewGuy89]

Mmmkayy so I got myself an American English cream ale that started percolating after 8 hours about a bubble every 2 seconds. Fast forward 5 days it has slowed to a bubble every 40 seconds.

So how long should these bubbling periods be before transfer to secondary?...2min, an hour....

Thank You

 

[Revvy]

Nowadays many of us opt for a month long primary rather than racking to a secondary, though when I do secondary, or recommend it to folks I tend to do a 2 on 2, just as those instructions say. But I don't recomened anyone rack to a secondary indiscriminately based purely on a calendar.

It should be done based on 2 gravity readings over three consequetive days to insure the beer is done, if one was considering racking on day 14, then I would take a reading on day 12, and then 2 days later- if the numbers match, the fermentation SHOULD be complete, and racking can commence.

You don't go by bubbling...your airlock is NOT a fermentation gauge. It is a vent, a valve to release excess co2. Sometimes it never bubbles, usually it stops long before fermentation is complete, because as fermentation slows, less EXCESS co2 is produced, do the airlock doesn't need to bubble. But that doesn't mean fermentation has stopped..Just bubbling.

Sometimes airlocks will stop and start bubbling because of changes in temps, or atmospheric/barometeric pressure.

Ignore your airlock, use your hydrometer

 

[krispy3d]

Do some digging and researching to get all the details, but I don't think fermentation is like popping popcorn where you listen for the pops and a certain interval is the indication of completion. Advanced homebrewers seem to measure their gravity after at least a week and if the gravity is unchanged throughout a three-day period, then they know it's done. Simple brewers like me just give it a full two weeks (sometimes just one week) and consider it done without really checking that closely.

 

[HomeBrewGuy89]

So I can skip the secondary completely and just keep it in the primary for ~30 days and then proceed to bottling?

Maybe if someone could explain why a beer is transferred to a secondary in the first place I would get a better grasp on it.

 

[Golddiggie]

I leave in primary depending on the OG of the batch. Lower OG brews get 3-4 weeks in primary before being kegged. Bigger brews get longer.

I sometimes age my brews. In that case, depending on what I'm aging on, and for how long, I sometimes transfer to another vessel. It's the exception rather than the rule, though.

 

[krispy3d]

Here's a rough synopsis of what I've learned about this exact issue in recent days:

Homebrewers used to insist on secondary vessels because after the first, briefer and more vigorous fermentation period it was thought that getting the beer off the yeast cake was good for avoiding too many dead yeast cells impacting the flavor. Now, it's been determined that this is not a risk whatsoever for homebrewers (though it might still be for big commercial brewers), so secondaries have become pointless unless you're racking on top of fruit or perhaps dry-hopping and you want the beer isolated from the yeast and sediment at the bottom of the primary vessel. In fact, it's been determined that leaving it longer (2-4 weeks) on the yeast cake is good because it allows the entire yeast life-cycle to complete, the latter portion of which can actually clean up some of the nastier byproducts of the earlier portions of the yeast's life. Make sense?

 

[HomeBrewGuy89]

Thanks Krispy3d, I had a feeling it was something along those lines.

I don't know if you guys can tell but this is my second batch ever, so I'm still learning and what I have learned is from a 30 year old home brew bible (might be a little outdated in some areas).

Anyways I appreciate the help so far but have yet another question. If I decide to leave the beer solely in the primary can I go straight to bottling? By this I mean do I need to make a transfer to remove that cake and sediment. Or can I add my priming sugar right on top of the yeast cake and stir that around in there. I would think you should make a transfer to remove the cake and sediment...

 

[beergolf]

Thanks Krispy3d, I had a feeling it was something along those lines.

I don't know if you guys can tell but this is my second batch ever, so I'm still learning and what I have learned is from a 30 year old home brew bible (might be a little outdated in some areas).

Anyways I appreciate the help so far but have yet another question. If I decide to leave the beer solely in the primary can I go straight to bottling? By this I mean do I need to make a transfer to remove that cake and sediment. Or can I add my priming sugar right on top of the yeast cake and stir that around in there. I would think you should make a transfer to remove the cake and sediment...

You will need to transfer the brew to a bottling bucket to bottle. Boil up the priming sugar in a little water, cool, add to the bottling bucket and then rack you brew on top of that. This will mix the sugar with the wort.

Bottle away.

Here is a great thread on bottling with a lot of good tips.


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/