hendrixsrv630
Well-Known Member
Quick question. I have a IPA that has been fermenting for a week. Has totally stopped fermenting at this point. Should I move into my secondary now? Is one week in primary okay?
IPA stopped fermenting after a week.
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Save yourself the hassel and skip the secondary. It really is not required at all. How do you know fermentation is complete?
hendrixsrv630
Well-Known Member
I was just going by the airlock. I watched it for 2 min. and nothing. The recipe called to add hops in a secondary.
One week is kind of long-ish time for the beer to ferment, but that's ok. Normally it'll be done in 5ish days.
So wait until the beer starts to clear, maybe another week or so, and then dryhop if doing so. Then package 5-7 days later. Don't bother with racking to a "secondary" (which is actually an incorrect term).
So wait until the beer starts to clear, maybe another week or so, and then dryhop if doing so. Then package 5-7 days later. Don't bother with racking to a "secondary" (which is actually an incorrect term).
How do you know it's stopped fermenting? Have yo taken a gravity reading?
If you're talking about your airlock stopping bubbling, then all you know is that your airlock has stopped bubbling. It could just as easily be bubbling or stop bubbling for that matter, due to changes in barometric pressure, temperature, or whether or not the cat or vacuum cleaner bumped into it, as it could be to because it's still fermenting.
Activity, action, bubbles, even krausen can be affected by the envoironment just as much as it being caused by the yeast...so going by that is NOT reliable.
If you want to know what's going on with your beer, then take a gravity reading. The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....
Counting bubbles does not equate to anything usable in fermentation. It's not like "x bubbles/minute= y gravity points." It just means that co2 is being released....but it could also NOT be bubbling, and still fermenting away.
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, two weeks in primary to let the yeast clean up after themselves, then a minimum two weeks in secondary.. 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.
But like I mentioned in most situations we skip secondary and leave it in primary for a month or more instead. The reasons and benefits for polonged yeast contact have been well documented hundreds of times on this forum....
This is the best dicussion on the topic to be found on here. You can read all the thoughts on it there.
To Secondary or Not? John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff Weigh In .
If you're talking about your airlock stopping bubbling, then all you know is that your airlock has stopped bubbling. It could just as easily be bubbling or stop bubbling for that matter, due to changes in barometric pressure, temperature, or whether or not the cat or vacuum cleaner bumped into it, as it could be to because it's still fermenting.
Activity, action, bubbles, even krausen can be affected by the envoironment just as much as it being caused by the yeast...so going by that is NOT reliable.
If you want to know what's going on with your beer, then take a gravity reading. The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....
Counting bubbles does not equate to anything usable in fermentation. It's not like "x bubbles/minute= y gravity points." It just means that co2 is being released....but it could also NOT be bubbling, and still fermenting away.
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, two weeks in primary to let the yeast clean up after themselves, then a minimum two weeks in secondary.. 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.
But like I mentioned in most situations we skip secondary and leave it in primary for a month or more instead. The reasons and benefits for polonged yeast contact have been well documented hundreds of times on this forum....
This is the best dicussion on the topic to be found on here. You can read all the thoughts on it there.
To Secondary or Not? John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff Weigh In .
Revvy you're slowing down, that took like 7 minutes. 
hendrixsrv630
Well-Known Member
I checked gravity after i brewed it at 1.100 ill check it right now
1.100? That's pretty huge. Was this an extract recipe topped off by water?
hendrixsrv630
Well-Known Member
hendrixsrv630
Well-Known Member
although I may have checked it before adding the 2.5 gal. of water to the wort.
The reason I ask is that a gravity of 1.100 is very high. Unless you were brewing a large beer of course. Sometimes with extract recipes that have been topped by water it is difficult to get and accurate reading. Sometimes you end up with more water than overall wort and the reading will be low and sometimes you can get the thicker extract and the sample reads high. One great thing about extract though is that as long as you followed the instructions and your final volume is accurate then the OG will be in range of what the kit says it should be. So it is safe to assume your OG was on the mark.
During fermentation all that beer is getting mixed by the violent activity going on inside the bucket/carboy. The standard practice to see if fermentation is complete is to take a sample after a week or so, if it is near where it should be take another a few days later if that one reads the same then fermentation is complete. If it dropped fermentation is still going on so check again a couple of days later.
cluckk
Well-Known Member
That would change a lot. That should change your gravity to around 1.050.
What was the OG as listed in the recipe? Go with that, not your initial gravity reading. Read this for why...
