Is my beer dead?

[nztayls]

I recently brewed a Flanders Red ale, and used WLP655. I left in primary for about 3 weeks, before racking into a carboy for ageing, along with the addition of some oak cubes.

That was a week ago, and to day I have seen no activity whatsoever in the carboy. I know the bugs can take a while to get started, but I am a bit concerned that I left this in primary for too long before transferring. Should I be worried?

I still have the yeast slurry (underneath another batch that I'm brewing), when I rack the second batch off would it be worth adding a small portion of the slurry to the ageing beer to get the bugs going?,...or should I just wait and see??

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

I generally leave my Flemish/wilds in primary for around 3 months. Racking to secondary after just 3 weeks seems a little soon. Granted the yeasties have done their job in about 7-10 days, but you have not given the bugs a chance to get a foothold and start their thing.

This is a long term beer, and should not even be expected to be done in under 6 months, but preferably a year or more.

Also might have been a little soon on the oak chips. All the same, let it ride out, keep the airlock topped off, and be patient. Bugs are not like yeast. They take a LONG time to get going.

 

[Rob_B]

There should still be plenty of bugs floating in solution. Keep the airlock full and otherwise forget about it for awhile. You may not see a Pellicle and you will very likely not see any airlock activity just be patient. It will be rewarded!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[nztayls]

I generally leave my Flemish/wilds in primary for around 3 months. Racking to secondary after just 3 weeks seems a little soon. Granted the yeasties have done their job in about 7-10 days, but you have not given the bugs a chance to get a foothold and start their thing.

I did wonder about this. I am following a recipe out of the edition of Brew Your Own magazine, which said to rack to secondary after the yeast falls out to the bottom (and says this should be in about two weeks). I left it three and had a decent yeast cake at the bottom, and little to no airlock activity.

I have another one of the same recipe in primary at present, so I might leave this one alone for a couple of months before putting it in secondary, so I can compare results.

Thanks for the tips!