New/old brewer

[RipUSMC]

Hello,
New to the forums and new to Home Brew Talk. I brewed many years ago but then joined the Marine Corps and stopped all hobbies for a time. Now back to it, but unlike riding a bike, all the equipment seems new though the procedures seem to be coming back. My first batch is a Belgian Tripel and all seems to be going well (I'm on day 6). I've prevented the urge to "look" or disturb those little yeasties from doing their job. I do have a few quick questions though (and am ready for all the sarcasim you can muster-I read many posts before asking):
1. How late is too late to go to a secondary fermenter?
2. Active fermenting, CO2 off gassing, stopped at about 72 hours, is this early?
3. Does anyone use something better than EasyClean for sterilization?

Besides that, glad to be aboard!

Looking forward to the discussions.

Semper fi,
Rip

 

[cmybeer]

1. I leave everything in primary for two to three weeks and then rack to a secondary, keg or bottle depending on the beer.
2. It's a little early, but it is still probably fermenting or you could have a leak somewhere so it is not showing. Also depends on gravity and amount/health of yeast used. Again, wait two to three weeks.
3. Star San is the bees knees! It's awesome and you can reuse it.

 

[unionrdr]

Welcome home,maggotbrain! C'mon in,cop a squat. Secondaries are becoming...well...secondary. Unless you're oaking,adding fruit,or bulk aging. Just leave it in secondary till it hits a stable FG & settles out clear or slightly misty.
Doing this in primary also allows the yeqasties to clean up the things that make off flavors. They'll start eating these after the sugars run out. & the yeast cake gets compacted on the bottom,making it easier to rack clear beer over to the bottling bucket.
The airlock will bubble like crazy during initial fermentation. Then it'll slow down or stop bubbling. But it's still slowly,unevetfully fermenting down to FG. So give it 3 weeks or aso to finish & settle out clear before bottling.
And starsan is def the best sanitizer out there. It's also no rinse!

 

[jscottAT4]

Semper Fi!

 

[RipUSMC]

JScott, looks like you're in CO! Hail to the great state-o-CO. Semper fi to you as well.

 

[RipUSMC]

Roger unionrdr, squatting!! (With a homebrew... well actually not yet, have a few more weeks to wait). What makes starsan so much better? I think I'll just go buy some, seems like you all use it quite regularly.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[cmybeer]

Star San is a concentrate. An ounce per five gallons of water I think but you can get away with using half that and splashign it around. You can also seal it up in a bucket and reuse it for a while so a 2.5 gallon batch could last you a month which makes it more economical plus it's easier to not have to mix stuff up all the time