Rack to secondary too soon on first brew?

[ongreystreet]

I think I am alright, but I figured I'd run it past everyone.

BB Altbier Extract kit.

Had a pretty rapid visible fermentation, large head of Krausen and a bunch of bubbles (yea I know it ain't a real indicator) for the first 48 hours. Krausen fell in after about 3 days, bubbling almost down to nothing, and had two straight days of steady and projected FG, racked to secondary on 8th day. Gonna let it sit another week or two and bottle, no visible fermentation except that if I push the airlock piece down, a few hours later it has been lifted up again, haven't watched long enough to see any bubbles.

I know I am doing the first batch quick, the kit says 4-6 days in primary, and I gave it 8 with proper readings. I wanted a quick first batch, since once I have 50+ bottles of beer in the fridge, I'll have no choice but to let my second batch sit for awhile.

Anything I should be worried about?


Oh, and it tastes ok so far, I figure it will go form ok to good during bottle conditioning.

 

[Jota21]

you'll get 100 people saying 3 weeks minimum in the primary, but that's mainly for flavoring. If you're 100% sure it's done fermenting and wont create bottle bombs, then sure, bottle it. I think everyone is guilty of rushing their first batch.

Anything I should be worried about?

Yes, your claim that 50 bottles in the fridge will prevent you from wanting to make more quickly!

 

[RM-MN]

If your hydrometer reading stays constant for 3 days straight, you can bottle it. It would make better beer if you waited but I can understand the hurry. Make sure you let the bottles have a week or more of room temperature before you put them in the fridge or you will have flat beer.

 

[FensterBos]

I've rushed my fourth batch and the beer still came out fine. And you'll be fine.
But what I will say is that you probably don't need to rack it to a secondary if you aren't dry hopping or adding fruit. A lot of advocates on this site (including yours truly) thinks that you are just fine by leaving it on yeast cake for an extra week instead of racking it to the secondary.
Also, airlock activity (i.e. bubbling) might be a good sign of initial fermentation, but don't use it as a tool of measuring the completion of fermentation. Your best tool is your hydrometer and patience. Once you get two or three consecutive readings then it is safe to bottle.

 

[azfalcon]

Not to hijack your thread but is it ok to open the primary and check things out or is it best to keep it closed and dont touch for a week or so

 

[ongreystreet]

I wanted to start using a secondary since I am a huge fan of IPAs and will probably try other additions down the line, such as honey, oak chips, whiskey, and fruit. Might as well get my time in.

 

[Bottenbrew]

As long as you moved it to a secondary it shouldn't be an issue, yeast will have gone with it and will finish up the fermentation, it just might take a bit.

 

[ongreystreet]

I just ordered my capper, from morebeer on the wrong coast, probably won't be here until it's had the 8 days finished in primary, and another 14 in secondary.

 

[jonmohno]

If your not getting a taste in the bottles once you think its done,at the estimated time then it would have conditioned faster if you had left it in primary another week.But if it finishes well in the time you are desiring it to be,then congratulations. i bottled my first few beers before 2 weeks and they have been still conditioning beyond 4 weeks because of this.they carbonated well after two but still tasted green.
Wheat beers are said to be the quickest and can be tolerated being drunk green.

 

[dcp27]

Not to hijack your thread but is it ok to open the primary and check things out or is it best to keep it closed and dont touch for a week or so

as long as only sanitized things get into it while its open, its fine. the more times you check on it the more chances for infection/oxidation tho. easiest way to avoid that is just leave it be for 2-4 weeks and check it when you're ready to bottle. more often than not the yeast will do as they should

I wanted to start using a secondary since I am a huge fan of IPAs and will probably try other additions down the line, such as honey, oak chips, whiskey, and fruit. Might as well get my time in.

aside from the fruit (and really even with the fruit) all that stuff can be added into the primary if u dont feel like racking

 

[ongreystreet]

It tastes good now right out of secondary without carbonation or being cooled, so I think they will taste pretty damn good once I get them in bottles and let em sit for awhile.