Stuck Secondary??

[tjstromquist]

I moved my Vanilla Weizen to the secondary about 7 days ago. There is no activity at all in the air lock. There hasn't been any since day one. It was in the primary for 3-4 days, I moved to secondary after bubbles in airlock were less than 1 per minute. Is there something wrong with the secondary? Using 5 gal glass carboy.

 

[RichBrewer]

What was the gravity when you racked it? It could be that the fermentation is completed.

 

[clayof2day]

You know, it seems like we see this question a lot, I think I even asked it when I first came to the board. The secondary is generally a place for bulk aging and clarification to take place. I'm pretty sure that the VAST majority of us would never see any fermentation activity in the secondary. Its a place where you can pick up a couple of points and closer to your target FG, but we're talking a very VERY small proportion of fermentation (so much so you wouldn't see any activity in the airlock, thats for sure). Also, 3-4 days seems pretty quick to rack. The majority of fermntaion is probably complete, but I usually wait 7-10 days, to ensure fermentation is complete.

I'm sure part of it is that we refer to it as a secondary fermenter (fermentation) but this is misleading.

Hope this helps,

Matt

 

[david_42]

If you look at professional operations, they talk about clarifying/bright tanks not secondary fermenters. The only time you are likely to see much action in the secondary is when you have a very high gravity ale or barleywine and you re-pitch a super-high gravity yeast to finish the fermentation.

 

[tjstromquist]

The OG was 1.060. I thought 3-4 days might be a liitle quick in the primary, but there was little to no activity in the airlock and there was no activity in the carboy. I'll let it sit for a while to clarify though.

 

[Robbw]

I agree. I generally let it my brew sit in the fermenter for 7 days or so, making sure there is no more activity and that the surface is essentially clear of foam. Unless I'm doing a high gravity recipe that calls for pitching yeast in the secondary, then the only thing I'm doing in the secondary is clearing and maybe bulk aging.

 

[Mykel Obvious]

The OG was 1.060. I thought 3-4 days might be a liitle quick in the primary, but there was little to no activity in the airlock and there was no activity in the carboy. I'll let it sit for a while to clarify though.

You should take a SG reading whenever you rack (Unless I misunderstood and it was DOWN to 1.060 when you racked)... it won't be totally accurate unless you can get the CO2 out of suspension, but it should give you an idea of what is going on with your brew...

You shouldn't worry too much about moving from primary to secondary quickly... it takes several weeks before yeast autolysis begins to change the flavor of your brew... so let it sit and do what it does best


I just racked over my Flanders Sour Ale from primary to secondary yesterday... OG 1.084, SG at racking 1.020... I'm still seeing bubbles about every 10 seconds... I'm expecting FG around 1.015 (before the other things go to work and drop it down around 1.006) it will spend a week in the secondary to help drop out as much yeast as possible, because I don't want much yeast left when I pitch the three types Brettanomyces and the Lactobacillus and Pediococcus bugs as it effects the final flavor of the brew... it will spend a minimum of 6 months in the tertiary... this batch should be ready to taste around Christmas

I'd advise taking a SG reading now and see what you come up with... then compare that with the estimated FG of the brew (and the attenuation of your yeast)... this will give you an idea of where you should go from here...


hope that helps some,
mikey