a question

[JasonToews]

so I kept my brew fermenting in my primary for 8 days, but the airlock was only realy active until day 4, just wondering if thats normal. Just put my brew into secondary and doesnt seem to be any activity at all. Should I be concerned? Should it start to see foam (head) in the secondary at all during the week? should I add anything into the secondary?

 

[Brasco20]

No. Things are going just fine. I had the same question with my first brew. I ended up pitching again and screwin around with the wort, after bottling it had to be tossed, foul taste. The most active fermentation is in the first couple of days, after that it is still fermenting, just doesnt look like it. If you watch your airlock for a while, it will bubble, like once every half hour or so. " Dont worry, Relax, Have a homebrew" Thats what i was told.
Give it some time, no worries!

 

[Brewlog]

Good for you secondarying on your first batch, most mine go from primary to bottling bucket to bottle but will probably start making it into the secondary a little more often now.

 

[SumnerH]

Good for you secondarying on your first batch, most mine go from primary to bottling bucket to bottle but will probably start making it into the secondary a little more often now.

A lot of brewers are moving away from using a secondary, including guys like John Palmer (author of How to Brew) and Jamil Zainasheff (multiple-time Ninkasi award homebrewer of the year winner); leaving the beer in the primary for 3 weeks or a month and then bottling (or kegging) seems to offer better results for most people than racking to secondary after a week or so.

There are exceptions (e.g. beers that are going to be oaked, aged on fruit, or require months and months of aging) and some people still like secondaries, but it is something that's getting less and less common.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/secondary-not-john-palmer-jamil-zainasheff-weigh-176837/ has some more discussion.

 

[Encinoman]

Measuring the gravity of your beer will give you the best idea of where fermentation is at. It is common for it to stop bubbling after a couple days in some instances, but it doesn't mean its finished! Many people like to keep the beer in the primary up to (or longer than) a month. According to my Local Homebrew store guy (LBHS) he tells me studies have been done on primary fermentation time periods. And while it may affect the flavor of your beer slightly it doesn't necessarily make it taste better. Do what you will.. some wait seven days others wait a month, after reading John Palmers book I feel 2 to 3 weeks in the primary is just about right, especially for ales. Just make sure its completely done fermenting.

John Palmers explanation of the secondary: "The Secondary Phase allows for the slow reduction of the remaining fermentables. The yeast have eaten most all of the easily fermentable sugars and now start to turn their attention elsewhere. The yeast start to work on the heavier sugars like maltotriose. Also, the yeast clean up some of the byproducts they produced during the fast-paced primary phase."
It clarifies the beer (less Hazy) and reduces some of the sediment in the final product. But can also create off-flavors or infections if transferred incorrectly and without proper sanitation. You shouldn't see foam (aka krausen) in your secondary , unless it hasn't finished fermenting.

Long story short, your hydrometer is your best friend in determining if the fermentation is finished.

 

[SumnerH]

John Palmers explanation of the secondary: "The Secondary Phase allows for the slow reduction of the remaining fermentables. The yeast have eaten most all of the easily fermentable sugars and now start to turn their attention elsewhere. The yeast start to work on the heavier sugars like maltotriose. Also, the yeast clean up some of the byproducts they produced during the fast-paced primary phase."
It clarifies the beer (less Hazy) and reduces some of the sediment in the final product. But can also create off-flavors or infections if transferred incorrectly and without proper sanitation. You shouldn't see foam (aka krausen) in your secondary , unless it hasn't finished fermenting.

John Palmer from the podcast interview linked above:

And unfortunately I'm an perpetuator of the myth at HowtoBrew.com. The 1st edition talks about the benefits of transferring the beer off the yeast...But these days we don't recommend secondary transfer. Leave it in the primary, you know, a month. Today's fermentations are typically healthy enough that you are not going to get autolysis flavors or off-flavors from leaving the beer on the yeast for an extended period of time.

 

[wyzazz]

+1 SumnerH, I don't use a secondary unless I'm oaking, racking on to fruit or doing an extended aging. Leave the beer on the yeast in the primary for at least 3 weeks before messing with it.

 

[RedGlass]

+1 for extended primaries. But to the OP, don't feel like you did anything wrong by using a secondary. Just food for thought on tweaking your process for future batches.

so I kept my brew fermenting in my primary for 8 days, but the airlock was only realy active until day 4, just wondering if thats normal. Just put my brew into secondary and doesnt seem to be any activity at all. Should I be concerned? Should it start to see foam (head) in the secondary at all during the week? should I add anything into the secondary?

RDWHAHB. Sounds like everything is going perfectly. You won't see much of anything while your beer is in secondary. And don't add anything that your recipe didn't call for. Just be patient and let the yeasties do their thing.