Beer transfer question

[IdahoSpud]

OK fellas I have a question about moving my beer around. I am in the process of making a Midwest Belgian Honey Ale. There are a ton of fermentables in it (OG 1.078). The directions said to transfer to secondary after 7-11 days in the primary, and I did so.

However, since there are so many fermentables in it, it's still bubbling along pretty strong, and now the beer is sitting on a fresh 1" layer of junk (dead yeast cells?) in the secondary.

The directions call for aging the beer for 2-6 months in the secondary.

Should I leave it in the secondary for that long on top of all that junk, or should I wait for the fermentation to fall off somewhat and then transfer to a tertiary fermenter? I have a spare fermenter available.

 

[BobbiLynn]

should I wait for the fermentation to fall off somewhat and then transfer to a tertiary fermenter?

I wondered what you call it when you transfer again, thought it was thirdiary, but tertiary sounds better. I have done exactly that, one extra transfer to clean things up. But wait until you are sure fermentation is complete and the yeast cake sort of hardens up. Makes for a nice clean beer.

 

[IdahoSpud]

OK thanks for that advice. I will definitely NOT transfer it again while it's still fermenting.

 

[hector]

By such a high O.G. , I would leave it in the Primary until the end of fermentation , unless the yeast strain is a fast fermentation yeast .

Then I would transfer it to Secondary which will fit the volume and let it age for 2-6 months .

Do you check the Gravity every day ?

Hector

 

[IdahoSpud]

Do you check the Gravity every day ?

No I don't check the gravity daily, at least not while obvious fermentation (frequent airlock bubbles) is occurring. Don't see the point of risking infection to get a gravity when the beer isn't finished yet.

 

[Upthewazzu]

Did you check the gravity before you racked to secondary? Sometimes the direction sheets are just a gauge of what really needs to be done. I leave everything in primary for at least two weeks before transferring nowadays. A general rule of thumb is the wort should stay in the primary until you hit your final gravity, and only then should you transfer.

 

[VampireSix]

+1 on what others have said, waiting until hitting a stable final gravity before racking.

Also, as I just found out from Midwest's Grand Cru kit, honey takes a while to ferment out completely. 3.5 weeks until FG was hit, and another half a week just to make sure.