Caramel Haze

[bellaruche]

I moved a Pale Ale from primary to 2ndary and initially it looked like one of those cube, caramel candies... which I expected. After the transfer, the clearing began a couple of days later and airlock activity was very slow. That was a week ago. As of yesterday, the carboy has become the thick caramel, unclear look it had again... and some airlock activity has kicked up. Every 20 seconds. I can see this happening if it were moved or something, but it is in a secure area. Is this normal?

 

[beretta]

Did you take a hydrometer reading when you racked it to the primary? What was the reading? It sounds like your fermentation wasn't complete when you racked. It sounds like the yeast got temporarily shocked by the transfer, and started up again. If that's the case, no worries, just let the yeasts do what they do. You might have a bit more of a yeast cake in the secondary than normal, but that won't hurt much. Many brewers don't use a secondary anyway. You probably racked too early, but as long as the yeasts kicked back up again, there will be no problems. Enjoy your brew!

 

[bellaruche]

Thanks. It read 1.047 for the OG. There was a little, what seemed to be, a thin foam layer trying to start, again.

 

[beretta]

OG means "Original Gravity", it is the reading you take immediately after or before pitching your yeast. 1.047 sounds like a good number for an OG. Also take another reading while racking from the primary to the secondary, after a week or two. It should be a good deal lower than your OG, something like 1.006-1.020 is pretty normal. What was your recipe? How much grain/malt/etc.. did you use? For most "normal" brews, 1.047 would mean your fermentation was just getting started when you racked it. It's usually a good thing to take a lot of reading (once a day) when you first start brewing to "see" what the yeasts are doing. Then, once you get the feeling for your recipes and times needed, you'll usually only do a OG reading and a FG reading (at bottling). Sometimes I forget to take a reading altogether! But it's good to take readings when your getting weird things (infections, "gushers", etc...).

 

[gypsyhead]

Excessive starch causes kind of a milky haze, found that out when adding sweet potatoes w/o accounting for starch conversion (there may have been finished homebrew bottles that needed emptying during the brewing process... and I wasn't gonna toss that stuff out). Was this an all-grain or extract brew?

 

[bellaruche]

I've been only reading before yeast and just prior to bottling, after adding priming dextrose. It was an extract recipe. I altered it slightly. Instead of Anderson's, I used Brewcraft Light Malt. *also, addd 1 tbs of fresh rosemary for the last 15 minutes of boil.
•8 pounds, Alexanders pale malt extract
•1/4 pound, Crystal 40L (light)
•1/4 pound, Crystal 80L (medium)
•1/2 ounce, Chinook (12%), 60 min. boil
•1 ounce, Cascade (5.5%), 30 min. boil
•1 to 1--1/2 ounce, Cascade - Dry-hopped
•Wyeast #1056 American Ale Yeast
•3/4 cup, corn sugar to prime
Originally, it had calmed down in the airlock to a bubble every 90 seconds. After racking, the process seemed to re-activate.

 

[beretta]

Everything seems ok. Your OG should have been something in the 1.040-ish range. Just a suggestion though: measure your FG (final gravity) before adding the priming sugar. The sugar will add about 2-3 points to the reading.

 

[bellaruche]

Before sugar? okay. My math from reading after priming put me at 4.9%, which is obviously gonna be inaccurate. This morning, this batch has a full 1/2" yeast layer on it and airlock is bubbling again about every 5 seconds.

 

[Shinglejohn]

Bellaruche, It sounds like you racked to secondary way too early. The beer should be done fermenting before you go to secondary.

Secondary is not really neccesary, especially for a beer as low alcohol as this.

You DID NOT ruin your beer. Just be patient and let it do its thing, when it clears, bottle it.

Cheers!