do I need secondary fermentation for scotch ale

[IDHIGHLANDER]

My scotch ale finally took off and fermented actively for a full week. Now it produces a bubble every 2 minutes. Should I move it to a secondary fermentation carboy to get it off the dead yeast? Or will it be okay for another week when I can bottle condition? I don't want to explode the bottles if it is still fermenting. Shooting for 9.6% tested at 1.060 when yeast was pitched.

 

[1van]

Many people will have differing opinions, but for the most part I would say leave in in primary for another week or two. Unless I am adding fruit or spices, I no longer secondary at all and the beer has been better (imo). I keg now and will leave a beer in primary for a month if not 1.5 months. Many of the big names here will suggest that even in bottling there will be enough yeast in suspension if you were to leave it for a long primary. Might be worth noting what type of yeast you are using

 

[Jupapabear]

Shooting for 9.6% tested at 1.060 when yeast was pitched.

That may be hard to reach with that Original Gravity. Even if you gravity reaches 1.000, you are still only at 7.86%abv.

How long has it been since you pitched the yeast?

 

[IDHIGHLANDER]

The yeast was pitched 14 days ago. The blast pack seemed whimphy. I need to learn to make a better yeast starter. I used WYEAST YEAST STRAIN: 1728 | Scottish Ale.

7.6% still wouldn't be bad!

 

[rmyurick]

Probly gonna be closer to 5.5%, assuming that OG is accurate. Keeping it in primary for another week is fine.

 

[sweetcell]

definitely leave it in primary a while longer. sounds like fermentation isn't complete (not that bubbles are necessarily an indication of fermentation... the beer might just be off-gassing). your beer will only be better for leaving it on the yeast another week.

you won't hit 9.6%, you won't even get to 7.6%. Wyeast says that the typical attenuation of this yeast is 69-73% (https://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=143). let's assume you 75% attenuation - which might be a stretch based on your statement about making a better starter next time - that means your 1.060 will go down to 1.015. plugging those numbers into an attenuation calculator like http://pint.com.au/calculators/alcohol/ yields an ABV estimate of 5.86%. so being realistic, 5.5% is indeed a likely number.

with this yeast, you would need an OG of around 1.100 to get into the upper 9's... and brewing a beer that big requires a little more TLC than smaller beers: you should pitch a lot of yeast, oxygenate, use nutrients, etc.