Fermentation stage to Secondary stage

[CTRLTower]

I have brewer best Grapefruit IPA fermenting in a catalyst system. I has been 10days and I'm still getting bottling. To me sounds like it still working. So my question is even though the package says the fermentation is between 4-6days. Do i just keep waiting until it stops bottling? Is there any harm in waiting longer before removing the trub jar and going to the secondary. I may just need patience. [emoji1]

 

[ncbrewer]

If you plan to bottle it, make sure it's finished fermenting first. If it's not finished, it will ferment more in the bottle and over-carbonate, with possible bottle bombs. I check SG 3 days before bottling, then again on bottling day. SG should be exactly the same, or don't bottle.

 

[ncbrewer]

I just realized you're transferring to secondary - no bottle bomb issue then. But the secondary isn't normally necessary - just an opportunity for oxidation or infection.

 

[kh54s10]

I just realized you're transferring to secondary - no bottle bomb issue then. But the secondary isn't normally necessary - just an opportunity for oxidation or infection.

He is using a Catalyst conical fermenter so he isn't doing a traditional secondary.

If it is still bubbling at a fairly significant rate it is probably still fermenting. If the bubbles are less than one every 10 minutes or so it is probably temperature or atmospheric changes that are causing the bubbles.

Fermentation is usually done in 5-7 days but it benefits from a few days after reaching final gravity. I let all my fermentations go at least 14 days. Check for FG then package.

Longer doesn't hurt, may help and can prevent bottle bombs.

If you are only getting an occasional bubble you could just close the butterfly valve.

Or alternatively, unless you are harvesting the yeast, just leave it alone for another 4 to 11 days or more. I never remove the yeast from my fermentations and leave it in primary for 14 days to up to a month and a half. One time, through procrastination one sat on the yeast cake for over 5 months. It was still quite good.

 

[CTRLTower]

Thank you all for the guidance. I will let you know how it turns out. [emoji4][emoji482] Cheers!