First attempt...

[tigerten]

So naturally, I need lots of help. I started fermentation late Sunday afternoon (pre-Super Bowl). No bubbling on Monday. Saw bubbles Tuesday morning. Exciting, but they were gone (done?) by Wednesday night.
My question: I intended to transfer from bucket to carboy for secondary fermentation, though literature says to make sure I do that BEFORE fermentation is complete. Is it now complete? If so, should I still transfer, or just leave it alone for a couple of weeks? I certainly wouldn't mind being able to see what is happening (even if nothing). I'd get that with the carboy. All suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

Find out the temperature range for the yeast you are using. Make sure that the temperature is within the yeast's comfort zone. After a couple of weeks, put the bucket in a warmer room or warm the room it is in. A lot of times the bucket lids are known to leak, so you can't trust the airlock activity as fermentation in progress. The first 48 hours are usually the most active and exothermic (produce heat). Take a gravity reading (hydrometer) 3 days before you plan on bottling/kegging and again on bottle/keg day. If they are the same, proceed to bottle/keg. If not, wait a few more days and take another reading.

The less you touch the beer the better. Transferring to a secondary creates risk of infection or oxidation. Even if you are dry hopping an IPA, you can still do that in Primary with good success.

 

[RM-MN]

So naturally, I need lots of help. I started fermentation late Sunday afternoon (pre-Super Bowl). No bubbling on Monday. Saw bubbles Tuesday morning. Exciting, but they were gone (done?) by Wednesday night.
My question: I intended to transfer from bucket to carboy for secondary fermentation, though literature says to make sure I do that BEFORE fermentation is complete. Is it now complete? If so, should I still transfer, or just leave it alone for a couple of weeks? I certainly wouldn't mind being able to see what is happening (even if nothing). I'd get that with the carboy. All suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks.

If you really want to see what is going on with a fermentation, make a new batch and after you have added the yeast put about 3 cups of that in a quart jar and the rest in the bucket. That way you can watch the fermentation all you want, from start to finished when the beer finally clears. You still have to take the hydrometer test from the bucket before you bottle because the two batches won't ferment exactly the same. That will avoid any oxidation of the beer in the bucket on chances for an infection from transferring that beer to a carboy. What you put into the jar should not be returned to the bucket but will make a good "sampling" vessel so you can taste the beer at different stages of the fermentation if you want. Just be aware that opening the jar to remove some beer will give that beer a chance of becoming infected, which isn't all bad because you can learn from that too.

 

[tigerten]

Thanks HB and RM-MN for the suggestions.
I will move the bucket or warm the room. I have some seed tray warming mats... wonder if that would work under the bucket. Perhaps there is a perfect scenario where a board or piece of carpet between bucket and mat would produce a good constant temperature for the batch.
I really like the quart jar sampling vessel idea. Makes too much sense, especially for someone in 'learning mode'.
Thanks again...

 

[mappler]

I let most of my beers ferment for at least 3 weeks in primary if I am not in any rush.

What kind of beer are you making? Assuming this is your first, or one of your first batches? Secondary may not be required...

 

[zacster]

Did you use a hydrometer before you put it into the bucket? Take a reading before you do anything else. You don't need to put it into the secondary before it is done. Where did you read that? Usually I wait until it is completely done before I secondary, and that is IF I secondary. I only do that to dry hop. I happen to be in the middle of the prep for the secondary right now, sanitizing the carboy. But my beer was at 1.012, down from 1.080, so I'm ready. 9% abv at that!

 

[ncbrewer]

I have one of those seed tray warming mats. I contacted the manufacturer about using it under my bucket - they answered that it is not recommended. They didn't say why, but I think it's because the heat would be trapped, and it could be a fire hazard. I use mine by wrapping it partly around the water tub that my fermenter is sitting in and tying a rope around it to hold it in place. That way, the heat isn't trapped. It's been working pretty well. I also tried emptying the water tub and placing the mat inside it (going partly around the fermenter). It heated the fermenter more this way, but it was more heat than I wanted.