First brew questions!

[lydiasdad1]

After cooling the wort, I racked to the primary without filtering. Is that a no-no??? I have about 1/2" of sediment on the bottom of the carboy. I was getting air lock activity within 12 hours! Should I rack to a secondary? If so, when? Do I filter now or wait until bottling? It's a partial mash kit from Midwest Supplies. (honey nut brown ale).

Thanks in advance for all your help!!!

Scott

 

[BradleyBrew]

No biggie, I rarely run my wort through a screen. I wouldnt use a secondary unless you are adding fruit, other additive, or bulk aging.

 

[Draken]

After cooling the wort, I racked to the primary without filtering. Is that a no-no??? I have about 1/2" of sediment on the bottom of the carboy. I was getting air lock activity within 12 hours! Should I rack to a secondary? If so, when? Do I filter now or wait until bottling? It's a partial mash kit from Midwest Supplies. (honey nut brown ale).

Thanks in advance for all your help!!!

Scott

Unless you have 2 kegs and a pressured filter setup the best you can do is throw a hop bag on the end of your siphon when you are racking, the intake end. You don't really want to filter once fermentation starts as that will oxidize the beer.
If you are going to use a secondary (not really required) just don't suck up the gunk. You will always have sediment whether you filter from the kettle or not. All the yeast and any other floaters will eventually settle out. I generally have about an inch or more of stuff in my better bottles.

 

[wfowlks]

After cooling the wort, I racked to the primary without filtering. Is that a no-no??? I have about 1/2" of sediment on the bottom of the carboy. I was getting air lock activity within 12 hours! Should I rack to a secondary? If so, when? Do I filter now or wait until bottling? It's a partial mash kit from Midwest Supplies. (honey nut brown ale).

Thanks in advance for all your help!!!

Scott

The only reason I use the screen on the funnel is to aerate the wort. Some times I get lazy and don't filter it and it makes no difference. That amount of sediment is usual, and you will probably get more after all the yeast falls out.

I always rack my beers to a secondary, even the wheat beers. It gives the beer some extra time to allow all the flavors to blend, and it helps to ensure that the flavor of the beer is consistent from bottle to bottle.

As for the filtering now don't bother. If you rack it to the secondary, and you have an auto-siphon or just a hose, don't stick the hose all the way to the bottom, and watch the fluid coming out, to make sure debris don't get transferred to the secondary. If a little amount does no biggie, they will settle out of the secondary. The secondary is a good way to make a cleaner beer, with less sediment.

As for when to rack to the secondary, I like to do so after 2-3 weeks in the primary. However if you want to rack sooner, you will have to wait till fermentation is done. If you have a hydrometer or refractometer you will have to test it on two different days. If the reading is the same on both days, or close to 1.010 on the first reading the fermentation is done, and can be racked to a secondary.