First Brew - Second Rack Questions

[Leggoma]

Ok, so I patiently waited a week in my primary fermenter for my first brew to ferment (American Amber). I checked the airlock and the bubbles had all but stopped, so I took that as a sign that I did not need to wait any longer to rack to my 2nd fermenter (6.5 gallon glass carboy).

Of course, while brewing, the instructions that came with the ingredient kit were very concise, but I didn't really have any instructions on racking to the secondary fermenter. However, I wasn't intimidated by the process, as it seems to be a common sense task. Get your beer from the primary to secondary fermenter with as little exposure to oxygen or bacteria as possible. So I'd like to run down what I did to make sure I'm good to go.

I used Star San to sanitize the glass carboy, rubber stopper, transfer tube, and spiggot on the primary fermenter. For the carboy, I drained the sanitizer, and rinsed a little, but left little bit of the bubbles from the Star San. I assume having residue from the sanitizer won't do anything to the beer, is that correct?

I used the sanitized rubber tubing to transfer the beer to the carboy while keeping the airlock on the sealed primary fermenter. Once that was complete I popped the rubber stopper into the carboy and put the airlock into the fitting in the stopper.

When I put the stopper in, it started to rise up the opening of the glass carboy and just seemed to rest on the top where I could just take it off with no effort. I took the stopper off and wiped off the moisture from the stopper and the inside of the neck of the carboy and put the stopper back in. This time, it started to slip up a little, but when it rested, I gave it a pull with slight pressure and it seemed to be sealed fine. I'm going to check on it periodically, but has anyone had any issues with using a rubber stopper in a glass carboy? Will i have to worry about the stopper slipping and breaking the seal? Also, I assume the Star San residue would take care of any bacteria that may have been introduced by wiping the stopper and carboy neck with a paper towel. Will I have anything to worry about that?

Finally, just a final note, more of a few comments. When i first brewed, i tasted a bit of the wort that was in the tube and of course it was sweet and grainy in taste and aroma, with just a hint of the hops shining through. I took another gravity reading when racking to the secondary. I tasted it after taking the reading, and to my amazement (as much as I was expecting it, it was still freaking cool), it tasted like beer. This time the body and hops were the star with a slight hint of sweetness left lingering, which I expect to be gone by the time I bottle in 2 weeks. My original gravity reading was 1.066 and the reading at second rack was 1.020, with the final supposed to be around 1.011. Again, I'm very excited that I'm making beer!

 

[jmprdood]

Foam from the starsan is fine - just yeast food.
No issue with the rubber stopper - I'm assuming it is drilled and has an airlock.

While doing a secondary is ok - a good many of us don't bother with it and just do a longer primary. Don't have the extra step or worry of contamination.

But do what you are comfortable with. Be patient - you're making beer.

Cheers!

 

[Leggoma]

Yeah, I am going to just do a primary fermentation for my next batch just to experience the difference. I know a secondary fermentation is just for clarity, but I wouldn't mind seeing the difference for myself with my own experience. My primary fermenter is a plastic bucket that came with my beginners kit, so I'm going to pick up another glass carboy so I can just pitch to it instead of having my entire fermentation process in that paint bucket.

 

[unionrdr]

Also,you shouldn't have rinsed off the starsan,as it's a wet contact sanitizer. Leaving the foam behind is ok,since it breaks down into yeast nutrient. And as mentioned,I don't use a secondary unless I'm racking onto something. Less work,less chance for oxidation & infection. And keeping it on the yeast cake does help at the clean up & settle out clear stage.
But you still made beer!

 

[jtrux]

I've had trouble with bungs/airlocks rising up and falling off of glass carboys when put in with starsan still wet. I started wiping bung and inside of carboy with napkin soaked in cheep vodka. Vodka helps remove the slippery starsan.

 

[metaltradie]

Why wait untill your fermentation has stopped to change to the secondary your risking oxygen if the yeast is still active it will enjoy the extra oxygen

 

[unionrdr]

Even if it wasn't quite down to FG yet,that move is still pretty risky. The yeast remaining in suspension during transfer might not be enough to use the additional o2 at that point. I for one don't enjoy wet cardboard.

 

[Captain Damage]

While you did most of it right, I feel I should point out a couple of issues I see...

I checked the airlock and the bubbles had all but stopped, so I took that as a sign that I did not need to wait any longer...[emphasis added]

Do you mean it was still bubbling a little bit? Any bubbling at all may indicate fermentation is still active. You need to use your hydrometer. If you get the same reading at least 3 days in a row, that is your indication that fermentation has stopped. Bubbles in the airlock are not a good indicator of what's going on.

...spiggot on the primary fermenter.

The bucket with the spigot is your bottling bucket, not your fermenter. use the carboy as your primary fermenter.

I drained the sanitizer, and rinsed a little, but left little bit of the bubbles from the Star San.

StarSan is a no-rinse sanitizer, meaning you shouldn't rinse it. It only kills pathogens while it's wet and at it's full strength. When you rack your beer into a carboy with Starsan foam in it the beer will displace most of the foam. The small amount of StarSan that remains gets diluted by the beer and actually becomes a nutrient to the yeast.

secondary fermentation is just for clarity,

Clarity is really a function of gravity (the gravity of physics, not the gravity your hydrometer reads) and time. It's influenced by the flocculation characteristics of the yeast you use and any finings you add, among other things, but the same amount of yeast will fall out of the beer whether it's 3 weeks in the primary or 1 week in primary and two weeks in secondary. And don't forget, your beer will continue to clear after you've bottled it.

Secondary became de rigueur a few decades ago when it was hard to get good quality yeast. It was important to get the beer off the yeast cake as soon as fermentation was complete to avoid autolysis. The quality of yeast we have access to now makes this only a worry for beers that require prolonged aging, such as barley wines which can take a year or more to mature. Many of us are finding that leaving beer on teh primary yeast cake for 2-4 weeks actually improved the flavor of the beer quite a lot. It's becoming popular now to only secondary if we're racking onto fruit or dry hopping - and in fact dry hopping in primary is becoming the norm.

 

[Leggoma]

Ok, very good information to help me out on my second batch. The bubbles in the airlock looked like they stopped. My reasoning for moving it at that point was the kit's instructions told me to do so after 7 days. So in the future, I'm just going to put the wort into the glass carboy (not the bottling bucket) and not worry about a secondary. I'll also just check the gravity for a couple of days at the end of the estimated fermentation time.

I will also not rinse the Star San at all, no matter how much foam it has. I was more worried about it being detrimental, but now that I know its just more food for the yeast, I won't worry about it at all.

I'm already looking forward to the next batch. Thanks for the responses!

 

[Captain Damage]

The problems with the "Do X after 7 days" direction is that first of all, it can take up to 3 days for fermentation to start, in which case you're doing X after only 4 days. But more importantly, the yeast doesn't care about your timetable. It's not going to stop fermenting just because the instructions said to transfer on a particular day.