First Racking/Dry Hopping

[dollhousebrewery]

Woooo, today I racked my beer into a secondary for the first time! It is an IIPA (kind of) and man was it stressful... I was using the carboy cap method, but I learned how to effectively do so, which is good. All went decently, the hops are a little less in the beer than I would like, but all should be well. It is steadily bubbling away, took a grav reading, 1.036 at 71 F. Starting was 1.082 at an unknown temp (im still very unorganized and am still learning how to use my hydrometer). My house is pretty hard to brew in, but im getting the hang of it, sanitation hasnt been a problem. I tried the Hydro beer, its going to be great, assuming I didnt mess it up when racking. Im so excited!

Doll House Brewmasta,
Nate

 

[BruDaddy]

I'm a bit of a newb too, just started in January, but just bottled my sixth batch and have been reading HBT the whole time. It sounds like you jumped the gun on racking to secondary, if it's bubbling away and your SG is 1.036. Read through some threads on use of secondary. What most folks like to point out is that, while it's called a secondary fermentation, little or no fermentation should be taking place in the secondary. It's more of a clearing tank to allow the beer to get off the trub layer in the primary and to allow yeast to settle and the beer to clear.

With what you have described, I'd recommend keeping an eye on your carboy. If you are still in active ferment, krausen could form again. If your secondary is a 5 gallon carboy, you could see an overflow. If not, you'll probably be OK. In the future recommend waiting at least one week before racking to 2ndary. Standard practice is to take SG readings for several consecutive days and rack after you get 2-3 steady readings, and that they are in the range of what was expected. Most of the beers I've brewed hover in the 1.010 range as their final gravity. If, like me, you don't always get around to taking SGs on a regular basis, look for the krausen to completely settle out and the airlock activity to slow way down. That's a good sign that fermentation is basically done.