first time using secondary... did i just screw it up?

[liquid134]

ok i guess this is the best place to post this.

brewed a white house honey ale kit from midwest on 1/4/14. I waited until fermentation was complete (in a 6 gal plastic carboy) and then transferred to a 5 gallon better bottle for secondary a little after 2 weeks. now im reading around, and am starting to second guess myself.

should i of transferred to secondary before fermentation was completely done?

at this point, (its been in secondary for almost 3 days) should i just cold crash for a couple days, then get it on co2 in a keg? or should i just go straight to keg?

 

[Thedutchtouch]

Have your gravity readings been the same the last 3 days? Then go ahead and cold crash/keg. If not, leave it in the better bottle a while longer. Any "damage" that could have been done by the transfer/exposure to oxygen has likely already been done, but more than likely your beer will be fine, don't worry. Lots of people(myself included) don't bother with a secondary and just leave the beer on the trub in the primary/only fermenter until it's done.

 

[homebrewmike]

Was your gravity sample the same for at least 3 days in a row? What did the instructions say on this kit?

I have always used secondary for dry hopping and to help "clear up" the beer a little bit. Lately thogh unless I'm dry hopping I leave it in the primary until it is ready to go into the keg. I figured the fewer times you transfer the fewer time the beer is exposed to air/bacteria/ect...

 

[Clonefan94]

With over 2 weeks in primary, more than likely, your fermentation was complete. the best way to tell from now on though is to take gravity readings.

 

[Oceantendency]

should i of transferred to secondary before fermentation was completely done?

at this point, (its been in secondary for almost 3 days) should i just cold crash for a couple days, then get it on co2 in a keg? or should i just go straight to keg?

Are you sure the fermentation was complete, or I should say did you hit your target gravity? And to answer your question, NO> You want your brew to finish fermenting completely before transferring, sitting on that bed of yeast helps clear up any off-flavors, etc . Secondary is mainly to help age your beer, allow more attentuation to occur ( usually only maybe a point or 2), more importantly allows more time for things to fall/settle out (flocculate) and clear, gives the beer more time to even itself out, great for oaking/bulk aging/juicing or adding fruit or additives, etc... it's not for everyone, but most styles I will secondary plus I'm more prone to let a beer age in bulk in a carboy instead of starring at a filled keg getting impatient cause you know you wanna tap that thing and drink....it's only natural when you got a full keg.

However let the beer talk to you, does it seem like things are still falling out, anymore bubbling in the airlock, any changes in aroma, what is the beer saying? A few days of cold crashing or cold conditioning is always a great thing for beer plus you'll have a cleaner transfer to your keg if you do.

 

[liquid134]

well i took a sample reading before i transfered to the secondary, and it was right where it should be (in between the range according to the kit) so should i just cold crash n keg it in a couple days or just keg it now? i dont want to ruin this beer!