Gravity reading is 1.010 question

[WahineArt]

So I'm brewing my first batch ever and have a question, go figure, hehe!

Anyway, the hef kit I purchased came with yeast, however, I changed yeast to WL300 (I created a starter from this) and have kept the brew fermenting at a constant 70 degrees for 6 days now. My original kit instructions say I should be at a gravity reading between 1.020 & 1030 (with their dry yeast) before advancing to a secondary. Ok, so I checked my gravity reading today and am at 1.010 (yup, I spun the hydrometer and checked a couple of times. Btw, I'm checking in the brew and not in a sample container).

My original hydrometer reading was 1.048 before pitching and now I'm at 1.010. The kit says I should be at 1.020 - 1.030 at this stage, have I fermented in the primary too long? Do I need to ferment longer, will it go down/up to those readings or is a 1.010 reading a stronger brew? I'm so confused, lol. I was planning on moving to a secondary tomorrow but I'm not sure now.

Any advice from you brew masters is greatly appreciated!

 

[Gduck]

Sounds like your beer is coming along great! 1.010 in 6 days is a good pace. Most of your fermentation, especially when fermenting around 70 is going to take place in th first two or three days. Fermentation will continue on after that but it will be slower. I think your current reading is good for a hefe. A little dryness, but not too thin.

Many people skip doing secondaries. I used to do them all the time but am now part of the camp that skips them. Their are good arguments either way so over time you will discover what works best for you. If you do want to stick with your directions and use a secondary now would be a fine time. All it's really going to do is get your beer off the sediment and yeast cake allowing it to clear up some (though with a hefe clearness isn't a big thing). Some yeast will go over when you transfer to a secondary, so fermentation will continue, albeit slower since there is a reduced cell count of yeast. Though at 1.010 I'd wager there really isn't going to be much more in the way of fermentation. But it will give the yeast time to clean up some of the fermentation byproducts.

 

[WahineArt]

Oh, wow, it sounds like I'm doing good so far!

The reason I would proceed to a secondary is that it's a vanilla flavored hef so, according to the instructions, I need to add the vanilla bean in the secondary.

Thanks for your input, I feel better that I'm on the right track.

 

[JMSetzler]

You are definitely on the right track. A vanilla hefe sounds different... Never heard of that one but I'll be interested to hear about what it tastes like in the end. As far as secondary is concerned, it's really not necessary for a hefe... even the hefe you are doing now. You could drop that vanilla bean right in the primary and let it sit for another week or so and be fine with it.