Gravity Reading necessary before age in Secondary?

[arnobg]

I brewed a Porter 10 days ago and took a gravity reading today to make sure my yeast starter did it's job since there was little airlock/blowoff activity at all and I have been fermenting relatively cool (58-60F).

OG was 1.065 right as targeted and Gravity today was 1.020 targeted at 1.019 according to software. Since I know initial fermentation is close enough to target and there are no issues (I realize it isn't fully done and may hit my 1.019 no problem), is it necessary to take a reading again on day 14-15 when I rack it to secondary for aging?

This will be my first time using a secondary vessel and I see areas to plug that information into my software (Beersmith) but I am not positive if I even need to. I prefer not to waste any of this precious beer for a sample tube at that time, and prefer not to put the sample back in after taking it either risking contamination.

 

[dstockwell]

Unless you just want to know if dropped any further I don't see why you need another reading. Just let it sit and age..

 

[C-Rider]

Unless you are planning to age it for months forget the secondary.

No rush, time is your friend. Let the yeast finish, clean up and go to sleep.

Wait 3 weeks or maybe 4 and then bottle or keg.

 

[arnobg]

Unless you are planning to age it for months forget the secondary.

No rush, time is your friend. Let the yeast finish, clean up and go to sleep.

Wait 3 weeks or maybe 4 and then bottle or keg.

Planning a 4-5 week age after the 2 weeks is up. Part of this on oak, vanilla bean, and bourbon. That will put it on the yeast cake for 6-7 weeks and wouldn't the addition of ingredients put flavors in the yeast that I don't want if I plan to wash it?

 

[unionrdr]

You don't necessarily have to rack, but I do for oaking & such. I stran/filter the homemade vanilla tincture into the priming solution & add it to the bottling bucket.

 

[C-Rider]

Planning a 4-5 week age after the 2 weeks is up. Part of this on oak, vanilla bean, and bourbon. That will put it on the yeast cake for 6-7 weeks and wouldn't the addition of ingredients put flavors in the yeast that I don't want if I plan to wash it?

Yea if you are going to add "all that" then I'd do the secondary. You didn't indicate that in first post.

 

[pretzelb]

Yea if you are going to add "all that" then I'd do the secondary. You didn't indicate that in first post.

Agreed. In the future you might want to rack on top of these things. Then you can taste each week and pull when you get the flavor you want. Oak can take a while to infuse.

 

[arnobg]

Thanks sorry for not clarifying in first post. I haven't racked to secondary yet, I plan on racking it on top of the mix.

 

[pretzelb]

Thanks sorry for not clarifying in first post. I haven't racked to secondary yet, I plan on racking it on top of the mix.

In that case then you don't need any readings that you don't want to collect. The only reason to take the readings is to make sure you hit goals you set for your own personal standards. Definitely don't put samples back in.

But I would encourage you to use a thief to sample while you age. Aging on something like oak or vanilla will change over time and you will want to stop once you get what you want. I will do both and take a reading when I take a taste test.

 

[arnobg]

In that case then you don't need any readings that you don't want to collect. The only reason to take the readings is to make sure you hit goals you set for your own personal standards. Definitely don't put samples back in.

But I would encourage you to use a thief to sample while you age. Aging on something like oak or vanilla will change over time and you will want to stop once you get what you want. I will do both and take a reading when I take a taste test.

Thanks for the tip, this is my first time using oak/vanilla and I've been reading to check the taste every week minimum as to not get too much oak flavor.

The plan right now is to rack to secondary and add the bourbon that has been soaked 2 weeks from when I want to bottle, then I'll taste a week from bottling and add 1oz more of oak if needed for the last week.

 

[pretzelb]

FWIW, my last bourbon oak porter was done by soaking the cubes in the bourbon for a week to sterilize and absorb, then dumping it all into secondary where I racked the porter on top. I'm glad I dumped the cubes and bourbon since I think the oak alone would not be enough.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah. As the oak soaks up the liquor, the liquor soaks out some of the resins. So adding both makes for more complete infusion.

 

[arnobg]

Good to know. By the time I throw it all in there the cubes and vanilla bean will have soaked in bourbon for 4 weeks. Maybe I would be safe to put the oak cubes into secondary in a hop sack so that I could remove it after weekly tastings if the oak is getting too strong?

 

[pretzelb]

A hop bag is good to avoid splinters. When it's time to remove the oak I'd go right to bottling or kegging.