Help with 2nd fermentation

[Cartire]

Hello All,

This is my first post here. However, I have used this forum quite a lot recently with my first brew. And so far, everything is going great. Without the help of you guys, it would have been a disaster. So Thank You.

Im making an IPA. My wort begin fermentation 8 days ago. Active fermentation was noticeable for about 5 days. The original gravity was 1.07. Today, it was at 1.025. This is the first reading I have taken since the original. I tried it (from the gravity reading sample) and I think its pretty good. That being said, I have learned little in the steps for 2nd fermentation.

1. When should/could I transfer it?
2. What steps should I follow to ensure a proper transfer (besides cleanliness) in the secondary container?

Bonus question: How do you figure out the alcohol percentage via the gravity readings?

Any advice is welcomed. Thanks alot guys. This is defiantly a hobby thats not going away soon.

 

[CA_Mouse]

Transferring to a secondary vessel is not really needed. Do you have a way to cold crash your fermenter? If yes, then just leave it in the primary to allow the yeast to cleanup after themselves. Since it is an IPA, I'm presuming that you need to dry hop (most common reason quoted for transferring to a secondary vessel). Again, if you have a temperature controlled fermentation chamber/fridge, just toss your dry hops into the primary fermenter and walk away for at least 4 days.

To figure out the ABV use the following (Original Gravity - Final Gravity) * 131 = Approximate Alcohol by Volume

(1.070 - 1.025) * 131 = 5.9%

 

[Cartire]

Transferring to a secondary vessel is not really needed. Do you have a way to cold crash your fermenter? If yes, then just leave it in the primary to allow the yeast to cleanup after themselves. Since it is an IPA, I'm presuming that you need to dry hop (most common reason quoted for transferring to a secondary vessel). Again, if you have a temperature controlled fermentation chamber/fridge, just toss your dry hops into the primary fermenter and walk away for at least 4 days.

To figure out the ABV use the following (Original Gravity - Final Gravity) * 131 = Approximate Alcohol by Volume

(1.070 - 1.025) * 131 = 5.9%

Great Info, Thank you.

What about filtering? IS that necessary or recommended? I noticed that in my gravity sample, there were a small amount of floating debris. I assume from maybe some hops i put in after the boil.

EDIT: Ill add, I dont have a temp controlled chamber. But the room its been stored in has maintained around a 66-68 temp the whole time. Should i consider cooling it more for the rest of its duration?

 

[RM-MN]

Great Info, Thank you.

What about filtering? IS that necessary or recommended? I noticed that in my gravity sample, there were a small amount of floating debris. I assume from maybe some hops i put in after the boil.

EDIT: Ill add, I dont have a temp controlled chamber. But the room its been stored in has maintained around a 66-68 temp the whole time. Should i consider cooling it more for the rest of its duration?

The floating debris is probably there because the active part of the fermentation isn't over yet. Once done the yeast (most likely what you are seeing, could be hops too) will settle. Give it time and quite a bit of the yeast will settle out and compact on the bottom of the fermenter. Check with your hydrometer in a few days to see if the gravity of the beer has dropped more. You don't want to dry hop until the gravity is stable.

The period where off flavors is produced is at the start of the fermentation. At this point you don't want to cool the beer and you could stand to let it warm a few degrees to encourage the yeast to finish. I usually start my beers at 62 to 64 and after a week I let the temperature rise to 72.

 

[peterj]

So your gravity is 1.025? That's pretty high. Are you taking it with a hydrometer or refractometer? 8 days into fermentation, you should be at FG. What was your recipe and yeast?

As CA Mouse said, a secondary isn't really necessary. You don't need to cold crash it either. Just throw the dry hops into the primary. As far as controlling fermentation temps, I wouldn't go by ambient temperature. The fermentation produces heat, so the beer can be as much as 6-8 degrees warmer than ambient at the height of fermentation. The most important time you need to keep the temperature down is at the beginning and during the very active part of fermentation, usually the first 5 days or so. So cooling it off now is not a good idea. To control temps cheaply and easily, you can put the fermenter into a big tub of water and switch out frozen water bottles for the first part of fermentation to keep the temps in the right range.

Filtering is also not necessary. Some people do it, but I think the majority of people don't. All of that yeast and hop particles (called the trub) will settle out in the fermenter and you can just rack off the top of that.

 

[CA_Mouse]

I have never filtered my beers. Even when I was bottling, they continued to drop out of solution when chilling. Depending on the style I would pour gently if I wanted it to be nice and clear or slightly roll the bottle to get the yeast and proteins back into suspension for wheat-based beers.

As peterj said, temperature control is more important at the very beginning of fermentation, although you can use the same method he suggested to cold crash as well. I like to cold crash my ales to get as much yeast out of suspension as possible before I keg (just ensures I have fewer yeast sample pours).

 

[bairdo]

...I like to cold crash my ales to get as much yeast out of suspension as possible before I keg (just ensures I have fewer yeast sample pours).

How long do you typically cold crash for before kegging? or in my case bottling.

 

[govner1]

How long do you typically cold crash for before kegging? or in my case bottling.

I typically keg condition my beers. When they're ready I cold crash w/ the CO2 connected at serving pressure for 48-72 hours.
Now that I have the equipment I'm venturing into lager styles. My trial run was actually a Kolsch that I cold crashed in secondary for almost a week. I'm kegging today along w/ a blonde that's been cold crashing in kegs for about the same amount of time. I'll force carb both.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[CA_Mouse]

How long do you typically cold crash for before kegging? or in my case bottling.

Usually about 72 hours.

In my case, I drop the temp on my Johnson Controller to 36*F. I then wash my keg and fill it about halfway with water and StarSan and put it in my keezer. 24 hours later I flip the keg upside down to sanitize the top half. This ensures that my keg is already as cold as the beer when I transfer on day 3, that way I don't have to wait for the beer to come down to temp for the CO2.

When I bottled, I would cold crash to about 40-45*F for the 3 days to make sure I had as much of the yeast out of suspension as I needed.

 

[CA_Mouse]

I typically keg condition my beers. When they're ready I cold crash w/ the CO2 connected at serving pressure for 48-72 hours.
Now that I have the equipment I'm venturing into lager styles. My trial run was actually a Kolsch that I cold crashed in secondary for almost a week. I'm kegging today along w/ a blonde that's been cold crashing in kegs for about the same amount of time. I'll force carb both.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

I condition (or age) mine in the keg too, I just cold crash the primary before transferring to my keg. That way I don't have 2 pints of 'yeast samples' from the start of my keg.

 

[bairdo]

Usually about 72 hours.

In my case, I drop the temp on my Johnson Controller to 36*F. I then wash my keg and fill it about halfway with water and StarSan and put it in my keezer. 24 hours later I flip the keg upside down to sanitize the top half. This ensures that my keg is already as cold as the beer when I transfer on day 3, that way I don't have to wait for the beer to come down to temp for the CO2.

When I bottled, I would cold crash to about 40-45*F for the 3 days to make sure I had as much of the yeast out of suspension as I needed.

Cool will try 3 days at about 5 deg.. thanks!

 

[CA_Mouse]

Cool will try 3 days at about 5 deg.. thanks!

My bad... I didn't see that you are in NZ, otherwise I would have put it in *C.