Hit target SG in under a week

[pwndabear]

I currently have a variation of the Quaffable Irish Red in the recipe section going in my primary. I brewed this past sunday and the yeasties were going absolutely nutso on monday and tuesday. Wednesday, they werent farting so much and on thursday it was non-existent.

Today, nothing was going on so I decided to check the gravity of the situation (*badum tss*) and it's at the target SG already: 1.012.

Im going out of town tonight and will be back on sunday to check it again. If it doesn't move from 1.012 I am going to rack to the secondary where, I assume, the SG will drop even more.

When I opened it, it had a beautiful red color and it smelled absolutely WONDERFUL! I am excited to try it out when I rack...

Should I even bother with the secondary since the SG is where it should be? From what I could tell, it is extremely cloudy and I was hoping it would clear up a bit more in the secondary... I'm not really concerned about this too much, but I'm wondering what this means for the final product. Any thoughts or ideas?

 

[Pappers_]

I would leave it in the primary for another week or two and
take another hydrometer reading. If it's done fermenting (which is very likely), then I'd rack to secondary for a week or two, to clear up. That's my basic fermtation schedule for most ales.

 

[cenla]

Should I even bother with the secondary since the SG is where it should be? From what I could tell, it is extremely cloudy and I was hoping it would clear up a bit more in the secondary... I'm not really concerned about this too much, but I'm wondering what this means for the final product. Any thoughts or ideas?

I wouldn't bother with the secondary unless you want to dry hop or add oak chips or something like that. Racking to secondary:

1. represents a certain amount of loss of your total amount of beer.
2. presents an opportunity for oxidation/ infection.
3. just isn't necessary unless you're big on clarity or you want to add something.

 

[marubozo]

Im going out of town tonight and will be back on sunday to check it again. If it doesn't move from 1.012 I am going to rack to the secondary where, I assume, the SG will drop even more.

If the gravity continues to go down after going into a secondary you're doing it wrong.

To address your original question, it's not uncommon at all for a beer to ferment out in just a few days. Problem is, that says nothing about whether or not it's "done." Even after the yeast have produced all the possible alcohol, they are still going to be working to make your beer better for the next week or two so it's beneficial to leave the beer where it is.

You can secondary if you want, but as cenla mentioned, you really aren't going to gain much with this beer and only increase the chances of messing something up. Unless you absolutely need to free up the fermenter or something, I'd just let the beer sit for a solid 3 weeks in primary before moving on. After that amount of time the beer will have cleared significantly, the yeast cleaned up nicely, and you saved time and didn't give your beer any additional opportunity to get contaminated/oxidized/etc.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

I think Marubozo hit it on the head. A lot of folks forget that there is more the yeast are doing then just eating all the sugars. They are acutally really good house guests and will clean up after themselves if you give them the opportunity to. All my ales stay in primary for 3 - 4 weeks with no secondary (unless dry hopping, adding fruit, bulk aging, etc). And you didn't outright say this, but it was suggested in your wording...Forget you ever heard the phrase "Secondary fermentor" or "Secondary fermentation". It's a misnomer. Brite tanke or clearing tank are much better descriptors of what is going on.

 

[Pappers_]

Exactly, Kilted. Two or three weeks in primary, one or two weeks in the brite carboy and for most ales, you're ready to go.

 

[pwndabear]

At this point, I have decided to keep in the primary for another 2 weeks from this sunday and then rack to the secondary for another week to give it a little more clarity. Then 3 more weeks in bottles.

I really do enjoy using a secondary and although it is primarily used for clearing up a beer, in all of my brews that i had racked to the secondary after fermentation was "finished" something more always happens. I like how it gives clarity as well as a more refined taste, IMHO.

Thanks for the advice!