How long for secondary fermentation?

[palehorse24]

Well, I took the great advice on here in reference to my Vanilla Hefeweizen and took a gravity reading. It was about 1.013, so I guess it is pretty much done. I transferred it to the secondary this past Saturday and added the vanilla bean. I sliced the vanilla bean in half and rolled it with a rolling pin before putting it in the secondary. Now how long should I wait before kegging to get a good vanilla flavor? The airlock rose on Saturday and bubbled a few times, but now the airlock is no longer bubbling, so I think it is completely done fermenting.

 

[ill.literate]

You're not really "fermenting" in a secondary... it's more for clarifying.

With a hefe, clarity isn't much of an issue, but how "vanilla-y" you want it to be should determine how long you leave it in the secondary.

 

[david_42]

Figure a couple weeks, but as i.i notes, it's a taste call.

 

[knipknup]

I wait at least 10 days, then if it ain't clear, wait some more. Then it is a factor of when I have time. In other words, beer will work with you...

 

[BarleyWater]

How long was it in your primary?

Check out the Hefeweisen Question thread in this forum to get an idea of secondaries and hefe's, long story short, get it into the bottles asap.

The secondary is for clearing, and isn't necessary for a hefe, it isn't supposed to be clear. But since you are adding the vanilla bean...

I would assume the vanilla is similar to the process of adding fruit to the secondary, which have gotten anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks in recipes I've found (there's a thread about fruit beers and secondaries somewhere, but I'm too lazy to find it).

Pull a sample today or tomorrow and see if it has the vanilla flavor, if so, bottle it to keep some haziness.

 

[palehorse24]

Thanks for the advice. The only thing is that I am kegging, not bottling. Will this make a difference? I was hoping to keg it this weekend. I will take a sample tomorrow and let everyone know how it tastes.

Thanks,

PH