Inactivity of Lager in Secondary Carboy

[mdodge645]

After a fairly standard primary fermentation of a lager, I moved it to a secondary carboy about 36 hours ago and don't see any activity. I left it in the primary for 8 days and all activity had ceased. It smelled fantastic during the transfer, has great color and there is not much settling going on at the bottom of the carboy. The temperature in my basement is probably higher than ideal....around 65F.

I have strictly brewed ales up to this point and have had good success. (Maybe I am overthinking and should just let it sit a few more days and bottle?)


Any thoughts or help would be appreciated.

 

[eastoak]

did you take a hydrometer reading before transfer to make sure the beer was at the expected final gravity, or did you take the beer off of the yeast before it's time? the safest course of action is to leave the beer on the yeast so they can do their job.

 

[mdodge645]

I broke my hydrometer (ordered another). It was a kit and directions said 3-7 days in primary and transfer. I left it 8 days out of necessity. It was clean on top and no activity when I transferred to secondary.

 

[eastoak]

I broke my hydrometer (ordered another). It was a kit and directions said 3-7 days in primary and transfer. I left it 8 days out of necessity. It was clean on top and no activity when I transferred to secondary.

when you don't have a way of knowing the gravity of the beer then you really should just leave it on the yeast. the instructions are not always relevant on those kits. they put instructions in there because they have to say something but it's best to ignore them. you do not need to move your beer to a secondary at all in most (98%) cases. if i were you i'd get another hydrometer and check the gravity of the beer, that will determine what you should do. a lager takes more than 3-7 days to make.

 

[mdodge645]

Thanks for the help. I thought it sounded like a short amount of time, but figured I would follow the directions. I will follow your advice. Thanks again.

 

[Yooper]

At 65 degrees, you're not really going to have a lager. You'll have an ale, if you used ale yeast, and a steam beer if you used lager yeast. That's not really important, but I wanted to mention it. It won't taste anything like a lager with the clean crispness that characterizes lagers.

It sounds like you moved it at about the right time. You should never have activity in the clearing vessel (often called a "secondary"). Fermentation should be over before you move it, and it sounds like it was. At this point, the carboy is what they call a "bright tank" in breweries. The beer will continue to clear and condition in that bright tank until you bottle it.

 

[mdodge645]

Thanks for the feedback Yooper. I thought it would be interesting (and more readily accepted by friends) to try a lager....but it sounds like it may not turn out as anticipated. I will be interested to try it, but keep my expectations grounded.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the feedback Yooper. I thought it would be interesting (and more readily accepted by friends) to try a lager....but it sounds like it may not turn out as anticipated. I will be interested to try it, but keep my expectations grounded.

Right- if you fermented above 50 degrees it won't be anything really like a lager. And of course, lagers are "lagered" at near freezing temperatures for 4-12 weeks as well to further enhance the crispness. But if you used ale yeast, you may have a very nice ale. If you used lager yeast, you may have a fruity steam beer.

It really depends on the actual fermentation temperature, the recipe, and so on. It's hard to say exactly without knowing the yeast strain and ingredients so I'm talking in general here.

 

[arnoldk2]

Secondary is way overrated. I never do a secondary unless I'm dry hopping or adding fruit. This is the reason, when the yeasties do their work they produce diacetyl. The diacetly produces a buttery off flavor. After the yeast does its work it then cleans up after itself and removes the diacetyl from the beer that it produced in the early stages of fermentation. If you take the beer off the yeast cake you take away the ability for the yeast to remove the diacetyl. Leaving beer on the yeast cake for 3 or 4 weeks will not hurt the beer. Also, when transferring beer you add another step that can introduce bacteria into the beer. Doing a secondary is to clarify the beer but the beer will clarify just fine in the primary. John Palmer in his early literature says you have to do a secondary to clarify. If you listen to his podcasts he has recanted this statement and says it does not benefit the homebrewer to do a secondary and leaving the beer in the primary and eliminating the secondary will produce a better end product.

 

[helibrewer]

At 65F if the beer was starting to clear, fermentation was over. The diacetyl issue with lagers is probably out the window in your case because the fermentation was higher than a typical diacetyl rest temp anyway.

A lager yeast can easily finish in 8 days at 65F.

Let it sit in the secondary and clarify until you are happy with it then bottle.

 

[eastoak]

At 65F if the beer was starting to clear, fermentation was over. The diacetyl issue with lagers is probably out the window in your case because the fermentation was higher than a typical diacetyl rest temp anyway.

A lager yeast can easily finish in 8 days at 65F.

Let it sit in the secondary and clarify until you are happy with it then bottle.

at 65 degrees it wasn't a lager.

 

[arnoldk2]

At 65F if the beer was starting to clear, fermentation was over. The diacetyl issue with lagers is probably out the window in your case because the fermentation was higher than a typical diacetyl rest temp anyway.

A lager yeast can easily finish in 8 days at 65F.

Let it sit in the secondary and clarify until you are happy with it then bottle.

I like to err on the side of caution. A lager yeast at the correct temp takes longer to ferment. Because the fermentation is done does not mean the yeast has finished their work. A lager yeast at a higher temp produces more diacetyl.