Need help: Krausen subsided, airlock still active

[ncowling]

I have a partial extract wheat beer (OG 1.076) in the primary carboy. The krausen originally exploded, reaching all the way to the airlock. It has been 10 days since brewing, and the krausen has subsided. However, the airlock is still very active (about once/8 sec).

Question: Should I transfer to the secondary carboy now and let condition there, or wait until the airlock has slowed to once/minute to transfer?

 

[Revvy]

Never go by airlock activity.....for any aspect of brewing.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

Thinking about "doing anything" without taking a hydrometer reading is tantamount to the doctor deciding to cut you open without running any diagnostic tests....Taking one look at you and saying, "Yeah I'm going in." You would really want the doctor to use all means to properly diagnose what's going on?

 

[ncowling]

Thanks Revvy for the hydrometer focus. Ive always transfered to secondary carboy after krausen and airlock subsided (seemed to happen simultaneously in the past). Since this is a new experience, is the best practice to take a hydrometer reading two days in a row, and if the same transfer? I know the yeast is still active in the secondary phase, so wouldn't there still be some drop in gravity even if primary phase is complete?

 

[Revvy]

Thanks Revvy for the hydrometer focus. Ive always transfered to secondary carboy after krausen and airlock subsided (seemed to happen simultaneously in the past). Since this is a new experience, is the best practice to take a hydrometer reading two days in a row, and if the same transfer? I know the yeast is still active in the secondary phase, so wouldn't there still be some drop in gravity even if primary phase is complete?

You're mis-understanding Secondary vessels, and the secondary phase of fermentation. The "secondary phase" actually happens in primary. A secondary vessel is used to clear the beer. NO FERMENTATION SHOULD BE HAPPENNING IN SECONDARY.

Though many of us no longer use secondaries and opt instead for a month long primary.

Read this for a discussion of the difference between secondary fermentation and secondary vessels. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/multiple-questions-about-secondary-fermentation-140978/#post1601829

And read this for the latest info on not using a secondary. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/secondary-not-john-palmer-jamil-zainasheff-weigh-176837/

 

[ncowling]

Wow, thanks for opening my eyes. I've actually been using Palmer's 1st ed. book, so that's where my "secondary" mentality came from. I'm going to try my next few batches all in the primary carboy for the entire fermentation and see how that turns out.

Btw, I was originally planning on adding orange zest to the secondary fermenter. So I guess I'll wait for the gravity to level off and steady, transfer to a secondary carboy with the zest, let it sit, then bottle. How long would you recommend letting it sit in the secondary carboy since all it's doing it extracting the zest?