Premature Racking?

[set5135]

I brewed my first batch of beer on Sunday night. I was a little suspicious of my fermentation bucket that it had not sealed properly but I did all I could to get it closed and said ok I'll let it go. On Monday afternoon I noticed the wort coming out of the airlock and out of a portion of the lid. I called my a friend who has been brewing longer than I and asked him what to do. He told me to go ahead and rack it to my carboy to finish primary fermentation there. He said that because it was within the first 24 hours it should be salvageable. I'm also worried that in my haste to transfer my beer over I rushed it and oxygenated it too much. I pumped the auto syphon to transfer the wort instead of letting it do its job. Is this batch a lost cause or will it be ok?

 

[NorthRiverS]

Don't give up on it. It will most likely be okay. Keep it where it is until your gravity readings are where they need to be. Then plan on bottling. Good luck.

NRS

 

[set5135]

Thanks for the help! So I should skip secondary and just keep it here for extra time?

 

[Golddiggie]

Leave it on the yeast until it tastes right/good/great... Even once active fermentation appears to be completed. For anything using ale yeasts, this is becoming the norm, at least for many of us here.

Personally, I've been letting my brews sit on the yeast for 3-6+ weeks before bottling. NO racking to bright tanks. The only time I'm moving the brew to another vessel is to get off of one flavor element, and to rack onto another. Otherwise, they spend the entire time in primary, on the yeast cake. My brews have been much clearer, and taste better than when I did rack as part of the 'normal' process.

If the brew tastes 'yeasty' leave it on the cake for at least another week before taking another taste sample. You'll also need to confirm FG with at least two SG readings spaced a few days apart. Just getting a single reading that's at the estimated FG doesn't mean the brew is done. I've had brews go lower than the estimate, as well as stay higher. It is just an estimate after all.

 

[dorklord]

I brewed my first batch of beer on Sunday night. I was a little suspicious of my fermentation bucket that it had not sealed properly but I did all I could to get it closed and said ok I'll let it go. On Monday afternoon I noticed the wort coming out of the airlock and out of a portion of the lid. I called my a friend who has been brewing longer than I and asked him what to do. He told me to go ahead and rack it to my carboy to finish primary fermentation there. He said that because it was within the first 24 hours it should be salvageable. I'm also worried that in my haste to transfer my beer over I rushed it and oxygenated it too much. I pumped the auto syphon to transfer the wort instead of letting it do its job. Is this batch a lost cause or will it be ok?

Your beer should be fine.

But I'm thoroughly confused as to what happened here.

Assuming you had the typical 6.5 gallon 'ale pail', what was coming out was most likely krausen. This is usually the result of a highly vigorous fermentation, usually combine with too small of a container for the amount of beer. Usually not a problem with 5 gallons of beer in a 6.5 gallon bucket, but it can happen.

What I don't get, though, is transferring from that bucket to a carboy. If your carboy was the usual 5 gallon carboy...well, you've got less space for krausen to go. I hope you've got a blow-off hose.

 

[set5135]

Your beer should be fine.

But I'm thoroughly confused as to what happened here.

Assuming you had the typical 6.5 gallon 'ale pail', what was coming out was most likely krausen. This is usually the result of a highly vigorous fermentation, usually combine with too small of a container for the amount of beer. Usually not a problem with 5 gallons of beer in a 6.5 gallon bucket, but it can happen.

What I don't get, though, is transferring from that bucket to a carboy. If your carboy was the usual 5 gallon carboy...well, you've got less space for krausen to go. I hope you've got a blow-off hose.

My bucket is a 6.5 gallon, but for some reason it would not seal correctly. I think I found a burr just above the sealing line on the lid. I'm pretty sure that's why it wasn't sealed properly. Now that I have moved it to my carboy it seems to be just fine. Although the fermentation seems to have slowed considerably, but thats normal I'm sure.

 

[dorklord]

My bucket is a 6.5 gallon, but for some reason it would not seal correctly. I think I found a burr just above the sealing line on the lid. I'm pretty sure that's why it wasn't sealed properly. Now that I have moved it to my carboy it seems to be just fine. Although the fermentation seems to have slowed considerably, but thats normal I'm sure.

Keep an eye on it, its possible that for it to start krausening again after you transferred it (I had a tripel that I was sure would have been been done in the primary, and when I transferred it, it got going again and started pushing krausen through the airlock, luckily it didn't clog, and I had the carboy sitting in little plastic tub so it didn't get beer on the floor).

 

[HoboBrewery]

If it happens again for future beers I'd suggest not transferring right away to a carboy. I have an image in my head that you transfered from a plastic bucket to a carboy within 48 hours. If that's the case I'm sure you've lost some precious yeast in the transfer. You saw all that gunk in the bucket? That's yeast colonies and residue from the hops grain etc. You'll still have yeast floating around and eating the sugar from your beer, but probably not nearly as much as before. The reason I transfer to a carboy is to stop the serious primary fermentation process from continuing. You transfer, get all that **** lurking from the bottom of bucket out, and the yeast is left in glass to get drunk and die and clear out.

I think you may have stunted the primary ferment so yeast is not going to consume all sugars unless you let it sit much longer.

You may want to consider reyeasting.

 

[set5135]

Hasn't it been to long to repitch? Its been in here now for about 72 hours.

 

[jwplessner]

Only repitch if its necessary. Has ferm activity stopped as confirmed by lack of changes in hydrometer readings? Are you certain you lost a significant amount of yeast in the transfer?

 

[set5135]

ignore this

 

[set5135]

I believe that ferm has stopped. The airlock is almost totally still and the foam has subsided substantally. I haven't taken a hydro reading since before pitching (Sunday night). Also I'm not even sure as to how I would take a reading while its in a carboy without losing my hydrometer in the process.

 

[joetothemo]

Your fermentation probably is continuing...just at a less vigorous pace. There is an initial rush, then a slower paced continuation.

Did your hydrometer come in a tube? That is what you should be filling with beer for your gravity sample. Use a sanitized turkey baster to fill the tube to within 1-2" from the top. Then put the hydrometer in there. Don't plop it into your carboy. That'll either break it now...or later when you are trying to get it out.

Next time you see foam in your airlock, rig a blowoff tube. I have yet to have such a vigorous fermentation and I am extremely jealous.

***Oh. and... RDWHAHB***

 

[HoboBrewery]

don't give up on her. as long as you have a carboy to allow for some extra secondary fermentation time, you could always check her progress over the next month or so. sanitize your siphon in a couple days and taste your beer. does it have any evidence of co2 and alcohol? if it does chances are it's going to keep on keepin on. if it doesn't try it again in a week. if still nothing, get the same yeast and repitch. if there's still plenty of sugar floating in that beer and the yeast is too small of a quantity, you'll need to call for some yeast backup.

i have a case of my house IPA sitting dormant in my brewman cave because i got drunk one day and forgot to add sugar to my carboy before bottling. since it was an extended aging process in secondary, i think the majority of yeast died but since i never gave up hope, i kept the bottles and check them 1 beer at a time every few weeks. 3-4 months later, i'm happy to say that my ipa's are great tasting and have developed maybe 70% of the carbonation i intended.

morals-

1. time heals non-moldy beer.
2. yeast needs at least a week minimum before transferring.
3. only be half drunk when you start bottling.

 

[HoboBrewery]

I have yet to have such a vigorous fermentation and I am extremely jealous.

wyeast american ale 1056- smack and leave out for 24 hours. put a bunch of candi sugar into your ale during the last 15 mins of boil. see if you can keep the top on your bucket after 2 days with an airlock on that bad boy.

that 1056 is one crazy yeast strain from what i've seen. very clean, very sharp, very hungry.

 

[Gremlyn]

Whatever you do, DO NOT put your hydrometer directly into your wort/beer at any point. Always take a sample and measure that, then either drink or pour the sample down the sink. Never add it back to the beer/wort. You can get a sample using a sanitised turkey baster or wine thief.

As for your original problem, you probably shouldn't have transferred it. It would have been better to get a plastic tub and put the pail in that to catch the overflow. The krausen spewing out should be enough to keep any unwanted microbial intruders from getting into your beer. In the future, use a blow off tube: Blowoff Tube

 

[joetothemo]

wyeast american ale 1056- smack and leave out for 24 hours. put a bunch of candi sugar into your ale during the last 15 mins of boil. see if you can keep the top on your bucket after 2 days with an airlock on that bad boy.

that 1056 is one crazy yeast strain from what i've seen. very clean, very sharp, very hungry.

I'll try that sometime just for the fireworks show.... May even use a 5 Gal carboy just to make it interesting. :rockin:

I use US-05 as my house yeast. It is supposedly the same strain as Wyeast 1056 but I never see that violence in my fermentations.

That said, US-05 chews through sugar in my beers like nobody's business. Every...single.....thing I have ever brewed with it has come in below target FG.
*****
Sorry to go:
*****

 

[viking73]

Have you tried stoping and thinking about baseball?

Seriously though, as everybody else said, you should be fine. RDWHAHB!!!

 

[set5135]

Thanks for all the help guys! Sorry I've had a bit of a busy week so I haven't been able to get back on here til now. I'm planning on taking a reading of my beer and a taste in the next day or two. If all is well I'll be bottling this weekend.