Probably shouldn't have done it!

[blawjr]

I had a belgian Witbier in the fermenter for a week and was going to go ahead and transfer into the secondary carboy. (keep in mind, i have done my research, and i know most people's opinions on secondary fermenters on here...but I am very new to this, this is my very first brew, and I got impatient :-(

When I took the lid off, there was still a nice foam/krausen on top. I thought that was supposed to sink back down into the beer after the first few days of fermentation. I breifly thought about putting the lid back on and giving it another week, but I already had the lid off and exposed it to the air and everything so I went ahead and transfered it to the secondary. The kit told me to do it after 5 to 7 days. My question: should I have waited for that krausen to subside, does it matter? Is it any real indicator that the beer is ready to be transfered? Basically, as an experienced homebrewer, what would you have done?

 

[buckeyebrewer]

Put the lid on and wait. Don't worry about the air getting to it. If it's not done fermenting yet the CO2 will fill up the bucket again and protect the beer from oxidation. CO2 is heavier that air so it will sink. As a general rule wait 2 weeks in the primary or check your hydrometer every couple days until the gravity remains the same for 3 days.

 

[lowlife]

id have waited until it fell

 

[Revvy]

You should have waited for the krausen to subside, or at least taken a grav reading since sometimes witbier yeasts do have lingering krausens.....but at only 7 days you might still have fermentation happening (because often there is a 3 day lag time anyway, so you beer might only be fermenting for 4 days, which is hardly any time at all.)...which means that you took the beer off the yeast that might have best finished the actual job of fermentation. Or at least had time to clean up the byproducts of fermentation that lead to off flavors....

Don't be surprised either way if you get a stuck fermentation or get a new krausen. But whatever, don't do anything more for at least 2 weeks....Try to give the yeast a chance to do what it needs to do without anymore impatient interference. ok?

We don't tell people to wait to do things to torture new brewers, you know...it's to prevent problems, and to help you make great...impatience never made great tasting beer.

 

[buckeyebrewer]

If the beer hadn't cleared out yet there was still yeast in suspension. So you transferred yeast with the beer. It will still ferment in the secondary just not as well. It should be ok. I don't know why the kits say transfer after 5-7 days....typically that isn't enough time for the yeast to clean up after their party.

 

[bullinachinashop]

You should take full advantage of the seach button.

You have ruined your beer and should send it to me for evaluation.

RDWHAHB!

Bull

 

[jashall99]

Well, patients is a virtue as you may have read a million times on this forum, but I have done something similar. my first Witbier I bottled before it was completley finished and had I not vented the pressure every day for about a week I would have had some beer and glass to clean up. my second attempt I let ferment in primary for 4 weeks and it turned out fantastic. I have only used a secondary once out of necessity (needed the primary fermenter). but it will turn out just fine, leave yourself some headspace just in case you still have some fermentation going on and give it some extra time. I'm sure it will turn out just fine. Secondaries are a hot topic now but IMHO they can still be useful. Hang in there.

 

[blawjr]

Thanks for all the great advice and insight (and going easy on a noob ), this place is really a great resource!

 

[Shinglejohn]

We all know what those first few brews are like. After a while, when you cant even imagine how many brews you did, youll be forgetting whats in the closet.