quick question.

[Beerguy8876]

I've been brewing an ale using This Recipe.

I didnt use a Yeast starter, so the Yeast in my Smack pack took a few days to start the airlock bubbling.

The Recipe says 5-7 days in the Primary fermenter. if i dont subtract the 3 days before the airlock started bubbling, that adds up to 7 days in the fermenter. Should I transfer to the carboy today?

 

[Willy Boner]

No, I leave mine in the primary for at least 14 days and usually a month, I skip the secondary all together. This is known as bulk conditioning.

 

[Yooper]

No, wait until it's done fermenting. If you have a hydrometer, check to make sure that it's indeed finished before racking it. It's important to not rely on a timeline, but whether the beer is finished fermenting. Sometimes beers will ferment quicker than other times- yeast is a living organism, after all. I generally wait about 10 days from the start of fermentation before thinking about racking. It's usually done by then, but I always check with my hydrometer.

 

[Beerguy8876]

problem is, i didnt take a starting gravity reading before i capped the fermenter...

 

[Yooper]

Oh, that's ok. At least you can take some at the end of fermentation to ensure that it's really done so you don't have any problems with bottle bombs or anything like that.

After a week or 10 days of fermenting, you could take the SG. Check it again for two days, and if it's unchanged, it's finished.