Rack to Secondary Tomorrow??

[RiversC174]

OK, my brew will have been fermenting for a week as of tomorrow and this is my first time doing secondary fermentation. I'm at about 6 bpm through the airlock today and should be around 2-3 bpm by tomorrow. I wanted to know if I should let it hang out in the primary for another couple of days until i reach a less frequent bpm reading or should I strictly adhere to the 1-2-3 rule that most seem to live by on this board? I'm still working with about 1 1/2" krausen as well. My OG was on the higher end (1.060) so I didnt know if that would require longer in the primary or if I should just chill a couple homebrews for tomm, follow the 1-2-3 rule and rack to secondary at 7 days regardless. Thanks guys.

Joe

 

[Lou]

i would wait...but you don't really have to if you don't want to... has the krausen fallen?
you're probably right about the higher OG making it take longer...

 

[SkewedBrewing]

I would wait as well, wait until friday or saturday actually, IMHO, it can only help.

 

[Walker]

1-2-3 is not a RULE so much as it is a GUIDELINE.

approximately 1 week in the primary (give or take)
approximately 2 weeks in the secondary (maybe less, maybe a year, your choice)
approximately 3 weeks in the bottle (but I never even make it two weeks before testing)

-walker

 

[Ivan Lendl]

i would wait too...nobody lives or dies by the 1-2-3 rule, its just an easy thing to remember, 1-2-3, boom,boom, boom. (i actaully follow the .9, 2.1, 1.3 rule where.9=6 days, 2.1=15 days,1.3=10 days)

if you wait untill most of the fermentation is done youll have more trub settle out in the primary, and therefore less ending up in the secondary, which is a good thing.

 

[todd_k]

You should wait until it is 1 bubble every 1-2 minutes. My first batch took 10 days, 2nd batch took 7 days to get to this point.

 

[Brewsmith]

I say give it till the weekend. Wouldn't hurt anything other than your patience.

 

[El Pistolero]

should just chill a couple homebrews for tomm, follow the 1-2-3 rule and rack to secondary at 7 days regardless. Thanks guys.

Joe

Like everyone else said...rack to secondary when it's done, not when some arbitrary time limit has been reached. It's done when the krauzen has fallen and the airlock activity has decreased to less than a bubble a minute, IMHO. It might take a couple of days, or it might take a couple of weeks...I've got one in primary now that's still bubbling 15 BPM after two weeks.

 

[user 574]

Probably in the minority here but I rack after krausen falls regardless of BPM. I racked last night; 1 day after krausen fall. I didn't stare at the airlock and do a hard count but I was probably at 5-6 bpm. Gravity was at 1.007.

Sometimes I wonder if the large qty of primary trub is storing bubbles/co2 on us making the airlock more active than if it was off the trub.

 

[Salsgebom]

I have noticed that the #1 thing that causes the 'green' taste is racking out of primary too quickly. I give all my beers 2 weeks, and if I'm feeling lazy I'm not afraid to let the higher grav batches sit as long as a month in primary! I've gotten nothing but improvement from this.

 

[Salsgebom]

I just want to add one more thing. If you look close at the yeast cake in your primary, you'll notice tiny little spouts of yeast coming out of the cake that send particles into suspension (looks very much like a lava lamp). They're very small and hard to see, but I've noticed them over a week after krausen has completely fallen. IMO, it should not be racked until there are no signs of any yeast in suspension- once again this almost always takes 2 weeks. Whoever originally decided 1 week as the default obviously only brewed low grav beers with huge starters.