Racking after ? Days

[jkenvere]

I'm looking for advise on when and how to rack once the primary fermentation is done. From what I've read after about 3 to 5 days or when SG is 1.020 you can rack into a secondary carbouy then let sit for a few weeks before bottling.
My questions are.
Is that to soon?
Should you rack the sludge from the bottom over too?

 

[TheJadedDog]

From what I've read it's less about reaching a specific SG and more about having about 80% of fermentation done. Personally I've been following the 1-2-3 method: 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary, 3 weeks bottled and it seems to be working pretty well.

I'd be more worried about racking too soon rather than waiting too long.

 

[the_bird]

1.02 is high as a FG for most recipes (and it really is dependant on the recipe). It's also good to watch for the OG to not change over a period of several days before racking. I tend to leave beer in primary for at least a week, usually 10-14 days, just because I tend to get busy.

 

[Yooper]

I'm looking for advise on when and how to rack once the primary fermentation is done. From what I've read after about 3 to 5 days or when SG is 1.020 you can rack into a secondary carbouy then let sit for a few weeks before bottling.
My questions are.
Is that to soon?
Should you rack the sludge from the bottom over too?

You should rack above the sludge and leave it behind. The whole point of racking to a secondary is to help clear your beer and get rid of the trub. That's why you wait until fermentation is about done before racking. It might drop a couple of s.g. points after racking to secondary, but not much more than that.

Lorena

 

[jkenvere]

Thank you. That clears it up. Sounds like I've been racking a little to soon, I'm using a standard primary vessel they sell at most shops and it has a lot of head room, about double, I was worried the big air space was a danger. I know with a primary full of wine the CO2 will keep the O2 away but was not sure about beer. Should I be using a tighter fitting lid and an air lock or buy a primary with less head room?

 

[TheJadedDog]

The head space will fill with O2, I think the typical primary is 6.5 gal for a 5 gal batch be it plastic bucket or carboy. I've been using a plastic bucket and it seems to work fine although I am planning to switch to a carboy in the very near future.