Racking to the secondary to slow down / stop fermentation?

[Desert Monkey]

Anyone ever rack a beer to a secondary just to slow down or stop a beer from getting a lower OG?

Just wondering if this has ever been done on purpose -

 

[WBC]

You have to tell us more about your beer.

Recipe?
What did you do and how did you do it?
What temperature fermentation?

Generally temperature and the type yeast used and the viability, amount of yeast pitched, the strength of the wort determins the strength of fermentation. If the temperature is a bit high for the yeast used it can be a very violent fermentation so temperature control helps us to have more control and better beer. Racking to a secondary is not the way to control violent fermentations and could even cause a stuck fermentation.

 

[ScoutMan]

Yeah, early on I would sometimes miss my mash temps by 5 degrees or more (not preheating mash tun). I could never get the beer to finish where I wanted it on it's own, so I would transfer to the secondary when I was within a few points of my desired FG. Kept them from drying out too much, and since I was kegging, now worries of bottle bombs.

 

[david_42]

Racking will slow fermentation, but not stop it. If you really want to stop it, you have to use campden tables or something similar.

 

[Revvy]

Racking will slow fermentation, but not stop it. If you really want to stop it, you have to use campden tables or something similar.

Campden or you could cold crash it as well....

 

[Desert Monkey]

Here's what I used -

6 lbs Wheat DME
1 oz. German Hallertau Pellet hops
Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Wheat yeast
*6 lbs Strawberries
*Pectin drops

*I added these to their basic Wheat brew.

My big question is the amount of sugar I obviously added to the mix with the fresh strawberries up front. We decided to try them in the boil instead of in the secondary. So far we're in good shape, it's been 1 week today in the primary, and it's still bubbling strong in the airlock.

If I decide to pull a test gravity and it's low (say, 1.020), I wondered the harm is moving off to a secondary to slow down the beer and get it off the berry mix that's in the primary. Just brainstorming to see what else others have done before. This is a test batch to be sure.

Sounds like Campden tablets or a cold crash would allow me to "freeze" the OG, or get it close a target if wanted.

I think my brother has decided he's in for the whole monty, so we're going to watch this one till the end - maybe the next experiment we'll see about some of these ideas -
Thanks!!!

 

[FishinDave07]

Wow...3068....strawberries....That must've been a CRAZY fermentation :rockin:

 

[Desert Monkey]

Wow...3068....strawberries....That must've been a CRAZY fermentation :rockin:

ALMOST blew the top on day 2...The bucket lid is covered inside, and had pushed into the 3-piece airlock. I took that off and put on a blow-off tube. Much better now...and still a strong bubble every 2 seconds.

 

[FishinDave07]

ALMOST blew the top on day 2...The bucket lid is covered inside, and had pushed into the 3-piece airlock. I took that off and put on a blow-off tube. Much better now...and still a strong bubble every 2 seconds.

Niiice. The first thing that came to my mind when i saw the recipe was: BLOW-OFF!!!

 

[the_bird]

If you're bottling and you intentionally slow down fermentation before it's done, you're just asking for trouble. Unless you actually kill the yeast, you're just going to slow them down; once things warm back up, they'll finish the job and you may end up with gushers or explosions.

If you keg, it may be viable - but it still seems that there are "better" ways to accomplish what you're after. If you want more body, raise the mash temp or add carapils/maltodextrine. If you want more sweetness, add more crystal malt or even some lactose.

 

[blacklab]

Bird, I love that Larry Legend pic. I was at the game in Portland where he made the behind the backboard/falling out of bounds shot. Go Celts!

Everyone out here STILL hates LA.