Ready to bottle?

[JWWard03]

Hi all. I have a Blue Moon clone from Northern Brewer in the secondary fermenter right now. It was in the primary for 7 days and had stopped all bubbling and the yeast cake was completely at the bottom. The hydrometer reading when I transferred was 1.009 and it is still at 1.009. Is there any reason to keep it in secondary for longer or is it ok to go ahead and bottle to start the conditioning? I screwed up and didn't check the hydrometer when I brewed it so I'm not sure where it started, but the instructions in the kit said the OG was supposed to be 1.053. It smells and looks good right now.

 

[iamninjabob]

You were honestly ready to bottle it when you transferred to the secondary imo. Secondary's are an outdated brewing method that just leads to oxidation, and infection risks unless you're planning on leaving it there for a long time. For some reason kit recipes still put secondaries in their a lot of their instructions. So long as you have a stable gravity reading for 2-3 days you're ready to bottle.

 

[BrewZer]

You didn't say how long it's been there, but since you've already taken the time and trouble (and risk) to put it in secondary, I'd suggest leaving it there for another week or so to let whatever magic happens in secondary happen. Aging in secondary reportedly lets more of the remaining yeast and other particulates drop out of suspension, resulting in clearer beer. I wouldn't know -- I don't use the technique.

For the future, consider that extended aging in the original fermenter will let the yeasties remove fermentation by-products that can contribute off-flavors and other undesirable elements in your finished beer, and racking to a secondary introduces the added risk of adding (a) oxygen and (b) bad microorganisms to your beer.

 

[JWWard03]

Thanks. I went ahead and bottled. There was more yeast in the bottom of the secondary bucket and it was very clear with the right coloring. I'll forget the secondary from now on and just keep it in the primary for at least 2 weeks.