SO I moved my beer from my primary to my secondary way too soon. Now it's been 17 days an is sitting at 1.028 went down .002 in a week. My question is if I put some sugar in there will it liven up the yeast to finish down to 1.01 or should I put in some yeast nutrient? I am set to deploy any day now and want to bottle before I go so I can have some when I get back. It's only 2.5 gal of diablo from brew ferm.
Secondary ferm advice
- Thread starter Fredie_T
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metanoia
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How early is early? Is the FG supposed to be 1.010? Did you transfer any of the yeast cake with the wort into the secondary? If not, there's not a whole lot that some sugar or yeast nutrient is going to be able to do with such little yeast present in the secondary.
I'm guessing repitching more yeast might be your best bet, but let's see what some of the more experienced brewers say.
A big beer like that should've stayed in primary for 4-5 weeks at least to get down to FG. Although an FG of 1.028 would be about right for an OG of 1.084. I'm surprised it went down that much in 17 days.
What did the instructions give for FG range?
What did the instructions give for FG range?
Caveman3141
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You'll probably need to repitch to get the gravity down at this point.
Re-pitching will not do much unless you have a big amount of yeast to pitch. It is over 7% at this time.
Adding anything will just extend the ferment time.
I think you have 2 options. My vote is for the second one:
1) Wait a few days and see if FG is stable and then bottle as is. Risk of bottle bombs if it is not close to finishing. I'f concerned, bottle with about half the priming sugar you would normally use.
2) It went down .002 in the last week. It is probably still slowly working. Leave it alone and leave instructions for someone to occasionally top-up the airlock with some vodka. It will be ready when you get back.
I don't know how long you will be away for, but beer will sit fine for a long time. I have one in my basement that is now over 30 weeks in secondary. With a CO2 blanket (from fermentation) and a topped-up airlock, beer can keep almost indefinitely. I have a number of sours that are well over a year, but they are different animals.
Adding anything will just extend the ferment time.
I think you have 2 options. My vote is for the second one:
1) Wait a few days and see if FG is stable and then bottle as is. Risk of bottle bombs if it is not close to finishing. I'f concerned, bottle with about half the priming sugar you would normally use.
2) It went down .002 in the last week. It is probably still slowly working. Leave it alone and leave instructions for someone to occasionally top-up the airlock with some vodka. It will be ready when you get back.
I don't know how long you will be away for, but beer will sit fine for a long time. I have one in my basement that is now over 30 weeks in secondary. With a CO2 blanket (from fermentation) and a topped-up airlock, beer can keep almost indefinitely. I have a number of sours that are well over a year, but they are different animals.
unionrdr said:
The instructions said 10 days in primary and 14 or so in secondary for fg of 1.01 to 1.012 but I used a different yeast and not the one that came with it. Still wondering if there is anything else I can do to get it down.
