secondary fermentation

[artbrewer]

started a true brew kit---canadian ale, kinda moosehead clone---stood in primary for a week and then racked to secondary---two weeks elapsed and now i have a nice white head in the carboy..is this a good thing or bad news?
is it time to bottle?

 

[Hoosierbrewer]

What was the OG and FG?

 

[c.n.budz]

What temp is it at? Also, don't be so quick to follow the 1 week in primary rule. Don't rack to secondary until the beer is at, or very close to the desired final gravity.

 

[Revvy]

If you have a head, then you racked WAAAAYYYYY to soon, and fermentation started again. DO NOT BOTTLE!

If you use a secondary you shouldn't move it until fermentation is complete (taking hydro reading over three days and they haven't changed)

Although the name is confusing the Secondary is to Clear the beer.

 

[artbrewer]

sorry i didnt take hydro reading...it is fermenting in my basement never going over 68 degrees F....the temp is quite steady.the foam just showed up yesterday and got slightly heavier today.

 

[Revvy]

sorry i didnt take hydro reading...it is fermenting in my basement never going over 68 degrees F....the temp is quite steady.the foam just showed up yesterday and got slightly heavier today.

Yeah I think the heat kicked up fermentation again...I would leave it alone for a couple weeks, then bottle...you'll be fine if you don't bottle too soon...

 

[c.n.budz]

Yup, chances are you racked to soon. Leave it until the kraeusen falls, then take a gravity reading. When the gravity is stable for a few days in a row, bottle it.

 

[artbrewer]

it had a very nice kraeusen in primary which also had good bubbling through the airlock for 3 to 4 days...after 7 days i racked to glass carboy

 

[Revvy]

it had a very nice kraeusen in primary which also had good bubbling through the airlock for 3 to 4 days...after 7 days i racked to glass carboy

In the future use your hydrometer to judge when to move a beer. Instructions in kits are usually wrong...

Beer has it's own agenda and timeframe...the longer you let beer sit the better it is...

 

[artbrewer]

i can see that it may be a bit on the cool side in my basement...65-68 is possibly a slow fermentation...but i'll bet it is a good steady one

 

[c.n.budz]

65-68 is right in the sweet spot for ale yeast.

 

[artbrewer]

ok so this will have to stay in the glass carboy for awhile....i also have a pilsner in the ale pale...will it be ok in there for a week more?

 

[c.n.budz]

Unless it's been there for a couple months, another week will be no problem.

 

[artbrewer]

thanks i just will need to snag another brew pail to keep the train on the tracks

 

[c.n.budz]

You can never have enough fermenters

 

[Revvy]

i can see that it may be a bit on the cool side in my basement...65-68 is possibly a slow fermentation...but i'll bet it is a good steady one

65-68 is actually a good temp to have fermentation in...I'm TRYING to dial in my temp control to keep it down below 65 for my ales...

 

[Revvy]

You can never have enough fermenters

*counts*

Uh I have 4...and 4 secondaries (which I never use for beer anymore, just meeds and apfelwiens, so I guess technically they're primaries as well).

Is that enough?

 

[c.n.budz]

Is that enough?

Never!

Lately I've been getting "fermenter envy"
I've been brewing 10bbl batches at a local brewpub, then I come home and look at my dinky 6.5 gallon carboys. All I can do is sigh...

 

[Revvy]

I've been brewing 10bbl batches at a local brewpub...

No, I'm not jealous...really I'm not...I'm not....

I'm lying.

How'd you score that sweet gig?

 

[c.n.budz]

How'd you score that sweet gig?

A friend of mine grew up with the brewmaster and introduced us

 

[Righlander]

I had the same question when i first got on this site. So I started leaving them in the primary 14 days just to be safe and it's worked out great. 14 days no matter what!