Secondary fermenter

[Norwayson]

Hello.
I just transferred my brew to my secondary. Here are some mistakes I've made: I broke my hydrometer so I don't know where the gravity is at. I did however, taste a little, and I'm slightly frightened as it was a little bitter, and I added lactose to the mix, as well as cocoa (it's a stout). I figured it would be much smoother. Also, there was a powdery taste. Could this be the cocoa?. Should I be concerned already? Also, the airlock moves probably once every ten seconds, which also bothers me. Comments and concerns are welcomed.

 

[Euphist]

RDWHAHB

The taste will continue to develop over time.

All the airlock tells you is that gas is being released...nothing more.

 

[te-wa]

Hello.
I just transferred my brew to my secondary. Here are some mistakes I've made: I broke my hydrometer so I don't know where the gravity is at. I did however, taste a little, and I'm slightly frightened as it was a little bitter, and I added lactose to the mix, as well as cocoa (it's a stout). I figured it would be much smoother. Also, there was a powdery taste. Could this be the cocoa?. Should I be concerned already? Also, the airlock moves probably once every ten seconds, which also bothers me. Comments and concerns are welcomed.

do you know the OG? if so, you can get a ball-park ABV by simple math using the yeast attenuation.
how long in primary?
airlock movement is GOOD if you racked to secondary, it will usually be caused by CO2 being released and that will form a protective layer to keep O2 out.
taste it again in 2 weeks. it will mellow..

 

[C-Rider]

Next time forget the secondary if you are not adding anything like fruit to your beer.

 

[Cauchy]

Next time forget the secondary if you are not adding anything like fruit to your beer.

I agree. You can leave the primary for four or five weeks if you wanted to and then just bottle it directly from there.

Regarding the original post, as long as everything was sanitized and cleaned properly, there shouldn't be a problem. Stouts often take longer to pull together so just let it chill out for a while.

 

[Norwayson]

I agree. You can leave the primary for four or five weeks if you wanted to and then just bottle it directly from there. Regarding the original post, as long as everything was sanitized and cleaned properly, there shouldn't be a problem. Stouts often take longer to pull together so just let it chill out for a while.

Thanks for the info. I was coincidentally reading other posts on the over usage of secondary's today and I can see I probably didn't need it on this one

 

[RM-MN]

Stouts have the dark grains which are a little rough when first brewed. That's probably the extra bitterness you tasted. Give this beer plenty of time in the fermenter and again in the bottle and that harsh bitterness smooths out. My darkest stout got pretty good at 3 months in the bottle but at a year it was smooooth.