Secondary in 6?

[Sneakytiki]

So I'm on day six of fermentation of my first brew. It is an American Light Ale, OG of 1058.

It was a little hot for the first couple days of fermentation, read 77ish on my stick on thermometer. The last 4 days it has been in a cooler with some water and ice, and I draped a wet towel over it and set up a fan. This kept it at a steady 69.

Today (day 6), I took a sample out and tested the specific gravity. It read 1022. This gives my beer an alcohol percent of 5.2. I tasted it, and it tasted pretty good, a little fruity which i suspect is from the couple days of heat. My question is, is it still too early to go to a week of secondary, or would I do better to wait a day? Or perhaps just leave it in primary for 10-12 days and go straight to bottling?

 

[Rick_R]

perhaps just leave it in primary for 10-12 days and go straight to bottling?

I've started leaving in the primary for beers that will only go three weeks anyway; three weeks in primary, then bottle. Siphoning is my worst enemy.

Rick

 

[Brett0424]

It is not too early to go to a secondary. It won't hurt to wait another day but it will be just fine now as well. And try to keep your fermentation temp cooler next time too! Especially for the first few days when fermentation is real vigorous.

 

[malkore]

I'd wait. 7 days minimum in primary...and a few extra days or weeks will not hurt.

 

[Sneakytiki]

And try to keep your fermentation temp cooler next time too! Especially for the first few days when fermentation is real vigorous.

haha yeah... it was a happy 68 when I started, then a heat wave hit and it was in the high 90s low 100s for three days (EDIT: the outside temperature was that high, not my beer ). It caught me off guard and I was unprepared for it. I rigged up a good system though, and I'm smarter for it.

 

[BarleyWater]

SECONDARY IS NOT FOR FERMENTING. Sorry for yelling, but it needed to be done :cross:. Wait to transfer to secondary until the beer has reached its FG, otherwise you will be moving it off of the yeast and halting your fermentation, leaving you with an under-attenuated beer that is too sweet. You may have already shocked the yeast with the temp change and that is what is slowing it down, you don't want to shock them again.

When the beer has reached its FG, move it to the secondary to clear. If you move it over while still fermenting, you basically just turn it into another primary, defeating the porpuse of using a secondary to begin with. You also want the yeast to be able to clean up some of those byproducts they produced while it was a little hot, and if you transfer, they won't be able to do that.

Let it go another few days, test the gravity and make sure you have 3 days of consecutive reading to be sure it is done and ready to go to secondary.

It will become second nature after a while, when you become one with the yeast.

 

[Hoosierbrewer]

SECONDARY IS NOT FOR FERMENTING. Sorry for yelling, but it needed to be done :cross:. Wait to transfer to secondary until the beer has reached its FG, otherwise you will be moving it off of the yeast and halting your fermentation, leaving you with an under-attenuated beer that is too sweet. You may have already shocked the yeast with the temp change and that is what is slowing it down, you don't want to shock them again.

When the beer has reached its FG, move it to the secondary to clear. If you move it over while still fermenting, you basically just turn it into another primary, defeating the porpuse of using a secondary to begin with. You also want the yeast to be able to clean up some of those byproducts they produced while it was a little hot, and if you transfer, they won't be able to do that.

Let it go another few days, test the gravity and make sure you have 3 days of consecutive reading to be sure it is done and ready to go to secondary.

It will become second nature after a while, when you become one with the yeast.

+1 let the yeasties clean up after themselves. The yeast are stronger in the primary