Secondary problems??

[DAV3]

I had a problem transferring the 60 min ipa clone to he secondary with my auto siphon. It kept clogging up with hops and really aerated the beer when going into the secondary. I had to strain the last gallon or so with a wire sieve because the siphon would not work any more.
Now it is so active for an entire week that it is completely clouded with hops and sediment. It is more active now than in the primary by far.
It smells fine but my instinct is telling me to transfer it again and let it clarify for another week or so before attempting bottling.
Any suggestions or insight???
I don't see any mold, and it smells fine...

 

[twheelz]

How long was it in the primary? Did the gravity stabilize before you transferred? I would let this ride until it's done, then transfer to another secondary - or just bottle after it stabilizes and clears.

 

[DAV3]

it was in the primary for 7 days and the fermentation had pretty much stopped. when i opened the primary bucket, the enormous amount of hops had created a cake on the top. transferring is when this began.

 

[twheelz]

Where did all of the hops come from? From your boil? Or did you dry-hop in your primary? You want to dry-hop after fermentation finishes.

 

[DAV3]

dry hop added in secondary

 

[twheelz]

when i opened the primary bucket, the enormous amount of hops had created a cake on the top.

This is what is confusing me on this one. If you dry-hopped in your secondary, then the hops shouldn't have been caked on top of your primary - and they shouldn't have gotten in the way of siphoning. Either way, I think you will be fine if you wait for it to clear some and then bottle.

 

[Revvy]

LEAVE IT ALONE...

Quit moving it around, you'll do more damage than good....Nowadays many of us don't use a secondary at all, to for one thing minimize exactly what happened to you, excess splashing issues....you're scared your oxygenated the beer...

So you want to do it again?????


You clearly racked it too soon, that's why fermentation needed to start again. And you said you've already strained a gallon of it, which is NOT a good thing to do with fermented beer, that is what will aerate your beer.

Now, just quit tinkering with it, sit on your hands so you aren't tempted to f with it any more, and let the beer do what it needs to do.

Leave it alone....let it finish fermenting.....AND LET IT DO WHAT FOLKS MOVE IT TO A FERMENTER FOR ANYWAY....let it clear.

New brewers seem to think the cure for everything is to fiddle with it...when in reality it's a natural process, that works best when we leave it the heck alone.

At this point just leave it be for a few weeks, and it will clear fine on it's own.

But in the future if you decide to rack, then please take two gravity readings three days apart, (I recommend day 12 and 14) to make sure fermentation has been completed BEFORE you rack your beer...

And also do some reading on here about the long primaries, and why folks rack to secondaries...if you're just dry hopping, these days many of us just do it on week three of a 4 week primary....

 

[kh54s10]

When you siphon from primary to secondary keep the bottom end of the racking cane above the trub at the bottom of the carboy. You can lean the carboy to get the most beer out without getting the trub.

You should account for the loss of wort in the trub.

You should also wait longer before transfer. I would go at least 3-5 days after reaching final gravity. That is the same number each day for 3 days.

Adding hops will make co2 come out of solution. This would not be fermentation in the secondary. Although you might be getting fermentation since you transferred early.

You can also skip the secondary and leave your beer in primary for 3-4 weeks then check the gravity, then bottle.

 

[DAV3]

twheelz, when boiling the wort... the hops added during the cooking time were what i found in a cake on top of the beer in the primary after one week. After transferring to the secondary i added more hops like the recipe says to do.
Revvy, sorry, i am new at this. I never said i was going to transfer it again, i was asking if i should. Also, i am not moving it around and "F" ing with it. I has been in one spot since i moved it.
Thanks everyone for your replies and help.

 

[CastleHollow]

Dave, it sounds like you didn't filter/strain your beer when you moved it from the brew kettle. You should either 1) whirlpool your wort in the kettle once you're done cooking and while it cools, and then siphon into the fermenter, or 2) use a strainer when pouring from your kettle into the fermenter. You want to leave as much of the boiling hops, hotbreak, etc., behind before you pitch.

 

[Revvy]

Dave, it sounds like you didn't filter/strain your beer when you moved it from the brew kettle. You should either 1) whirlpool your wort in the kettle once you're done cooking and while it cools, and then siphon into the fermenter, or 2) use a strainer when pouring from your kettle into the fermenter. You want to leave as much of the boiling hops, hotbreak, etc., behind before you pitch.

That's really one of those things that is a matter of personal preference and nothing else. Some dump everything in, without straining, just pour it in the bucket or in the funnel....Some use a big strainer that fit in the funnel for a carboy, or a sanitized 5 gallon nylon paint strainer bag in the bucket...

I have done it all ways. It really doesn't matter...anything will settle.

In other words, there is no wrong way to do it, or better way, or way that will make the best beer...they all work...the choice is what will work the best for you. That's how you develop you own unique brewing process. By trying all ways and deciding what works best for you.

What I do with my IC, is chill the wort, then I lean the bottom of my autosiphon about two coils up from the bottom on the metal of the siphon. That rests it above most of the break material and trub, then I rack it to the fermenter until I'm down to that and carefully lower the siphon down into the gunk, just trying to get as much of the wort as possible without letting in the hops and break matter.

A whirlpool helps.

But pretty much up until I got my immersion chiller I just dumped for the majority of my batches. And I still managed to do well in contests...

I find that long primaries render my beer just as clear, and crisp tasting regardless of whether I dumped it all in or not....so I just do what works for me.....

 

[Squirrels]

Revvy is right. After reading his doctrine on - do not waste time with a secondary unless you are adding something to your beer my beer clarity (and quality) has gone up. Moving to a secondary for the sake of getting it off the yeast cake after a week is not good enough! Only move it if you are planning on aging (more than a month or so) or adding something (fruit/dry hopping).

 

[DAV3]

I did'nt know i was supposed to strain the wort into the primary. This is the first batch i have done that wasn't a kit in a box. Thanks guys! I think i need another carboy or two so i can make more than one batch at a time. This one is going to take a while to clear and i am out of home brew.

 

[RM-MN]

I did'nt know i was supposed to strain the wort into the primary. This is the first batch i have done that wasn't a kit in a box. Thanks guys! I think i need another carboy or two so i can make more than one batch at a time. This one is going to take a while to clear and i am out of home brew.

Plastic buckets are much cheaper, won't shatter if dropped, and have this big opening to pour things into and make it easy to clean. They work great for fermenting except that you can't see the action.

 

[CastleHollow]

In other words, there is no wrong way to do it, or better way, or way that will make the best beer...they all work...the choice is what will work the best for you. That's how you develop you own unique brewing process. By trying all ways and deciding what works best for you.

I agree, I was just trying to help him troubleshoot the clogging issue he had. It wasn't clear to me (heh, pun intended :cross until his last post why he was having that problem, since all of my material (except usually whole leaf hops that don't seem to play nice) usually settles pretty well.