Secondary

[irishbrew26]

Was going to transfer a beer to a secondary today, but my primary is still bubblingonce every 8 seconds, should i wait? Its been 7 days

Also, i am transfering to add oranges. Is adding regular cut up oranges ok?? Thanks!

 

[GoldMiner]

I'd wait until bubbling stops to transfer to secondary.

No help on the oranges.

 

[birvine]

I would suggest not using a secondary at all. Leave the brew in the primary for 3-4 weeks then bottle. The yeast cake has a nice way of cleaning up the beer and removing some potential off-flavours.

Moreover, bubbling does not mean that there is or is not fermentation occurring. Yeast behave in weird and wonderful ways.

B

EDIT: Sorry, missed the orange part. In general, after 2-3 weeks of primary you can transfer onto fruit in a secondary. No idea how oranges are as I have never tried them.

 

[Shu5]

I would wait a minimum of 2 weeks in primary and you need to take some hydrometer readings and wait until they stabilize to transfer.

 

[msa8967]

Do you have a specific goal or purpose you want to achieve by moving the beer into the secondary? Dry hopping? If not, I would just leave the beer in the primary for 3-4 weeks and then bottle. I only transfer to a secondary if I dry hop or condition the beer (like a very high gravity brew) for several months. When I started brewing I thought I had to transfer everything to a secondary and then per advice from a HBT member left things in the primary for 3-4 weeks and i found this resulted in much better beer.

 

[stratslinger]

What's your gravity reading?

Transferring to secondary to rack onto fruit is definitely a good idea. But you want to be sure primary fermentation is done, and the only way to know that for sure is to get the same gravity reading for at least three days.

And sadly, like most others who have spoken up so far, I've got no useful knowledge to share on the oranges... I've heard second hand that many beers benefit from orange peel zest and even the peels themselves, not sure what the rest of the fruit might do for you.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

i wouldn't use the airlock to gauge fermentation. airlocks are merely co2 vents, nothing more. you should never move a beer out of primary until FG is reached and stable for 3 or more days.

 

[irishbrew26]

So whats a good way to get a good reading if my beer is in a carboy??

 

[RM-MN]

Watch for the beer to begin to clear as the yeast stop churning and begin to drop to the bottom. As long as the beer is turbid, the yeast are working.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

So whats a good way to get a good reading if my beer is in a carboy??

use a wine thief or a turkey baster to pull a small sample, take a hydrometer reading of that sample. then either drink the sample or chuck it, don't put it back in the fermenter.