Shall I use a secondary for my IPA?

[demzly]

SO,

I have an imperial IPA that is currently sitting at 6.9%. I dont think it is quite done yet and it has been in the primary for 3 weeks.

Shall I rack it off the sediment into a bottling bucket (my 2ndary) and leave it for another 2/3 weeks or just leave it in the primary and not disturb it?

OG was 1.076 and it is around 1.024 now

 

[Dogphish]

leave it in the primary for up to 5 weeks. try not to move to secondary until the hydrometer has stopped changing for a week.

if you move to secondary too soon and add dry hops then any remaining yeast that is suspended in the beer will settle on top of the hops and will get mixed back into the beer when you are racking into the bottling bucket. then you will end up with excessive yeast in the bottom of your bottles/keg.

 

[demzly]

I wasnt going to dry hop. Thanks for the response.

I only have a bottling bucket for a 2ndary. no carboy or anything. will this do?

 

[amazinglarry]

when you say it's not quite done yet, what do you mean?

 

[mcaple1]

If your beer isn't done fermenting in three weeks, then its either done...or stalled. 1.076 to 1.024 is a touch sweet for an IPA, but it very well could be done depending on how much crystal you used and mash temps.

 

[demzly]

If your beer isn't done fermenting in three weeks, then its either done...or stalled. 1.076 to 1.024 is a touch sweet for an IPA, but it very well could be done depending on how much crystal you used and mash temps.

It was 1.026 a few days ago and it still has a little airlock activity..

And it was a kit adaptation rather than AG

 

[Dogphish]

airlock activity doesn't really mean anything. you have to do hydrometer readings.

your beer will absorb a little CO2 while fermenting. it is possible for your fermentation to be complete, but the dissolved CO2 is slowly leaking out of the beer and causing airlock activity.

in order to keep from taking multiple samples out of your batch and wasting beer, sanitize a beer bottle, take a single sample from the batch, and keep the sample in the sanitized bottle right next to your fermenter so you can use it for hydrometer readings. people call this a "satellite batch".

 

[demzly]

airlock activity doesn't really mean anything. you have to do hydrometer readings.

your beer will absorb a little CO2 while fermenting. it is possible for your fermentation to be complete, but the dissolved CO2 is slowly leaking out of the beer and causing airlock activity.

in order to keep from taking multiple samples out of your batch and wasting beer, sanitize a beer bottle, take a single sample from the batch, and keep the sample in the sanitized bottle right next to your fermenter so you can use it for hydrometer readings. people call this a "satellite batch".

Good idea.

Would you suggest leaving it in its primary on the yeast or racking into a bottling bucket?

 

[Dogphish]

the only time i would recommend using a secondary is if you are adding fruit or dry hops or if your beer will take more than 5 weeks to ferment fully.

my suggestion to you is to wait until the hydrometer readings stabilize, wait another week, then transfer from primary to bottling bucket, then add priming sugar and bottle immediately.