Should I rack my ale?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

DanInSydney

I don’t know what the f*ck I’m doing...
Joined
Feb 9, 2020
Messages
26
Reaction score
5
Location
Sydney, Australia
I’m brewing an all grain Belgian Tripel. BIAB method.

Hit my target SG, smells awesome & solid fermentation.

It’s been in the fermenter for a week and plan to leave it there for one more to finish off.

It’s very dense looking, completely opaque. It’s not really starting to clear and don’t think it will too much over the next week... It’s not a huge deal but wondering whether racking is worthwhile. Thoughts? Worth the risk of contamination?

FYI I didn’t use any moss etc to reduce cloudiness. This is just an after thought...
 
It’s been in the fermenter for a week and plan to leave it there for one more to finish off.

It’s very dense looking, completely opaque. It’s not really starting to clear and don’t think it will too much over the next week...

Fermentation stirs up all the trub. At the end of one week your fermentation probably not even completed because it is a triple and the large amount of sugars are difficult for the yeast to process, especially as the amount of alcohol in the beer increases. In one more week the fermentation should complete, the trub then will start to settle. However, some of the trub is barely more dense than the beer so it will take time to settle out. Unless you are out of beer and in a rush to get more, longer than 2 weeks in the fermenter will be beneficial.

Since some of the trub is barely more dense than the beer, racking it to another container is likely to slow the process of clearing. It also gives an opportunity to oxidize and unless done very carefully may allow an infection to get started.
 
Think I’ll give it another week. Agree with you in racking - no sure Im convinced of the risk/reward payout!

Fermentation stirs up all the trub. At the end of one week your fermentation probably not even completed because it is a triple and the large amount of sugars are difficult for the yeast to process, especially as the amount of alcohol in the beer increases. In one more week the fermentation should complete, the trub then will start to settle. However, some of the trub is barely more dense than the beer so it will take time to settle out. Unless you are out of beer and in a rush to get more, longer than 2 weeks in the fermenter will be beneficial.

Since some of the trub is barely more dense than the beer, racking it to another container is likely to slow the process of clearing. It also gives an opportunity to oxidize and unless done very carefully may allow an infection to get started.
 
Back
Top