Tasted beer(IPA) after 2 weeks in secondary

[max_the_hop]

First post! Of many to come I'm sure. :fro:

So, my baby spend 8 days in the primary at an OG of 1.0062. I then transfered it into secondary carboy and added 3oz of fresh Cascade hops on top. After 13 days in the secondary I decided to get a sample to taste and to measure its gravity. It tasted great and it currently has a gravity of 1.0016. At racking into secondary (13 days ago) it had a gravity of 1.0020.

Even though I like the taste of it, it has almost no carbonation... So, my question is: should I add a bit more yeast to it? I plan on bottling in 2 days.

After my tasting I used a spoon to stir the solution to get more out of the hops. Would this stirring action be enough to ensure that the yeast will keep on doing its job once in the bottles?

Thanks!

 

[Adaman05]

It has no carbonation because it shouldn't. Yet. It will carbonate in bottles after you add the priming sugar solution to the bottling bucket. Be sure to pour the sugar water solution into the bucket first, then rack the beer into the bucket. Should carbonate in 3 weeks at room temp.

 

[max_the_hop]

I should transfer the beer from secondary glass carboy back into the fermentation bucket and then into the bottles? Not from secondary straight into bottles?

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[JR_Brewer]

Adaman05 is right, there shouldn't really be any detectable carbonation at this point. Let me expand...

The carbon dioxide (CO2) created so far has been escaping through your air lock. It's not being forced into solution in the beer. When you bottle your beer, any CO2 created will be trapped. When enough CO2 is in the bottle to create pressure, it will force itself into solution. When you open the bottle, it will release and the beer will be carbonated.

Your instructions should tell you how to prime the beer, meaning how to add priming sugars when bottling.

While in the fermenter, you should not stir the beer. At this point, you've gotten all that you're going to get out of the hops. Stirring may potentially oxidize your beer. Just let it be.

 

[Yooper]

I should transfer the beer from secondary glass carboy back into the fermentation bucket and then into the bottles? Not from secondary straight into bottles?

Thanks for the quick reply!

You don't have a bottling bucket with a spigot? If you don't, I'd try to get one. There are a couple of reasons. First, it's just easier. You boil up some sugar (about 4 ounces of corn sugar by weight) into 2 cups of water, and add that to the sanitized bottling bucket. Then, rack the beer into it, with the tubing in a circle on the bottom of the bucket so it swirls to mix without aerating the beer. Then, just fill with a bottling wand into the spigot. The bottling wand is spring loaded, so you press the bottle into the wand and it fills the bottles. That's so much easier than trying to fill the bottles with a siphon from the carboy, plus is ensures even mixing of the priming solution.

You can definitely bottle from the carboy if you have to- but it's tough to do with the dryhops in there, and all the trub on the bottom. The whole idea of a "secondary" (many people don't use them) is to allow all excess stuff to fall out to the bottom of the beer, and then you want to avoid restirring that crud up and having it go into the bottles.

 

[y2jrock60]

You shouldn't be stiring your beer after fermentation has started. Oxidization can lead to off flavors. You don't need to stir up the yeast when you bottle, there's enough yeast left in suspension naturally to carbonate your beer in bottles. Just transfer your beer from the carboy into your bottling bucket. I like to add half my priming sugar before I start the transfer and the rest when half the bottling bucket is full.

The only time you should shake your beer/wort is before you pitch yeast and possibly when dealing with a stuck fermentation.

 

[WNCBrewman]

I think he might have added the priming sugar while racking to secondary. It was 1.013 and it went to 1.020, leading me to believe he was confused on when to add it. Is this what happened?
As others have stated, you add the priming sugar to the bottling bucket on bottling day. The yeast left over will feed of that sugar after capping (and letting bottles sit at room temp) 2-3 weeks, making a fully carbbed beer if using all 5 0z. Many people ration the priming sugar to suit the style...Less sugar, less carbonation.

 

[max_the_hop]

I didn't add any sugar yet. This is how it went down: 1.062, 1.020, finally 1.016 today.

Thanks for all the responses. No more shaking. got it!

 

[max_the_hop]

I didn't add any sugar yet. This is how it went down: 1.062, 1.020, finally 1.016 today.

Thanks for all the responses. No more shaking. got it!

 

[WNCBrewman]

I think he might have added the priming sugar while racking to secondary. It was 1.013 and it went to 1.020, leading me to believe he was confused on when to add it. Is this what happened?
As others have stated, you add the priming sugar to the bottling bucket on bottling day. The yeast left over will feed of that sugar after capping (and letting bottles sit at room temp) 2-3 weeks, making a fully carbbed beer if using all 5 0z. Many people ration the priming sugar to suit the style...Less sugar, less carbonation.

I didn't re-read carefully. Disgrard all this