Time to rack to secondary?

[cre781]

This is my first brew and I was wondering if I'm rushing the fermentation process? I'm brewing a vanilla Porter the OG was 1. 041 it's been fermenting for 6 days my plan is to rack to a secondary fermenter at day 7 how long does it need to sit in the secondary before I can bottle

 

[sboyajian]

You are only rushing the fermentation process if you haven't checked the current gravity. Check it 2-3 days in a row and if the FG hasn't changed, it's done fermenting. It may still be going to through some cleanup, so you could always leave it for another 3-5 days, but that's entirely up to you.

For a porter, honestly, I probably wouldn't rack to secondary unless it was to add something else (ie: if the vanilla beans are going into secondary).. if this is purely because it what you were told to do, there is little point and gives another opportunity for infection. Feel free to rack to your bottling bucket with the proper amount of sugar to carbonate and bottle away.

If this was a lighter beer, I might consider racking to secondary to cold crash, but with something dark like a porter or stout, clarity is not usually a concern.

 

[bobbrews]

The fermentation is likely complete by now (6 days for a 1.041 OG Ale), however the beer will be better if you are patient and let it mellow out a bit. Leave in the primary for about 3 weeks total and then bottle. You can make a tincture with the vanilla beans and vodka. Toss this in the primary and quickly cover. No need to resort to a secondary for this small step.

 

[cre781]

the reason I was going to rack to a secondary is because that's what I was told was best and would assist with clarity. If the majority is of the opinion that this is unnecessary I would prefer not going through the extra steps and possibly infecting my beer. As far as the vanilla goes I used a vanilla bourbon beer candy.in your opinion should I also use vanilla beans or am I good with the beer candy?

 

[j1n]

lol @ trying to get clarity with a porter. its a very dark beer, who cares about clarity.

Secondary is unnecessary in most cases. Just leave it alone for a bit more and then bottle when its done.

 

[bobbrews]

You're brewing a porter. Porters are black. Clarity is inconsequential. Even if you were brewing a blonde ale, a secondary would not be as helpful as you think for clarity purposes.

Leave it in the primary. The only thing you want to avoid is disturbing the yeast cake when racking.

I would use real, quality Madagascar Vanilla beans. You won't need more than 2 beans tops. Remember to split them open and scrape the insides.

 

[MaxStout]

As sboyajian mentioned, you really don't need to rack to secondary unless you plan to add stuff. Racking is necessary if you are bulk-aging for a long time (i.e., several months). But your beer is low gravity and it will likely be done in a few more weeks.

Six days is too soon--let it ride a couple more weeks and take gravity readings a day or two apart. If the readings stay the same after 2 or 3 times, it's ready to bottle or keg.