Timing question/advice needed

[Derek2k3]

Hello all!

After months of lurking, reading, more lurking, and more reading, I decided to embark on this fascinating journey of homebrewing.

Went to my "local" store (45 minutes one way) and was set up with a kit including a primary, bottling, carboy, and all the various siphons/bottling wand/paddle and so forth.

I purchased the "Brewers Best APA" kit, as I felt that starting with a few extract brews would be a great test of my resolve, and help me decide if I should try all-grain. Anyway, I brewed up the batch on Saturday (7/28).

I pitched the yeast when the wort hit 78 degrees, before realizing I was told it needed to be no higher than 72 (Mistake #1). After I pitched it and put the primary in the closet, I realized I may have made a mistake. Regardless, I let it set overnight hoping it would be ok. Sunday morning the airlock is showing activity (I know, doesn't mean anything, made me feel better though ) so it seems the yeast wasn't killed. However, the bubbles were slow, about one big bubble every 3 seconds, don't know if that is indicative of anything at all. I've read enough here to know that taking a hydrometer reading is the only way to know, and that the airlock is more interesting than useful.

Here's what I need help with:

My airlock stopped showing activity today, about 24-36 hours after brewing. Again, I know that doesn't mean anything. However, I leave for the rest of the week tomorrow AM, returning late Friday night.

I don't really want to open it to take a reading tomorrow, as it's only been in the fermenter since Saturday night. Is it OK if I wait until Friday to take a hydrometer reading? My plan is to take a gravity reading Friday when I get home, then re-check Sunday. If it is indeed "done" Sunday, I plan to move it to my carboy for the second stage (clarification? Something to that effect) for a couple weeks, followed by bottling.

Tl; dr, is it ok for me to let it sit a week before taking a gravity reading (Besides the one I took before I put the lid on)?

EDIT: The room I'm keeping the bucket in is 70-72 degrees.

ONe more thing I just thought to ask: someone warned me that if I leave it in my secondary more than a week or 2, I wouldn't be able to get carbonation when I bottled. Is that true?

 

[gandalfiii]

It'll be fine in the primary until you get back. I don't usually take a gravity reading until after a week. When your gravity reading is stable for 3 days then your fermentation is done and you can transfer it to secondary or bottle or just leave in the primary for another week or two to let it clean up. I've never done a secondary myself but then I don't have a vessel for secondary either.

 

[jCOSbrew]

Leave it in the primary for 2-3 weeks then check sg with the hydrometer before bottling. I keg but I don't think it is possible to bottle "too late". The priming sugar and yeast are what cause proper carb levels. If you bottle to soon before fermentation is complete you could create bottle bombs.

 

[Derek2k3]

It'll be fine in the primary until you get back. I don't usually take a gravity reading until after a week. When your gravity reading is stable for 3 days then your fermentation is done and you can transfer it to secondary or bottle or just leave in the primary for another week or two to let it clean up. I've never done a secondary myself but then I don't have a vessel for secondary either.

Thanks!

The main reason I'm moving mine to a secondary is to free up my primary for another brew

With a minimum of 4 weeks from brew to being able to drink, I want to get 2/3 different brews in bottles so I've got a good pipeline. Of course, 3 brews is 150 bottles so I suppose I should get to drinking!:cross:

 

[Derek2k3]

Leave it in the primary for 2-3 weeks then check sg with the hydrometer before bottling. I keg but I don't think it is possible to bottle "too late". The priming sugar and yeast are what cause proper carb levels. If you bottle to soon before fermentation is complete you could create bottle bombs.

Would it hurt for me to take it out of the primary after a week and move it to the secondary? Again, only because I want to free up my primary for another brew

 

[gandalfiii]

If your gravity reading is stable then it's fine to move to secondary. I've found with almost all of my brews that after 7-10 days my readings are stable. I wouldn't transfer without having a stable gravity reading for 3 days first.

 

[twistr25]

The fact that you are keeping your fermenter at 70-72 will speed up the process as well, so you'd likely be fine. If you can, it is probably better to keep future batches closer to the mid 60s range. If your room is 70-72, during the initial stages, the beer will produce heat and your batch could be closer to 75, possibly more. Fermenting that high can produce some off flavors. Easiest solution is a swamp cooler. Mine is just a rubbermaid container with water and I throw in some frozen water bottles, works great.

 

[KISS Brew]

Tl; dr, is it ok for me to let it sit a week before taking a gravity reading (Besides the one I took before I put the lid on)?

Absolutely. I usually let mine sit 2-3 weeks before taking a gravity reading. Some of my beers have waited longer due to my laziness and travel.

The room I'm keeping the bucket in is 70-72 degrees.

It's probably too late for this batch, but you want the internal beer temperature to be no more than 70 degrees. This can be tough, because fermentation is an exothermic process (it produces heat). Search the forums for various forms of temperature control - these get as fancy as a custom built chamber and as simple as a tub of water with some frozen water bottles.

ONe more thing I just thought to ask: someone warned me that if I leave it in my secondary more than a week or 2, I wouldn't be able to get carbonation when I bottled. Is that true?

It's true that your beer won't carbonate itself in the bottles, but (almost) nobody carbonates beer this way. We almost all wait until all fermentation is complete and add priming sugar to the bottling bucket. Add roughly 1oz of corn sugar per gallon, or use a priming calculator to match a style). You can use slightly less table sugar for good results as well.

 

[DrewBrew08]

I honestly wouldn't take a reading until it has been sitting for 3 weeks

Also, with you pitching at 78 degrees, you will be fine. I usually cool my wort to 80-85 ish, pour, then top-up with water that is roughly 65-70 degrees. So I probably have pitched around that temp for all my brews. I believe you are in good shape.

Also, I'd like to say welcome!

 

[unionrdr]

Do not transfer to secondary until you have a stable FG. That can take a couple weeks. Icheck mine at the 2 week mark. It's usually close to FG by then. Transfering off the yeast cake can cause it to stall if it's not done yet. And a week or 2 in secondary isn't going to settle all the yeast out or kill it. That statement is completely false.

 

[KISS Brew]

Also, with you pitching at 78 degrees, you will be fine.

True, but this is definitely not ideal. If at all possible, it's best to cool the wort to or below fermentation temperature prior to pitching.

 

[DrewBrew08]

True, but this is definitely not ideal. If at all possible, it's best to cool the wort to or below fermentation temperature prior to pitching.

Yeah Derek2k3, I completely agree with KISS Brew, if you can cool it more next time, do so. Unless your like me!!! I tend to drink a little to much on brew day and when its pitching time, I have that screw it, its good enough attitude lol.
That's why I pitch at them temps.

 

[KISS Brew]

Yeah Derek2k3, I completely agree with KISS Brew, if you can cool it more next time, do so. Unless your like me!!! I tend to drink a little to much on brew day and when its pitching time, I have that screw it, its good enough attitude lol.
That's why I pitch at them temps.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love drinking my beer while I'm making my beer. This contributes to me giving up on nailing my pitching temperature, especially when both room temperature and tap water is 80F or more.

I believe it's important to know what's ideal, but don't sweat the small stuff too much. KISS, remember?

 

[Derek2k3]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love drinking my beer while I'm making my beer. This contributes to me giving up on nailing my pitching temperature, especially when both room temperature and tap water is 80F or more.

I believe it's important to know what's ideal, but don't sweat the small stuff too much. KISS, remember?

Basically, that's what happened. My buddy and I followed everything to a "T", but had drank enough beer that we didn't even think about the temp.

Regarding the room temp, its difficult to get it down to less than 70 because my entire house is 72-75 degrees in the summer. However, in the winter I have multiple closets that will stay in the 65 range. Otherwise, like you guys said, I'll look into a cooler/ice.

Finally, regarding bottling, my kit did indeed come with priming sugar. So, I'm not longer worried about that.

Thanks a million for the help! I'll wait for a week, take a gravity reading, then check in 3 days. My goal will be 2 weeks in primary, 2 in seconday, 3 in bottles. Sound good? (Depending on the reading, of course)

 

[unionrdr]

...or just leave it in primary for 3-4 weeks till it settles out clear or slightly misty,then bottle. Lots of us do that now.

 

[twistr25]

Unless you need your primary for another beer or are dry hopping/adding fruit, etc., it is more hassle than its worth moving to a secondary. Another chance for infection or introducing oxygen. Mine come out plenty clear in the primary.

 

[Derek2k3]

...or just leave it in primary for 3-4 weeks till it settles out clear or slightly misty,then bottle. Lots of us do that now.

Unless you need your primary for another beer or are dry hopping/adding fruit, etc., it is more hassle than its worth moving to a secondary. Another chance for infection or introducing oxygen. Mine come out plenty clear in the primary.

My kit came with a 5 gallon carboy as a "secondary". Should I just use that as a primary? Instead of moving brew 1 from primary to secondary, just leave it in the primary for 3-4 weeks, while using my carboy in the same way for brew 2?

That would be way easier than moving it over to my secondary, then cleaning/sanitizing the primary, and putting #2 in there. Just use them both as primaries! Why didn't I think of that...

 

[unionrdr]

The problem is,the 5 gallon carboy doesn't have room for head space to allow for krausen expansion. It'd be blowing off al ot of beer foam. If you really wanna get the next one going,at least let the first one settle out clear before transfering it.

 

[Derek2k3]

The problem is,the 5 gallon carboy doesn't have room for head space to allow for krausen expansion. It'd be blowing off al ot of beer foam. If you really wanna get the next one going,at least let the first one settle out clear before transfering it.

Oh, gotcha, didn't think about that. Thanks again!

 

[Derek2k3]

double post

 

[KISS Brew]

My kit came with a 5 gallon carboy as a "secondary". Should I just use that as a primary?

A friend of mine gave me a few 5 gallon carboys. As a result, I started making a lot of 4 gallon batches of beer. I actually like smaller batch sizes enough that I wrote a blog post about it.

Scaling recipes is easy: just scale all the ingredients.