To Rack or not to Rack..

[businesstime]

I boiled my first beer ever on Friday, July 10. Once bubbles disappeared, I racked to my secondary. I know, don't use bubbles as an indicator. But, I did anyway, and it continued to ferment in the secondary for another couple of days.

A week and a half later, I have more than an inch of sludge at the bottom of my secondary and I want to get advice on whether to let it sit there for the remainder or perform another racking to get the beer off the trub. I've read that some suggest it's no big deal, others are paranoid of autolysis, etc..

Opinions?

 

[phatuna]

Depends on the beer and what you are doing with it. If you racked to secondary because you wanted to get it off of the trub, are adding fruit, dry hopping or letting it age for a few months, then you could rack again.

If you just racked because you wanted to, then I would leave it alone as your beer will turn out just fine.

 

[Catch-22]

The more you mess with it, the more chance of an infection can occur. Just let it sit. When you say to yourself....Alright it has to be ready....give it another two days at a slightly higher temp to clean up diacetyl. Your beer will be more clear and taste better. Patience is the key.

 

[Whiskey]

Did you take a hydrometer sample? 1 day or 10 days does not matter if it still fermenting. When you think it is ready, take a sample every day for three days, if the gravity reading stays the same it is good to go, if not give it a few more days.

You can let it sit for 3 weeks and go to bottle, but your fermentation happen to have gotten stuck (yeast went prematurely dorment) you will have 12oz glass grenades in your closet.

If you do not have a hydrometer, go buy one, right now. Before you buy another batch, or a sixer of beer, go buy a hydrometer and test tube.

Yeast have their own schedule and do not own watches, they do not care that they have been in your beer for 1 week or 10. Taking samples to see if fermentation is done is the only way.

 

[businesstime]

Did you take a hydrometer sample? 1 day or 10 days does not matter if it still fermenting. When you think it is ready, take a sample every day for three days, if the gravity reading stays the same it is good to go, if not give it a few more days.

You can let it sit for 3 weeks and go to bottle, but your fermentation happen to have gotten stuck (yeast went prematurely dorment) you will have 12oz glass grenades in your closet.

If you do not have a hydrometer, go buy one, right now. Before you buy another batch, or a sixer of beer, go buy a hydrometer and test tube.

Yeast have their own schedule and do not own watches, they do not care that they have been in your beer for 1 week or 10. Taking samples to see if fermentation is done is the only way.

I do have a hydrometer. It started at 1.075 and dropped to 1.03 by day 5. I have not taken a reading since, but if fermentation is stuck how does a hydrometer reading help? Do I need to calculate yeast attenuation and make an educated guess that it's stuck?

 

[Whiskey]

I should have clarified that. If your beer is at or near its stated FG in the recipe for 3 days you can rack it.

If you went from a kit, and I assume you did for your first batch, the instruction sheet should have given you at least the target OG and FG.

Lets say your OG should have been 1.028. 1.030 for 3 days would be ok. If it was supposed to be around 1.013, then I would recommend rousing the yeast (move it around a bit) and let it sit for a few days. Then restart taking samples.

Another thing you can do is check the % of attenuation of your yeast. 30/75 is what %40? Your yeast probably has a way to go.

 

[irunxcjm]

One problem you MIGHT have with this beer is moving it off the yeast too soon. The secondary isn't really a fermenter, it's a clearing tank. It should be completely done fermenting before you move it. If you take it off the yeast too early, it might have a hard time reaching the FG.

 

[Catch-22]

I'm curious as to what beer that is because that is a huge attenuation and a dry dry beer.

 

[businesstime]

Well, I just took a reading.. and a taste. I'm down to just under 1.02. The taste was pretty sour. No visible signs of infection, so maybe it just needs to sit for a few more weeks. Maybe it's ruined, who knows.

After pouring a glass of Flying Dog's IPA, my own IPA actually tastes sorta similar. Dry, hoppy, and well slightly sour. Maybe my taste buds are still in mourning.

 

[SumnerH]

I'm curious as to what beer that is because that is a huge attenuation and a dry dry beer.

1.075 to 1.030 is only 60% attenuation (and not very dry at all)

Seems to me like he racked it too early. Usually take a gravity reading after a week or so (whenever you think it's done) and then again 2 days later; if they're the same, wait another 4 days or so (until it's been done with primary fermentation and had a week after that to sit on the yeast and help clean it up). Then you can bottle it up, or rack to secondary if you have a good reason.

 

[Catch-22]

Yeah i see that now. I misread I thought it was 1.003 and that is DRY DRY beer