Using Gravity Readings To Determine When To Transfer To Secondary

[brewinginct]

So far I've been loosely following the method of transferring to secondary about 7-10 days after fermentation begins, usually based on whether the krausen has fallen.

This has worked out fine but I've read that a better method is to transfer once you've reached a certain gravity, like maybe when you are 3/4 of the way to the FG. So if you had an OG of 1.050 and a target FG of 1.010 then you'd transfer to secondary at 1.020.

I doubt it will stall the fermentation because there would be so much yeast in suspension plus I'd be pretty close to my FG.

Am I understanding the details of this method correctly? Does anyone have advice or experience going this route? Any pros or cons? I'm mostly interested in doing it this way because I have a stout that is fermenting like crazy that I want ready for St. Patrick's day and I want to shave off a couple of extra days if possible

 

[MeatyPortion]

I'd say it depends on the recipe and instructions, though many that I've seen lean toward getting as close to the FG as possible before transferring to secondary.

 

[brewit2it]

So far I've been loosely following the method of transferring to secondary about 7-10 days after fermentation begins, usually based on whether the krausen has fallen.

This has worked out fine but I've read that a better method is to transfer once you've reached a certain gravity, like maybe when you are 3/4 of the way to the FG. So if you had an OG of 1.050 and a target FG of 1.010 then you'd transfer to secondary at 1.020.

I doubt it will stall the fermentation because there would be so much yeast in suspension plus I'd be pretty close to my FG.

Am I understanding the details of this method correctly? Does anyone have advice or experience going this route? Any pros or cons? I'm mostly interested in doing it this way because I have a stout that is fermenting like crazy that I want ready for St. Patrick's day and I want to shave off a couple of extra days if possible

I don't think transferring to a secondary is going to make your beer ready faster, probably the opposite. Since St Patty's is more than a month away you should be fine. I'd probably just leave it in the primary until Sunday 2/27 (since I only have time to bottle on the weekend) or if you have time you can leave it until around 3/3 then bottle it. That will give you 2.5-3 weeks in the primary and 2-2.5 weeks in the bottle and ready to enjoy for St Patty's day

 

[schmaltzy]

I would say just let it go the 7-10 days, then transfer. I found out the hard way that I transferred too early and even after pitching new yeast I couldn't get it to come down much more. I wasn't too far off anyway.

If I were you I would just plan on ALLLL the fermenting happening in the primary and using the secondary for clearing purposes only. That is my opinion though.....cause if you search this forum you'll find a couple thousand topics on whether to use a secondary or not. I decided based on what type of beer I'm brewing.

 

[coypoo]

Secondary is completely uneccessary on most beers. You only read need to secondary when you are adding other flavorings (e.g., oak, fruits, etc) to the beer. But commonly people like to bulk age their high alcohol beers. For a normal gravity beer, just leave it in primary for 3-4 weeks and then bottle. You can even dry hop in the primary, just make sure that ferementation is completely finished or the yeast will eat some of the hop flavors/aromas

 

[brewinginct]

Well I took a gravity reading of the stout in question and I've hit the fg. The thing is beer smith seems to think that the beer could have a lower fg by a couple points, so I'm going to go give it another day in primary before transferring to secondary for weeks.

 

[Zen_Brew]

I agree with the general consensus.

A) Doing a secondary is really not necessary unless you are needing to add something such as fruit. A secondary can be done if you wish, but it isn't necessary.

B) If you are going to transfer to secondary you should definitely wait until you hit your final gravity. Actually I would wait till you hit your final gravity + at least 2-3 days. Moving the beer before it is complete gets it away from the lions share of the yeast which are busy finishing the fermentation and cleaning up the fermentation byproducts which can show up as off flavors.

 

[Wiezer]

Any reason why you are set on getting it to secondary as quickly as possible?

 

[RM-MN]

Do you want fast stout or good stout? Fast stout might be possible if you leave it in the primary for 4 weeks and a week in bottles but I'm pretty sure it won't be "good stout". If you really wanted good stout for St. Patrick's day, you needed to start it before Christmas because it takes quite a while for stout to mature and get all the flavors to work together.

Your better bet would be to start a wheat beer now for St. Patrick's day and have your stout for Memorial Day. By then it would be really good.

 

[TheSeether]

Secondary is completely uneccessary on most beers... But commonly people like to bulk age their high alcohol beers.

When bulk aging a big beer (OG 1.090+) what theoretical maximum time on the primary would you suggest? Why does a bigger beer have to move to secondary for bulk aging? I don't make a distinction between primary/secondary in terms of being able to brew more/another beer. So, what reason would I have to even consider the secondary transfer for bulk aging a big beer?

 

[Zen_Brew]

When bulk aging a big beer (OG 1.090+) what theoretical maximum time on the primary would you suggest? Why does a bigger beer have to move to secondary for bulk aging? I don't make a distinction between primary/secondary in terms of being able to brew more/another beer. So, what reason would I have to even consider the secondary transfer for bulk aging a big beer?

So the answer here would be autolysis. This is basically the yeast cells dying and decaying and can leave sort of a meaty off flavor in the beer. It is now believed you can leave the beer on the yeast much longer than conventional wisdom used to say, still there is a point where this will become a problem.

I'm going to say I personally wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a beer on the yeast cake for more than 4 weeks or so. I know people are going to chime in and say they left a beer on the yeast for 2 months or 10 weeks or such, but for me I just don't want to risk any off flavors in a beer that takes so long to come together in the first place.

If you have ever stored yeast for too long in the fridge you see the color turns very dark as they run out of nutrient reserves and start dying and decaying. If you've ever smelled yeast that has been around way too long, imagine that smell in your beer.

For me I'd rather play it safe and stick with a maximum time in the 4 week area.