When to go secondary

[Sonymon]

I know im supposed to wait 5-7 days or so but i was wondering when to transfer based off airlock action?

Sorry for the noobish question and i read around and searched before i made this post and the best i could come up with is go to secondary when bubbles are about 1.5 minutes apart.

just wondering...how long do u wait between bubbles before you decide its time for secondary?

 

[itsme6582]

First of all. Airlock activity is not representative of what is going on inside the fermentor, cue Revvy. Secondly, don't worry about the secondary. There really is no need for it unless you are going to age it for several months and even then you don't necessarily need it. Generally, the longer the beer sits with all that yeast the better.

 

[DannPM]

A secondary is not needed unless you are racking over fruit, inoculating with bugs, etc.

To see if your beer is ready check the density rather than time. Once you can get a consistent gravity reading over multiple days from the primary, you are good to package.

 

[Warped04]

First of all. Airlock activity is not representative of what is going on inside the fermentor, cue Revvy.

Salute to the Revvy.

I know im supposed to wait 5-7 days or so but i was wondering when to transfer based off airlock action?

Like itsme said, you don't go based off of airlock activity. Nor a set time. Beer is done when it's done. I usually secondary my beers even though it isn't necessary but because I like to age them a bit in a smaller vessel.

I usually leave my beers in the primary after the fermentation for a bit for everything to get "cleaned up" so to speak.

 

[Salmonhouse]

Short answer: leave it in primary until you reach your target gravity.

Then secondary, bottle or whatever. This might mean you need a wine theif or a turkey baster, but checking your gravity is an necessary part of homebrew so get on with it already.

 

[Hokie_Brewer]

3-4 weeks in primary and your beer will be great!

 

[Sonymon]

ok thanks i have a hydrometer and a wine thief and i would normally check the gravity at the beginning and end of fermentation. Just never used gravity reading to determine when fermentation is complete

thank you guys!!!

 

[williamnave]

+1 salute to Revvy.

I too am among the converted. I haven't secondaried anything in a while, and my beers are better for it.

Just friendly advice, but you might wanna try 4-5 weeks primary then straight to keg/bottle. It's nice getting better beer from less work!