When to move beer to second fermentation stage

[garym58]

Hello

I've been using those ready made kits to make beer and it recommends to move the beer from the 5 gallon bucket to a glass carboy after 5-7 days. I noticed on my last batched when I took the lid off the bucket after 7 days that the beer was still bubbling a bit. I'm guessing that this is the yeast still at work. Was it ok to move the beer to the carboy like the directions said to do or should I have left it in the bucket a bit longer?

Gary

 

[brewtx]

The only way your going to know how the fermentation process is going is to check the gravity. The airlock lies. Trust me. Do you know what the original gravity is and do you know what the final gravity is supposed to be? It is ideal to have the beer done fermenting before you put it into the secondary.

Best

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,it's always best for the beer to be at FG before racking. Otherwise it could stall out.

 

[Upthewazzu]

Yeah the kit instructions aren't always a good guideline. I think I made the mistake of racking to secondary too early with my Kolsch kit that I made a couple of weeks ago.

10 days is probably a good "earliest" time frame. Although some will be done much quicker and some will take much longer.

 

[sabo38]

I am only 1 week into my first batch, but I am planning on doing 2 week primary, 2 week secondary, 2 week bottle conditioning at 70 degreesish and then in the fridge it goes. The only reason I am secondaring is so I can get another batch going in my primary. And If I get a clearer beer from the secondary it's really just a bonus for me.

 

[unionrdr]

Make sure the beer is at FG before racking. You don't want it to stall out. I leave mine in primary so that after FG,it has 3-7 days to clean up & settle out clear or slightly misty. And bottle carbing & conditioning is generally 3-4 weeks at 70F or a bit higher. I like at least 1 week fridge time to let any chill haze settle out,& get decent head & carbonation. 2 weeks for thicker head,& longer lasting,fine bubbled carbonation.

 

[BWN]

Or just leave it in the primary for a month you will get the same results. Maybe a little clearer and you lose less beer😀

 

[DenverUSMC]

I regularly leave mine in the primary for 3-5 weeks then transfer. I don't like to stick even sanitized equipment into my beers so I like to keep gravity readings to a minimum.

 

[garym58]

Thanks for all the replies. I will let let my next batch sit in the primary longer. The FG according to the instructions was in the range its suppose to be but I did notice there wasn't any bubbling going on in the air lock like the others I made. Does opening up primary while the yeast is still working effect the fermentation any?

 

[unionrdr]

As long as you didn't roughly move the beer around inside the FV. There's a layer of co2 in there protecting the beer. As long as you don't disturb it,you're fine,since co2 is a heavier gas than o2.