I started brewing a beer in my primary fermenter almost exactly 48 hours ago and in the first 24 hours fermentation was very active and the foam actually came up and hit the lid and theres about 8-10 inches airspace. Now its already died down to under an inch of foam. Should i transfer it to the carboy now or still give it a day or 2?
When to transfer to secondary
- Thread starter Spohl1
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk:
McGarnigle
Well-Known Member
No, you shouldn't transfer now, and most likely you shouldn't transfer ever. HBT Forums are pretty anti-secondary, and for good reason.
But if you needed to free up a carboy, then I might give it a few days and rack to secondary.
But if you needed to free up a carboy, then I might give it a few days and rack to secondary.
McGarnigle
Well-Known Member
No, I'd leave it in the pail. The loose lid won't hurt. If you had no lid, at all well, yeah, that would be a problem.
Just don't keep lifting the lid, which would let the CO2 blanket float away.
Secondaries are considered advisable if you're racking on to fruit or oak chips, or doing a really big beer that won't bottle for a very long time, or if you need to free up a bucket.
During secondary, all that's happening is the yeast is falling to the bottom of the fermenter. It can do that in primary. The muck at the bottom of the pail won't hurt your beer (unless maybe you leave it there for 6 months or something like that).
The downside is, every time you move your beer you risk (a) contamination and (b) oxidation. So it's usually not considered worth it to use a secondary (though some old-timers might disagree).
Just don't keep lifting the lid, which would let the CO2 blanket float away.
Secondaries are considered advisable if you're racking on to fruit or oak chips, or doing a really big beer that won't bottle for a very long time, or if you need to free up a bucket.
During secondary, all that's happening is the yeast is falling to the bottom of the fermenter. It can do that in primary. The muck at the bottom of the pail won't hurt your beer (unless maybe you leave it there for 6 months or something like that).
The downside is, every time you move your beer you risk (a) contamination and (b) oxidation. So it's usually not considered worth it to use a secondary (though some old-timers might disagree).
Similar threads
