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Date: 02 Nov 2006 21:27:26
From: Tony M
Subject: racked to secondary too early?
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I have had my first brew in a primary bucket since Sun morning. It's a
Pete's Wicked clone from midwest made with WL California ale yeast. A
starter was used and fermentation started within 6 hours of pitching.
Counting Sunday, it's been in the bucket for 5 days. Tonight, I decided to
rack it into a secondary glass carboy since the airlock activity slowed down
to about 1 bubble every 5 seconds. A little early I know but I just wanted
to see it. As best I can tell my hydrometer the readings are as such:
specific gravity is 1.023, ABV is 3.25%, balling scale is 7. (BTW, I forgot
to take a gravity reading after the boil so I don't have an SG) My question
is did I mess it up by racking to secondary too soon? I tasted the sample I
took for the hydro reading and it tasted really sweet and the color was
almost as dark as when it was boiled. My main concern is will it have enough
yeast left in suspension to finish the fermentation process. How long should
I wait before bottling?
Thanks,
Tony
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Date: 03 Nov 2006 16:43:02
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: racked to secondary too early?
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On Thu, 2 Nov 2006 21:27:26 -0800, <fakeemail@null.com > wrote:
> I have had my first brew in a primary bucket since Sun morning. It's a
> Pete's Wicked clone from midwest made with WL California ale yeast. A
> starter was used and fermentation started within 6 hours of pitching.
> Counting Sunday, it's been in the bucket for 5 days. Tonight, I decided to
> rack it into a secondary glass carboy since the airlock activity slowed down
> to about 1 bubble every 5 seconds. A little early I know but I just wanted
> to see it. As best I can tell my hydrometer the readings are as such:
> specific gravity is 1.023, ABV is 3.25%, balling scale is 7. (BTW, I forgot
> to take a gravity reading after the boil so I don't have an SG) My question
> is did I mess it up by racking to secondary too soon?
No such thing as racking to a secondary at the wrong time. You can rack
to secondary whenever you want. Personally I like to rack to the secondary
after the krausen falls, which basically means that the most active
fermentation is over but there is still a little bit of activity left. You
can rack earlier or later than that, however. It doesn't hurt anything.
The one that timing is important on is bottling, not the secondary.
> I tasted the sample I
> took for the hydro reading and it tasted really sweet and the color was
> almost as dark as when it was boiled. My main concern is will it have enough
> yeast left in suspension to finish the fermentation process.
It'll have plenty of yeast to finish. Generally, yeast are in suspension
throughout the beer during fermentation. The earlier you rack to
secondary, the *more* yeast you'll have. It just means that it'll have
to be in the secondary longer in order for it to have time to finish and
clear.
> How long should I wait before bottling?
There's no way to answer that based on a timeline. Wait until the beer
is done, IE the SG readings stop changing over a several day span. Nobody
can tell you ahead of time how long that will take.
John.
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Date: 03 Nov 2006 17:53:28
From: Dan Logcher
Subject: Re: racked to secondary too early?
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John 'Shaggy' Kolesar wrote:
> On Thu, 2 Nov 2006 21:27:26 -0800, <fakeemail@null.com> wrote:
>
>>I have had my first brew in a primary bucket since Sun morning. It's a
>>Pete's Wicked clone from midwest made with WL California ale yeast. A
>>starter was used and fermentation started within 6 hours of pitching.
>>Counting Sunday, it's been in the bucket for 5 days. Tonight, I decided to
>>rack it into a secondary glass carboy since the airlock activity slowed down
>>to about 1 bubble every 5 seconds. A little early I know but I just wanted
>>to see it. As best I can tell my hydrometer the readings are as such:
>>specific gravity is 1.023, ABV is 3.25%, balling scale is 7. (BTW, I forgot
>>to take a gravity reading after the boil so I don't have an SG) My question
>>is did I mess it up by racking to secondary too soon?
>
>
> No such thing as racking to a secondary at the wrong time. You can rack
> to secondary whenever you want. Personally I like to rack to the secondary
> after the krausen falls, which basically means that the most active
> fermentation is over but there is still a little bit of activity left. You
> can rack earlier or later than that, however. It doesn't hurt anything.
I racked a Honey Pale Ale last night and was surprised to see an 1" thick
krausen hadn't fallen yet. I started the batch Saturday afternoon with
6# LME and 2# Honey.. I usually go a whole week before racking, at that
time krausen has fallen and the yeast cake has settled. Last night it had
not settled much.
Hopefully a good amount of yeast will settle out in secondary.
--
Dan
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Date: 03 Nov 2006 06:04:10
From: alebrewer
Subject: Re: racked to secondary too early?
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Tony M wrote:
> I have had my first brew in a primary bucket since Sun morning. It's a
> Pete's Wicked clone from midwest made with WL California ale yeast. A
> starter was used and fermentation started within 6 hours of pitching.
> Counting Sunday, it's been in the bucket for 5 days. Tonight, I decided to
> rack it into a secondary glass carboy since the airlock activity slowed down
> to about 1 bubble every 5 seconds. A little early I know but I just wanted
> to see it. As best I can tell my hydrometer the readings are as such:
> specific gravity is 1.023, ABV is 3.25%, balling scale is 7. (BTW, I forgot
> to take a gravity reading after the boil so I don't have an SG) My question
> is did I mess it up by racking to secondary too soon? I tasted the sample I
> took for the hydro reading and it tasted really sweet and the color was
> almost as dark as when it was boiled. My main concern is will it have enough
> yeast left in suspension to finish the fermentation process. How long should
> I wait before bottling?
> Thanks,
> Tony
SInce you used a kit, post your recipie and we can estimate the OG
farily accurately.
As far as racking to the secondary too early, I am not sure that is
possible. I usually rack to the secondary just as soon as the
fermentation has slowed to the point that excessive krausen formation
isn't likely. My thinking is that I want to make the transfer while
the fermentation is still active so I don't have to worry about
oxidation problems (active yeast will metabolize any oxygen present).
I also will often not do as good a job of removing the hops and break
material from the wort, so after three days or so, it is safely settled
to the bottom of the primary and it gets my beer off that stuff as
quickly as possible. But, the only real danger of racking to the
secondary too soon is that you may build a krausen on top and, since
you should have very little headspace in your secondary fermenter, it
may blow through the airlock, making a mess.
Anyway, you need to wait until your gravity readings stay the same for
several days before you bottle. If you bottle too soon, you will have
bottle bombs.
You really want to aviod bottle bombs.
ab
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Date: 04 Nov 2006 12:15:35
From: Tony M
Subject: Re: racked to secondary too early?
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"alebrewer" <alebrewer@wt.net > wrote in message
news:1162562650.189187.112520@m7g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
>
> Tony M wrote:
>> I have had my first brew in a primary bucket since Sun morning. It's a
>> Pete's Wicked clone from midwest made with WL California ale yeast. A
>> starter was used and fermentation started within 6 hours of pitching.
>> Counting Sunday, it's been in the bucket for 5 days. Tonight, I decided
>> to
>> rack it into a secondary glass carboy since the airlock activity slowed
>> down
>> to about 1 bubble every 5 seconds. A little early I know but I just
>> wanted
>> to see it. As best I can tell my hydrometer the readings are as such:
>> specific gravity is 1.023, ABV is 3.25%, balling scale is 7. (BTW, I
>> forgot
>> to take a gravity reading after the boil so I don't have an SG) My
>> question
>> is did I mess it up by racking to secondary too soon? I tasted the sample
>> I
>> took for the hydro reading and it tasted really sweet and the color was
>> almost as dark as when it was boiled. My main concern is will it have
>> enough
>> yeast left in suspension to finish the fermentation process. How long
>> should
>> I wait before bottling?
>> Thanks,
>> Tony
>
> SInce you used a kit, post your recipie and we can estimate the OG
> farily accurately.
>
> As far as racking to the secondary too early, I am not sure that is
> possible. I usually rack to the secondary just as soon as the
> fermentation has slowed to the point that excessive krausen formation
> isn't likely. My thinking is that I want to make the transfer while
> the fermentation is still active so I don't have to worry about
> oxidation problems (active yeast will metabolize any oxygen present).
> I also will often not do as good a job of removing the hops and break
> material from the wort, so after three days or so, it is safely settled
> to the bottom of the primary and it gets my beer off that stuff as
> quickly as possible. But, the only real danger of racking to the
> secondary too soon is that you may build a krausen on top and, since
> you should have very little headspace in your secondary fermenter, it
> may blow through the airlock, making a mess.
This is exactly what happened!
>
> Anyway, you need to wait until your gravity readings stay the same for
> several days before you bottle. If you bottle too soon, you will have
> bottle bombs.
>
> You really want to aviod bottle bombs.
>
> ab
>
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Date: 02 Nov 2006 23:58:56
From: Washu
Subject: Re: racked to secondary too early?
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Tony M wrote:
> I have had my first brew in a primary bucket since Sun morning. It's a
> Pete's Wicked clone from midwest made with WL California ale yeast. A
> starter was used and fermentation started within 6 hours of pitching.
> Counting Sunday, it's been in the bucket for 5 days. Tonight, I decided to
> rack it into a secondary glass carboy since the airlock activity slowed down
> to about 1 bubble every 5 seconds. A little early I know but I just wanted
> to see it. As best I can tell my hydrometer the readings are as such:
> specific gravity is 1.023, ABV is 3.25%, balling scale is 7. (BTW, I forgot
> to take a gravity reading after the boil so I don't have an SG) My question
> is did I mess it up by racking to secondary too soon? I tasted the sample I
> took for the hydro reading and it tasted really sweet and the color was
> almost as dark as when it was boiled. My main concern is will it have enough
> yeast left in suspension to finish the fermentation process. How long should
> I wait before bottling?
> Thanks,
> Tony
You're gonna hear it from someone, might as well be me. Bubbles are not
reliable as an indicator of fermentation. Always check your gravity.
Sounds like you got a good start with a great lag time. I don't know
how warm you fermented but if say 70f your primary was over in three to
five days anyway so don't see any problem racking to 2nd. No problem on
not taking your OG if you will just post what the ingrediants you used
were someone will calculate it for you. One question, without an OG
reading how did you calculate your ABV? Far as having enough yeast, you
have at least a couple of months before you have to worry about it,
depending of course on the recipe, but since it sounds like this is not
a monster brew you're cool far a while. When to bottle? hmmm...
obviously after the gravity stops dropping, I generally give my beers
two or more weeks in the 2nd.
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Date: 04 Nov 2006 12:13:56
From: Tony M
Subject: Re: racked to secondary too early?
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"Washu" <rgrantha@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:1162540736.619273.13600@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> Tony M wrote:
>> I have had my first brew in a primary bucket since Sun morning. It's a
>> Pete's Wicked clone from midwest made with WL California ale yeast. A
>> starter was used and fermentation started within 6 hours of pitching.
>> Counting Sunday, it's been in the bucket for 5 days. Tonight, I decided
>> to
>> rack it into a secondary glass carboy since the airlock activity slowed
>> down
>> to about 1 bubble every 5 seconds. A little early I know but I just
>> wanted
>> to see it. As best I can tell my hydrometer the readings are as such:
>> specific gravity is 1.023, ABV is 3.25%, balling scale is 7. (BTW, I
>> forgot
>> to take a gravity reading after the boil so I don't have an SG) My
>> question
>> is did I mess it up by racking to secondary too soon? I tasted the sample
>> I
>> took for the hydro reading and it tasted really sweet and the color was
>> almost as dark as when it was boiled. My main concern is will it have
>> enough
>> yeast left in suspension to finish the fermentation process. How long
>> should
>> I wait before bottling?
>> Thanks,
>> Tony
>
> You're gonna hear it from someone, might as well be me. Bubbles are not
> reliable as an indicator of fermentation. Always check your gravity.
> Sounds like you got a good start with a great lag time. I don't know
> how warm you fermented but if say 70f your primary was over in three to
> five days anyway so don't see any problem racking to 2nd. No problem on
> not taking your OG if you will just post what the ingrediants you used
> were someone will calculate it for you. One question, without an OG
> reading how did you calculate your ABV? Far as having enough yeast, you
> have at least a couple of months before you have to worry about it,
> depending of course on the recipe, but since it sounds like this is not
> a monster brew you're cool far a while. When to bottle? hmmm...
> obviously after the gravity stops dropping, I generally give my beers
> two or more weeks in the 2nd.
>
Sorry about that. here are the ingredientss: 4 lbs. of Alexander's Pale malt
extract, 3 lbs. of Light dried malt extract, 12 oz. of Specialty grains, 1
oz of imported bittering hops, 1/2 oz of imported aroma hops, 1 tsp. Irish
moss, and White Labs California Ale 001 pitchable tube yeast. The first 24
hours the temp was around 75-78F(too hot in my closet) then I moved it into
the garage where the temp has stayed between 62-68F.
No worries about having enough yeast anymore. the next morning after racking
to secondary the headspace was completly full of krausen with the airlock
full of brown liquid. I cleaned the airlock and refilled with steril water
and the next day there was another blowout. I cleaned it again and since
then it's settled down alot. There is still a 1-2 inch thick foam layer on
top with a nice sediment layer on the bottom but it's not blowing out
anymore. I'll just have to be a little more patient next time or buy a
bigger glass carboy for primary.
The ABV was determined by the reading on my hydrometer. It has readings for
specific gravity, balling and ABV. I assumed that this was accurate but if
it's not please correct my assumption. Thanks, Tony
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Date: 06 Nov 2006 18:34:11
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: racked to secondary too early?
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On Sat, 4 Nov 2006 12:13:56 -0800, <fakeemail@null.com > wrote:
> I'll just have to be a little more patient next time or buy a
> bigger glass carboy for primary.
I like to use a 6.5 gallon primary and a 5 gallon secondary.
> The ABV was determined by the reading on my hydrometer. It has readings for
> specific gravity, balling and ABV. I assumed that this was accurate but if
> it's not please correct my assumption. Thanks, Tony
I'm not sure what that marking is on your hydrometer. You can't figure
out the ABV of beer with just a single reading. You need to know the OG
and FG and then plug them into a formula.
John.
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