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Best time to rack into secondary
When is it time to rack a brew into the secondary? Is it according to its gravity?
I am finally at a point with my homebrew experiences where I have questions about the proper timing of everything!
Thank you for your help!
I rack into the secondary based on the fermentation activity. When the bubbler slows sufficiently, I make my move (Usually I wait a little longer than most people, I guess...my notes say 2 bubbles per minute)
Most references say three to five days, based on fermentation activity. The best thing to do is watch for a significant slowing of the bubbler activity, and then pull to a secondary.
I followed the 1-2-3 rule
1 week in the primary
2 weeks in the secondary
3 weeks conditioning in bottles
The real rule, though, is to let the beer tell you when to rack to the secondary. Gravity is one indication as is fermentation activity. If you have waited one week, but you still see a lot of activity in your airlock, you might want to wait a bit longer. On the other hand, if its only been 5 days and you see practically no activity in your airlock, you're probably ready to transfer to the secondary (although waiting an extra 2 days shouldn't hurt anything).
Super! Thank you! I have been transferring it after the fermentation slows, but I started to wonder if I should be timing it to a certain change in the gravity.
Sounds like it does not need to be so exact, and, when in doubt, wait an extra day or 2.
Thank you.
one thing to note: if you're fermenting in a bucket, you shouldn't use airlock activity as your only guide. bucket lids are notorious for not always sealing, so your co2 can very easily escape out the lid and therefore not show any activity. this isn't to say buckets are bad, you're getting a ton of co2 released during fermentation, so a not-quite-all-the-way-sealed lid is nothing to worry about...
First post and first time I've thought of brewing for quite a while. But that's another story. I am an "all glass" brewer, and this racking to secondary dilemma is one reason I stick with glass. I pay all my attention to the beer. When the obvious bubbling has stopped and the beer begins to clear, I rack to secondary. There is just too much variation from batch to batch for me to trust any other method!
I never rack in under 7 days, even if it's done in 3 days. Figure the extra days don't hurt it at all and a couple of times I've seen no activity for several days and opened up the bucket to find a nice inch layer of krausen still on there. So I usually do 7 days, but might stretch it out a few more days depending on whether or not I have the time to rack it to secondary.
DT
Never use your airlock activity as a sign that fermentation is complete.
I wait a week and take a gravity reading. I use promash to calculate my attenuation percentage and if it's not low enough, I'll wait another 3 days and take another gravity reading. Once your gravity reading tells you that fermentation is complete (or mostly complete) then you transfer.
I agree with all other posters, CARBOY, the activity of the airlock is not a reliable indication of fermentation activity. Your best bet is to invest in a hydrometer or brix refractometer, which can tell you when fermentation has come to an end or if there is a stuck fermentation. Yeast settling to the bottom is a good indication but some yeast strains are not highly flocculant (settling) and this is a difficult way to gauge with barley wines, doppelbocks, and such.
Racking to the secondary is a huge step and you cannot neglect it or else your beer will not taste excellent, it will have a vegetable-like finish due to the yeast eating itself.
Tim
Wait, now I am confused. If I am to wait until fermentation is complete before racking into the secondary, then what would be the point of the secondary? If fermentation were complete, why would I not just transfer it to bottles and keg? I do use a hydrometer, and I would love to know what kind of reading I would be looking for to determine that it is time to rack into a secondary. (Sorry, I should have mentioned that in my first post, oops)
For the most part, I am asking this about regular beers : ales and porters, etc. But, I am also concerned with other brews that ferment for a much longer period of time, definitely more than 7 days, such as meads or beers brewed with slow fermenting sugars, etc.
I would really appreciate a scientific answer, if there is one, because, as I stated, I am already racking to a secondary after the initial fermentation has slowed, by simply watching the airlock. Oh, and I am also an "all glass brewer", so no bucket.
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