Secondary To Early

[duffman35]

Hi recently did my first ag biab had it in the primary for 14 days then rack into the secondary . Started out at 1.058 fermenting a 16 degrees . I broke my hydrometer just after i made this brew and living in a rural town could not get hold on one . I thought it should be right but check it today and is only read 1.022 in the secondary . I think one of my problem was that the brewmate said it was 16 but i think it got much lower . Ive taken it out of the fridge to warm up a little and given it a few shakes no movement 12hrs later . What should i do i have a spare packet of yeast can i try repitch or should i wait is 1.022 to high this type of brew .. I dont want to stuff up my first one . I can already hear my wife in my ear , how much you waste on that one !!!!


This brown spot needs a little H2-oh, yeah!

 

[Nick JD]

Hi recently did my first ag biab had it in the primary for 14 days then rack into the secondary . Started out at 1.058 fermenting a 16 degrees . I broke my hydrometer just after i made this brew and living in a rural town could not get hold on one . I thought it should be right but check it today and is only read 1.022 in the secondary . I think one of my problem was that the brewmate said it was 16 but i think it got much lower . Ive taken it out of the fridge to warm up a little and given it a few shakes no movement 12hrs later . What should i do i have a spare packet of yeast can i try repitch or should i wait is 1.022 to high this type of brew .. I dont want to stuff up my first one . I can already hear my wife in my ear , how much you waste on that one !!!!


This brown spot needs a little H2-oh, yeah!

Is 1.022 too high for what type of brew. I'm guessing it's a Belgian Triple, or a XXXX light clone, or a wheat beer using rice and dog poop.

Throw us a frikin bone, dude.

 

[Pourmeanother]

hey thats funnnnny

 

[duffman35]

Is 1.022 too high for what type of brew. I'm guessing it's a Belgian Triple, or a XXXX light clone, or a wheat beer using rice and dog poop.

Throw us a frikin bone, dude.
[/qu



oke



Mate i came here for answer not some smart idiot to try and make a joke If you dont have anything helpful dont waste my time, or your boyfriend you should be cooking him dinner right now ...

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Whilst his wording may not be to your liking, he's right.

No mention of mash temp which has an effect.

No mention of yeast, which will have a bearing.

No mention of type of beer you are brewing, which may require a 1.022 or not. I deliberately brewed a dark beer that finished at 1.022, and it worked very well. I meant it to be that. But I also had a pale ale that I deliberately aimed to finish low - it finished at 1.002.

It's like asking how long a piece of string is.

More info, and I'm sure the forum will be happy to help you out.

Goomba

 

[TmC]

Dude, he is trying to help, how can he respond when you haven't given him anything to respond to. What type of beer are you making, ingredients, etc etc.

 

[Crusty]

Hi duff,
As Nick was trying to say, what beer have you made & what yeast have you used.
Hovering at 4.8% now, what FG were you expecting it to get down to?
It may be finished or stalled.

Cheers

 

[felten]

Nick has a point even, if it is not worded very well for a newcomer to the forums. We need to know what ingredients and process you used in order to help you.

[edit] that's what I get for not refreshing the thread before posting.

 

[Wolfy]

What should i do i have a spare packet of yeast can i try repitch or should i wait is 1.022 to high this type of brew .. I dont want to stuff up my first one

At about or a little below 16degC you will not have killed the yeast, however racking off the yeast too early may have slowed down the process, most likely if you expected a lower FG, you need to give it more time, and if it's an Ale yeast you may need to keep it a little warmer.
Most conventional wisdom now days is that a secondary ferment is not required and does not provide any benefits and instead poses a number of disadvantages - such as the one you may have encountered.

But as others have said, without knowing the yeast, style of beer or ingredients, it's almost impossible to provide any sound advice.

 

[sean_0]

Most conventional wisdom now days is that a secondary ferment is not required and does not provide any benefits and instead poses a number of disadvantages - such as the one you may have encountered.

Do you have any links or other info on this? I recently got back to brewing and in the past would have moved to secondary for a few weeks without really considering the benefits/drawbacks. I'm interested to read a discussion of it if you have some more info.

 

[super_simian]

Is 1.022 too high for what type of brew. I'm guessing it's a Belgian Triple, or a XXXX light clone, or a wheat beer using rice and dog poop.

Throw us a frikin bone, dude.

oke
Mate i came here for answer not some smart idiot to try and make a joke If you dont have anything helpful dont waste my time, or your boyfriend you should be cooking him dinner right now ...

Well, in case you couldn't tell FROM THE SMILEY that Nick JD was being jovial, i.e. JOKING AROUND, and humorously prodding you for a bit more info so we could try to help you, I'll ask agin, slowly this time:

WHAT.KIND.OF.BEER?
WHAT.TYPE.OF.YEAST?
WHAT.MASH.TEMP?

Also, keep your homophobia for your boofhead mates and and off the forum.

P.S. Capital letters, apostrophes and commas can really make your posts much more readable. And it's "too early" not "to early."

 

[Xarb]

Do you have any links or other info on this? I recently got back to brewing and in the past would have moved to secondary for a few weeks without really considering the benefits/drawbacks. I'm interested to read a discussion of it if you have some more info.

I think the basic feeling is that leaving your beer in primary on the yeast cake doesn't have any undesirable effects (autolysis) for a few months and moving it to a secondary vessel (note this isn't actually secondary fermentation) increases the risk of introducing an infection.

 

[[email protected]]

I think the basic feeling is that leaving your beer in primary on the yeast cake doesn't have any undesirable effects (autolysis) for a few months and moving it to a secondary vessel (note this isn't actually secondary fermentation) increases the risk of introducing an infection.

Is there really much risk of infection in a secondary? You have an environment with high alcohol content and very little sugar remaining. What beasties can really survive in there besides yeast that have been artificially selected over a long time to have the alcohol tolerance to survive in beer?

I'm not saying this to have a go at you, I'm actually curious as to know if it is actually possible to get an infection at this late stage and if there are airborn nasties that can survive in beer.

For me the discovery of secondary fermentation led to the biggest decrease in cloudiness in my beer and I'm a big fan.

 

[pimpsqueak]

For me the discovery of secondary fermentation led to the biggest decrease in cloudiness in my beer and I'm a big fan.

+1

I'm a sanitation nazi when it comes to racking to a secondary though. Purely paranoia driven...

 

[Swinging Beef]

Easiest infection to get is Lacto or Brett crawling in from floating around the air near your brew gear, as it happily lives on unmilled grain.
They will chew down on your previously 'fully fermented' beer like nobody's business.

FGs of under 1.000 and that fabulous flavour of Orval in every beer you make.

 

[felten]

Is there really much risk of infection in a secondary?

acetobacter, brettanomyces, wild yeast, pediococcus. It's definitely possible but if you take proper precautions it shouldn't happen.


I think the point Wolfy was making was that you shouldn't transfer to a 2ndary before you've hit your FG.

Even after hitting your FG the large yeast mass in the bottom is still clearing up compounds it created during the ferment.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Rack to a bottling fermenter/bucket. And if you need to rack to secondary and then to bottling again, then there is that risk of infection.

My first and only infection came when I racked to secondary too early - I don't think that was the primary cause (or even a cause), but I've learned my lesson.

I prefer my beer clear, but I am quite happy to rack onto my priming sugar in the bottling process.

I do stand to be corrected on this - I think it's a good thread to keep a discussion up and I'd like to learn some new things - racking is one of those things I have only done in the last year, and even then, not always (eg beers with significant wheat - you can't get them very clear, racking or otherwise).

Goomba

 

[Xarb]

I'm not saying this to have a go at you, I'm actually curious as to know if it is actually possible to get an infection at this late stage and if there are airborn nasties that can survive in beer.

It didn't sound like you were having a go! Discussion is good even with different opinions. :icon_cheers:

That being said I was more repeating what I have read around these forums than speaking from personal experience. Personally I racked one of my last batches to secondary as I wanted to free up my other fermenter to start a new batch. When doing so I had the same thought as you re: alcohol content but then read in How To Brew (I think) that some bacteria actually thrive on the alcohol and it helps them reproduce more rapidly! I'm at work at the moment so can't look up what he said specifically.

If it works for you then I don't see why you should stop!

 

[Swinging Beef]

Im pretty sure that no bacteria you are likely to encounter in brewing thrive on alcohol.
Some bacteria are more tolerant to alcohols than yeasts are, which means they will be more resiliant in the same alcohol rich environment than the yeast.

Either way... 2nday is a good way to clear your home brew providing you follow your normal cleaning and sanitisation processes. I think, though, if you plan to keg your beer, its a bit of a waste of time.

 

[[email protected]]

I usually get a bit of sludge in the bottom of my secondary, not much but still some. When kegging without a secondary I'm guessing this sludge would still cloud the beer. My guess would be it would be worse then in bottles because it will end up covering the pickup pipe, while in a bottle you can atleast pour gently to avoid it.