Secondary

[Jase]

Hi There,

My NSW Xmas Case brew, a Cascade APA, is in secondary atm, in fact, its the first time I have racked into secondary, I normally rack straight into a keg and cc for a week before gassing.

I have noticed that there is no activity happening in secondary. This doesnt seem normal. What should I expect???

Cheers,
Jase

 

[shmick]

Hi There,

My NSW Xmas Case brew, a Cascade APA, is in secondary atm, in fact, its the first time I have racked into secondary, I normally rack straight into a keg and cc for a week before gassing.

I have noticed that there is no activity happening in secondary. This doesnt seem normal. What should I expect???

Cheers,
Jase

[post="84353"][/post]​

Perfectly ok Jase - primary fermantation is finished and it's just conditioning.
You may see the odd bubble from dissolved CO2 coming out of solution but not much.

I usually rack to 2ndry just before primary is finished (after 4-6 days) so there is still enough CO2 produced to expell the air in the headspace. Personal choice though.

 

[Ziggy-san]

Jase -

Secondary fermentation is a bit of a misnomer. Its more of a conditioning period (akin to what you did in kegs before) that takes place after primary fermentation. You can use it for lagering or rests (such as diacetyl) and other processes that basically improve the flavor of your beer and help it mature. You can also 'oak' the beer by adding chips...

It would be a true secondary fermentation if you added more fermentables, such as fruit, to the batch.

Basically, its a period where the beer sits in bulk and during which you can modify its flavor with rests, conditioning or additivies, and during which it will drop bright.

 

[Steve]

I've never had any activity in secondary. It'll be fine Jase.

 

[DrewCarey82]

With finings is it better to dissolve them or throw them straight in?

 

[Steve]

Never used them Drew sorry. 7 days in secondary and then 4 weeks conditioning in bottle leaves my brews cystal clear.

 

[ryanator]

DrewCarey82,

If you are going to use finings, dissolve them in water first. Without doing this, they will just sit on top of the brew for ages and go lumpy.

 

[tangent]

after lagering all my beers including the ales, all of my beers now pour beautifully clear and have a better finish so i've never tried finings again.
(I also rack earlyish like shmick so I still get a few bubbles)

 

[peas_and_corn]

I used finings once and didn't dissolve them... they made no difference because of that.

oh well... live and learn.

 

[Jye]

I recently kegged a CPA clone (unfortunately was infected) and an APA, both had gelatine added into the secondary and the CPA was crystal clear but the APA is like mud. They were both CC for over 2 weeks after a week in the secondary, so Im still undecided on the benefits.

 

[ayellayen]

I'm doing my first pretty hardcore (for me anyway) secondary ferm. After about a week with no activity, I woke this morning to find the airlock occasionaly bubbling, and little bubbles of cabonation peppering the top of the brew.
This is normal yeah? I'd planned to bottle tomorrow. Anything I should take into account as I do? Less priming Sugar? Wrap each glass bottle in it's own towel just incase they decide to detonate on me? Throw the entire secondary fermenter out the window and dive behind the couch?

 

[muga]

Take a hydrometer reading, note the result and then the following day do another - if the result has not changed then it's ready to bottle and there will be no problem.

If the reading has dropped, then leave it in the secondary for another day and take a reading, wait till it reads the same reading for 2 or 3 days before bottling it.

 

[NRB]

to find the airlock occasionaly bubbling, and little bubbles of cabonation peppering the top of the brew.
This is normal yeah?

It's most likely dissolved CO2 coming out of solution. If your FG is stable it's safe to bottle.