Stuck, dead or just resting?

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 4:31 pm

I'm having some concerns with my first batch in secondary fermentation. I realize it's difficult to diagnose, since every beer is different, but I hope someone here can reassure me

After a vigorous 48 hours of primary fermentation, I transferred to secondary. This kept up a steady stream of gas for about 4 days. For the last four days, it has been dormant (no activity or even pressure on the airlock). There is considerable beige sediment at the bottom of the carboy. It looks like yeast that has settled out. I had avoided most of the trub when I transferred.

I used a mixture of amber and pale malts. The yeast was Safbrew T-58. The fermenting corner of the basement is 20-21 degrees and the fermenter has been up off the concrete floor.

So, what do you guys think? Done this early? Stuck? Resting? Pining for the fiords?

rudolf · Post by **rudolf** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 5:04 pm

Relax, it's totally normal for it to finish that quickly. Take a hydrometer sample & see where it is. Assuming it's around 1.012 give it a few days to condition and then bottle it.

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 5:43 pm

Thanks, that's what I wanted to believe!

Hopefully there will be enough yeast for bottle conditioning.

rudolf · Post by **rudolf** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 6:19 pm

Tapsucker wrote:Thanks, that's what I wanted to believe!

Hopefully there will be enough yeast for bottle conditioning.

I promise you there is more than enough. Just because it looks clear doesn't mean there aren't still billions and billions of yeast cells floating around in there.

-rudy

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:00 pm

Why would you transfer to secondary after 48 hours?

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 9:51 pm

markaberrant wrote:Why would you transfer to secondary after 48 hours?

I wanted to clear out the trub I didn't get on initial transfer and give it a good conditioning with dry hopping. Also, I did my primary in a bucket with lots of room, but the quiet stage made sense to do in the carboy with less air. My bad?

bufordsbest · Post by **bufordsbest** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 10:00 pm

i think transferring after only 48 hours of fermentation is a little too quick.

don't worry about getting it off the trub so soon (if at all) and dry hopping so soon into fermentation is probably going to scrub a lot of the aromatics out of the beer. (exactly what you don't want)

as for the fermentation you should be fine, generally ales will ferment down close to fg within 4-5 days/

phirleh · Post by **phirleh** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 10:04 pm

bufordsbest wrote:i think transferring after only 48 hours of fermentation is a little too quick.

don't worry about getting it off the trub so soon (if at all) and dry hopping so soon into fermentation is probably going to scrub a lot of the aromatics out of the beer. (exactly what you don't want)

as for the fermentation you should be fine, generally ales will ferment down close to fg within 4-5 days/

Yeah, I think give it a week or at least 5 days in primary. I usually give mine that and then a week in secondary for dry-hopping.

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 12:14 pm

There is almost no valid reason for using a secondary, unless you don't keg and need to dry hop. You may also need a secondary if you are adding fruit.

But regardless, you shouldn't rack off the yeast until fermentation is complete, the yeast has dropped, and you've checked the gravity to ensure to got the attenuation you expected.

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:03 am

I just realized it would be a good time to provide a follow up. So the verdict is:

- Yeah I racked off too early (what else is new, ask the wife).

- Secondary hammered along for 12 days.

- Primed bottled and ended up with a damn fine beer after another couple weeks conditioning. Not exactly what I was going for, but good none the less. It was my first brew after all, so it was BRILLLIANT.

Lessons learned:

- Keep trying!

- Dry hopping can take over a beer. In this case there is too much aroma forward hops v.s. the bitterness.

- I hate bottling. Don't mind un-bottling, but really gotta investigate kegs.

rudolf · Post by **rudolf** » Fri Nov 19, 2010 10:15 am

Great to hear!

A quick note on bottling v. kegging: Kegging is easier & takes less time BUT the more you bottle the better you'll get at it. I seem to recall my first bottling session taking like 3 hours. Now it takes a little over an hour.

-rudy

elproducto · Post by **elproducto** » Fri Nov 19, 2010 2:03 pm

Tapsucker wrote:I just realized it would be a good time to provide a follow up. So the verdict is:

- Yeah I racked off too early (what else is new, ask the wife).

- Secondary hammered along for 12 days.

- Primed bottled and ended up with a damn fine beer after another couple weeks conditioning. Not exactly what I was going for, but good none the less. It was my first brew after all, so it was BRILLLIANT.

Lessons learned:

- Keep trying!

- Dry hopping can take over a beer. In this case there is too much aroma forward hops v.s. the bitterness.

- I hate bottling. Don't mind un-bottling, but really gotta investigate kegs.

Congrats. Don't worry too much about the aroma, it will fade reasonably quickly.

As Papazian said RDWHAHB

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Fri Nov 19, 2010 2:33 pm

rudolf wrote:Great to hear!

A quick note on bottling v. kegging: Kegging is easier & takes less time BUT the more you bottle the better you'll get at it. I seem to recall my first bottling session taking like 3 hours. Now it takes a little over an hour.

-rudy

Yeah, I may have overstated that. It was really just an excuse to justify a kegging system, which I have now just gone and ordered, so end of discussion.