Ready already?

Okay I whipped together a extract kit. The OG was 1.050 and this was 4/20 @ 10:00pm. Checked the next morning and it was very active sitting @ about 70deg. It is now as of 4/22 @ 12:30pm not very active about 4 out of 10 and it is @ 1.020. Is this thing ready for the secondary or what?

No.

Not very active is too active. 4 out of 10 what? Well, whatever it sounds far too active. You want it decidedly *in*active. If activity is measurable than it is too much.

Is 1.020 the target Final Gravity? You want it to reach *final* gravity before moving to secondary. And you want to verify that it *is* the final gravity by checking 3 days later to see that it didn't get any lower.

Also I am using one of those plastic buckets for fermenting and I was wondering is it accurate to take gravity readings from the bottom spigot? Going to transfer to a glass carboy for my secondary.

woozy said:

No.

Not very active is too active. 4 out of 10 what? Well, whatever it sounds far too active. You want it decidedly *in*active. If activity is measurable than it is too much.

Is 1.020 the target Final Gravity? You want it to reach *final* gravity before moving to secondary. And you want to verify that it *is* the final gravity by checking 3 days later to see that it didn't get any lower.

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On the instructions it says you want to move to the secondary just before fermentation ends?

^ What woozy said.

Also: is there any particular reason you plan on moving it to secondary? For most beers, you can simply keep it in primary until you are ready to bottle. Unless I'm doing a secondary fermentation with fruit or something, I like to leave most of my brews in primary for about a month and then prime/bottle. What was your recipe?

American Amber. I read that leaving the brew in a primary can bring out unwanted flavors to the brew sitting with the trub too long?

treefetty said:

On the instructions it says you want to move to the secondary just before fermentation ends?

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You'll have to get someone more experienced than I am to comment on that but two days really seems too soon from all I've read.

From these threads I've read and trust that 1) you don't want to transfer before fermentation is done and 2) transferring is completely optional anyway.

However, I am absolutely not experienced enough to be giving this sort of advice to others.

But unless someone more experienced than you or me gives advice otherwise, I'd give it at least another four days.

Did the kit give a time-frame as to when "just before fermentation" is likely to be?

If it were me, I would do the fermenting in the glass carboy until it was ready for bottling. Then I would add water/sugar solution for priming to the bucket and siphon the beer on top of it when you are ready to bottle.

Since you are already using the plastic bucket for a primary, do you have another bucket for bottling? If not, you may have to transfer to the carboy after you reach final gravity and it stays the same for 3+ days in order to free up your bucket for bottling later on.

treefetty said:

Also I am using one of those plastic buckets for fermenting and I was wondering is it accurate to take gravity readings from the bottom spigot? Going to transfer to a glass carboy for my secondary.

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That shouldn't make a difference at this point. When you brew there is often mixing problem that gives high or low gravities (depending on bottom or top sourcing) indicating the water and wort concentrate are poorly mixed. Once the yeast is added, it mixes it for you and the bad mix can be safely ignored.

NOW you are measuring well mixed beer, and it doesn't matter.

As to your original question. it is day 2 or 3 form pitch? I'd expect maybe aroudn day 5 to 7. Early on the gravity changes are the quickest, and slow down as it get closer to FG (final gravity). And usually it is in the 5 to 7 day range depending on temps, og, yeast cells pitched.

With an OG of 1.050 I'd expect an FG of 1.013. Personally I don't use secondaries, but that isn't your question, and I'm not going to go further on this post as to why. Give it a few more days then test again and rack. look for around a 1.015 or lower.

And taking from the bottom is much easier. ALSO just drink the sample, don't try to add it back.

treefetty said:

I read that leaving the brew in a primary can bring out unwanted flavors to the brew sitting with the trub too long?

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On the homebrewing scale, this is basically an urban legend. If you are not keeping it on the trub for extended periods - like 4+ months - then you have nothing to worry about. That said, some folks still like to use a secondary, it is totally optional, but IMO the risks outweigh the benefits for most regular beers. The risk you run is oxidizing your beer, which will result in a wet cardboard flavor, or worse you could end up with an infection. All of that can be avoided by simply leaving it in the primary until it is done and you are ready to bottle.

treefetty said:

...I was wondering is it accurate to take gravity readings from the bottom spigot?

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It should be fine, just look to see if there are a lot of CO2 bubbles that are sticking to the hydrometer - that can throw off your readings

As a newbie (and I'm still one) we face the problem of too much advice and having to decide just which do we trust.

And that's hard.

But then ... beer is forgiving, we learn by doing and making mistakes, and mistakes are drinkable.

So what *do* we know? we do know that many, many, many people brew amber ale for weeks in a primary without issue and that if you *do* transfer "just before" fermentation is done you want to make sure that fermentation is "just about done". I'd really err on the later rather than sooner, if I were you.

====
As an "experienced newbie", I'd take take ACbrewer's advice. From my weeks/months of reading posts and banging my head trying figure out just how everything fits together and then finally boiling together a coherent "general picture", his advice here just "snaps in" perfectly.

I'm still a bit iffy about the phrase "just before fermentation is done" but my interpretation is that primary fermentation (in the first 4 to 7) days is a wild and tumoltuous time but tapers off to near but not total dormancy as the sugar is more or less completely consumed. Then the beer goes into a "clearing up stage" where fermentation is for all intents and purposes done but potentially there are still a minute amount of yeasties needing to settle down. So my take is this simply means "after the primary violent firmentation has stopped but before the settling down has begun in earnest".

Then again, I wouldn't secondary. It seems too hard and too many people with first hand knowledge tell me you don't need to.

But on the third hand, I'd be really eager to get it into that glass carboy where I can watch it.

Then on the fourth and final hand, I'd trust that no harm can really come from transferring late whereas some (but not a lot) can come of transferring early so I'd take ACbrewer's advice.

Thank you all for the comments. I will just continue to take readings and I may or may not transfer to my secondary. I will be kegging this brew if that changes anything? I can create a co2 blanket before transferring to the secondary or keg.

The CO2 blanket is a great plan, either way you decide to go, and you will have a very good beer at the end of this.

woozy said:

As a newbie (and I'm still one) we face the problem of too much advice and having to decide just which do we trust.

And that's hard.

But then ... beer is forgiving, we learn by doing and making mistakes, and mistakes are drinkable.

So what *do* we know? .

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Practice making, and all of us have different experience.. >shrugg<

treefetty said:

Thank you all for the comments. I will just continue to take readings and I may or may not transfer to my secondary. I will be kegging this brew if that changes anything? I can create a co2 blanket before transferring to the secondary or keg.

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Well with kegs, you can go another option, some people secondary in kegs and then the first glass is all yeast, but after that is ok. Others have said that when they do that, there is a stronger yeast taste in all the beers

Adding the CO2 blanket is a very good idea when/wherever you transfer.

I usually do good complete fermentations with plenty of length. 3-4weeks primary (though I left an imperial stout in primary for 2 months and it was fantastic), 2-3 weeks in bottle. Long fermentations ensure the beer is cleared, aged properly, and ready to receive a priming dose without any mishaps. Then again, I started this hobby making mead and wine so, 1-1 1/2 months from boil to belly is a pretty fast turnover for me. Whatever you end up doing it'll probably be fine, I've never found a need for a beer secondary honestly. My advice?
"Patience Beer-hopper"

Here's a little reading to let you know that for sure your beer isn't "done". http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

I've also done some research on 'how long is too long in the primary fermenter" as well as getting some anecdotal evidence and the consensus is that it's a long, long time in the world of home brew. I've only gone 9 weeks in the primary but I correspond with a guy that went 8 months and says that that isn't too long yet.