How long in secondary fermentation?

[Mongzilla]

Hi everybody.

I just wanted to ask a couple of questions, about the secondary fermentation of Belgian brothers Golden Strong ale, see link below. (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f73/belgian-brother-golden-strong-250255/)

This is my first all grain brew and the mash when a okay, as did the primary fermentation. I do not have the equipment to do my airlocked second fermentation, in the same container as I did the primary fermentation. So I transferred to demi johns to finish off the fermentation.

The original gravity of the wort was just over that of the recipe in the post and by using a starter, my primary fermentation went off well. Now I have my ale in secondary fermentation the yeast seems to have really slowed down.

I'm keeping 4 gallons of the beer at around a temperature of 76 to 80°F, although I have moved one demi john to a cooler position in the house and I will seen how that helps.

Am I keeping the temperature to high?

As I cannot check the gravity easily, how long should I leave my ale in secondary fermentation?

If you need any more information please post.

Thanks Dave

 

[homebrewdad]

Hi Dave,

You'll find that a lot of people here do not secondary at all, and those of us who do tend to leave the beer in primary until fermentation is 100% complete (gravity is stable) - if not longer (you'll see three weeks as a typical rule of thumb for lots of folks).

Secondary is really only for clarifying and bulk aging.

For a big beer, I would personally primary for 3-4 weeks, then transfer to secondary for anywhere from a month on up to as long as 4-6 months.

In your case... how long did you primary? Did you take a gravity reading before you racked to secondary?

I would probably just leave the beer alone for a couple of weeks, then take a gravity reading. If you are planning on a longer term bulk aging, though, don't worry about it at all - just leave the beer alone, period, until you are ready to bottle.

 

[SledgeH]

Since you are in glass you can guage the time needed by visual clues. Your beer will clarify and settle out over time. Once it's clear, then take a grav sample and bottle as normal. This goes faster or slower depending on the brew and a lot of other factors. As for the temp, most off flavors from temp happen durring the first several days of fermentation. But I've never had a beer sit at that high of a temp in secondary. I don't think it would be an issue, but I'd see if you could get some better advice on that one.

 

[Mongzilla]

Hi Dave,

You'll find that a lot of people here do not secondary at all, and those of us who do tend to leave the beer in primary until fermentation is 100% complete (gravity is stable) - if not longer (you'll see three weeks as a typical rule of thumb for lots of folks).

Secondary is really only for clarifying and bulk aging.

For a big beer, I would personally primary for 3-4 weeks, then transfer to secondary for anywhere from a month on up to as long as 4-6 months.

In your case... how long did you primary? Did you take a gravity reading before you racked to secondary?

I would probably just leave the beer alone for a couple of weeks, then take a gravity reading. If you are planning on a longer term bulk aging, though, don't worry about it at all - just leave the beer alone, period, until you are ready to bottle.

Hi homebrewdad.

Thanks for the advice, but the way I brew is a little bit different from what most people on this site do. This is because I follow an old 1980s homebrew book, that my parents used very successfully.

I add my wort to large container and then pitch in my starter, the container is then covered loosely with the lead and not airlocked. After around a week. I siphon the liquid off into 1 gallon demi John's and then attach an airlock. I then secondary firmament in this manner for up to 10 days, until I bottle.

But from what you say, I can quite happily leave my ale in these airlocked containers as I would do if bottle conditioning bottles.

My original gravity worked out at 1.067 corrected for temperature, and before I had the ale to the demi johns the gravity reading was 1.017 867 to 68°F. This sort of worried me as I thought the was still some more sugar left to ferment, but I tasted a bit of the ale and it seems okay.

So I can happily leave my ale in the demi johns, two, three or even four weeks without any detriment, and also allow the sediment to settle out?

Thanks we are help.

Dave

 

[Mongzilla]

Thanks SledgeH.

I will keep an eye on my beer, and when it is nice and settled I will have another look at it.

Sorry homebrewdad,

did not read your post fully, I can quite happily leave it in there for 3 to 4 months if I like. So either way I am ageing the ale in either the demi johns, or bottles and this will do the beer no harm.

Again thanks for your help.

 

[Mongzilla]

Just a quick update for everybody.

I have moved my demijohns into a warmer room, and the airlocked have started slowly bubbling again. I think the temperature in my hall dropped over the last couple of days, where I moved it to, as a kitchen where I was originally storing it got way too warm.

The beer has started to clear a bit more, and the yeast looks like it's working away again. So it looks like a another couple of weeks, before the beer is ready to bottle.

Thanks again.