question about time in secondary

[c3hutson]

So I took a BB witbeer kit, and used a 1L yeast starter with the WL witbeer yeast. I put this brew in primary sunday (6.5 gal glass carboy) and had two consecutive FG readings over 2 days that were at target. There was still some bubbling (around 1 every 10 seconds) on the airlock, however I wanted to free up the primary for my next batch, so I transferred to secondary (5 gal glass carboy).

So my question is, how long do I leave it in secondary before I can bottle?
Thanks!

Chad

 

[JasontheBeaver]

Right off the bat I recommend getting an additional vessel for primary fermentation so you're not rushing your beers.

4 days in primary then racking to secondary is way too fast. If this is your first beer, take your time and do it right. Why rush this batch to make another when you're only going to make the first beer sub par?
I assume you're bottle conditioning? If so, I'd let it sit for 3 weeks to finish and hope that you don't get a diactyl problem from taking it off the yeast so soon.
Good luck!

 

[Bigelow92]

Depends on the character you want. Witbiers, weißbiers and hefeweizens are usually considered best when consumed "young" i.e. before the yeast has had much time to clean up fermentation byproducts, or settle out much.

The longer you let it sit, the more the banana/clove taste will mellow out.

I would say taste it every now and then. If you like it, then bottle/keg it up.

Other beers tend to improve with time in secondary because the yeast produce a lot of grody flavors early on (like the first 2-3 days usually for a well prepared 5 gal batch) and once all the sugar has been eaten, they go back and eat those unpleasant tasting molecules.

Wit and weizen yeast tend to produce rather delicious flavors early on an are a hallmark of the style but you usually don't want to drink spicy banana juice, so I would at least let it set a day or two.

Above all trust your gut, and good luck. Report back and let us know how it went!

 

[c3hutson]

i didn't have a problem moving it fast because of the style of beer that it is. I guess I assumed that the "clean up" would still happen in secondary.

Whoopsie.

 

[duboman]

IME, wit yeast strains take longer to actually get to FG, while they are quite active to begin they tend to slow and keep chugging along for a bit. Personally I would take another reading before doing anything further. You may find it is still fermenting. Some strains have been know to go a few weeks like WY3944 can.

Just because your initial readings were on target does not mean its done. If you next readings are the same as your first then you're good, if it's dropped more then you need to wait it out.

 

[Bigelow92]

i didn't have a problem moving it fast because of the style of beer that it is. I guess I assumed that the "clean up" would still happen in secondary.

Whoopsie.

The cleanup definitely occurs in secondary. I should be clear: when I say secondary I mean the secondary phase of fermentation, aka conditioning, the cleanup phase. As far as I know secondary fermentors got their name because you try to rack the beer to a new vessel when the yeast begin to go into the secondary phase.

So all in all, you beer will definitely continue to "do stuff," it's just a matter of whether or not you want that stuff to happen. This conditioning will also occur in the bottle, and the keg, so you don't have to be too toooo careful. Good luck man!

 

[grem135]

I agree with jasonthebeaver. Dont rush it! Buy an extra bucket or 3 your beer will thank you for it... especially when you start brewing bigger beers!
I look at it this way. the BB witbier is about $36 here and a Ale pail is about $12 with lid. I rushed my first one (my second batch and found this site just before bottling) and it was...well just OK. Did I waste the $36? No, but the beer was not something I would buy in the store. The next time I brewed it it was fantastic!

 

[Homercidal]

First off, you didn't do anything "wrong". that's a pretty good sized starter for a witbier, so that may help to get the gravity down in a hurry. Also, you want to keep the temps reasonable. Fermenting warm can make the yeast work faster, but with the downside of usually creating off-flavors. So it's not unreasonable that the beer has fermented out.

As others have said, a witbier is usually consumed young, and clarity is not an issue. You should not experience any problems even if you moved to secondary a few days early.

I'd let it sit a week or two and then bottle/keg. Witbiers are great because they taste good and are very hard to screw up! Temperature is much more critical then racking schedule.

Lastly, I concur with others that you should get another fermentation vessel so you can brew batches while the previous batch has time to do it's thing. Buckets are cheap and make great primaries!

 

[Upthewazzu]

I've brewed two Belgians; one in primary for 4 weeks and the other for 2 weeks. Both spent another week in secondary. The 4-week primary Belgian turned out light years better than the other. There was so much more "Belgian" taste to it. Patience, my friend.