1st Beer Batch-Kit

[pudland]

Hello all!
I started a True Brew German Dark kit fermenting 8/29. The instructions say it "can" be primed and bottled a week after beginning fermentation(it was bubbling away after 12 hours).
I have read many forums on racking beer to a secondary. Pros mixed with cons and personal preference are understood.
Everything will be sterilized and I will be purging the secondary with c02.
I have one question at this point. ....
How much yeast is actually suspended in the secondary for priming if I let it in the primary for 2-3 weeks?
And...... GO!

 

[flars]

There will be a lot of yeast suspended in the primary after three to four months. Those True Brew instructions are lacking in many ways.

 

[stevehardt]

More than you need. You will get noticeably better beer if you wait 3 weeks. Check your gravity to be sure

 

[pudland]

So I checked it last night and fermentation has slowed down alot. I didn't see a bubble for about 2 minutes.
I made the mistake of putting my hand on the edge of the lid and my fingers pressed on the top. Bubbles came out and when I to my hand off, it sucked air and vodka through the air lock. The vodka won't hurt the beer but my luck I just introduced air borne contamination in to the bucket. My guess is it to be ok. It was one of those "you dummy" moments!

 

[flars]

You just upped your ABV by an infinitesimal amount. Very doubtful this introduced any contamination. The vodka would have taken care of anything that could possibly have made it into the top of the airlock.

Take a hydrometer reading in 10 to 12 days. Take another three days later. If they are the same fermentation is complete. Around 19 to 21 days the CO2 produced will have off gassed and the sediment held in suspension by the CO2 will have dropped onto the cake. You will have a nice clear beer to rack to the bottling bucket.

Oops, I see you plan to secondary.

 

[kh54s10]

Try your best to ignore the fermenter for the next 10 days to 3 weeks.

The beer will not progress any faster by messing with it.

Make sure you are at final gravity before transferring or bottling.

I ferment for a minimum of 14 days and usually 21 days or longer then package.

Longer is almost always better than too short.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[pudland]

Flars. ..
My primary is in a plastic bucket so I can't easily see how it is settling out. I have hard cider in my 6 gallon glass carboy which won't be ready to rack for another week.
I would like to rack the beer into a glass secondary to see the settling better, but, it's a dark beer so I don't know how well I would be able to see through it anyway!
I have a 5 gallon glass carboy also but I want to save that for the cider secondary.
I need to plan it out better. The beer may sit in the primary bucket for a month until the cider is bottled and the 5 gal carboy is freed up.

 

[flars]

Flars. ..
My primary is in a plastic bucket so I can't easily see how it is settling out. I have hard cider in my 6 gallon glass carboy which won't be ready to rack for another week.
I would like to rack the beer into a glass secondary to see the settling better, but, it's a dark beer so I don't know how well I would be able to see through it anyway!
I have a 5 gallon glass carboy also but I want to save that for the cider secondary.
I need to plan it out better. The beer may sit in the primary bucket for a month until the cider is bottled and the 5 gal carboy is freed up.

Your beer will be ready to bottle after a month in the primary. By that time the CO2 in solution will have off gassed. The sediment the CO2 was floating will have dropped out. Your beer will be clear. I have found my beers will be clear just before the three week mark in the primary.

 

[pudland]

UPDATE:

Took a reading yesterday evening and it was 1.016 which puts it at approx 4.4%ABV(Instructions say FG = 1.010-12).
We had a little taste and it sat well on our taste buds, to the point where my neighbor said it was good for him without carbonation. But, this is my beer!
I'm leaving it sit until the weekend of the 13th(14+ days in the primary) before I take another reading and to see how well it cleared up.
If it looks clear enough, I've decided to rack it into a keg i have, and force carbonate it.