About to rack to secondary...

[ajbroadway22]

I am a novice at the art of brewing, and am thinking about racking my first IRA to a secondary fermentor. My question... What are the concerns with oxidation caused by the head space of the secondary (Will any remaining yeasts take over and convert the O2 into CO2)? Or should I skip the secondary all together... Let it sit in the primary a week longer, and go straight to bottle? The primary airlock hasn't bubbled in a week, and I took a 1.012 reading this evening after work. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[diS]

Skip the secondary and leave it longer in primary, especially with huge secondary vessel.
Yeast autolysis is not an issue with batch sizes that homebrewers brew.

 

[Effingbeer]

How long has it been in primary? If it "hasn't bubbled in a week" it is done. Package it. There's really no reason to leave it in primary for extra time either. Taste it, if it doesn't taste like diacetyl and it is fairly clear, package.

 

[ajbroadway22]

Thank you for the input! This brew has been in primary for a little over a week, and the recipe called for approx. 10-14 days fermentation... So I am looking to go to the high end of the recommended, but am still on the fence about using a secondary or sticking with just the primary.

 

[Doed]

If you aren't going to add anything additional to the beer, just relax and let it sit in primary for a while (another week or two) longer. No use in risking any problem introduced by transferring to a secondary (i.e. sanitation issue). Unless you are really in a hurry to drink it, the additional time in the primary will allow the yeast to finish up and allow the beer to clear more. From there you can then package it and drink it.

 

[ncbrewer]

If you aren't going to add anything additional to the beer, just relax and let it sit in primary for a while (another week or two) longer. No use in risking any problem introduced by transferring to a secondary (i.e. sanitation issue). Unless you are really in a hurry to drink it, the additional time in the primary will allow the yeast to finish up and allow the beer to clear more. From there you can then package it and drink it.

+1
For safety reasons you should check the gravity, and check again 2 - 3 days later to make sure the gravity is stable before bottling. A good precaution to prevent bottle bombs.

 

[241]

A good long primary can be a great thing. Some of mine have gone 20-30 days

 

[ajbroadway22]

Thanks all, for the advice! That's what I love about this forum... There's actual experience backing the advice given!