First Brew - When would you bottle?

[gobias315]

Hi folks, first off I'd like to say that this forum has been a great help with my first ever home-brew. I did a lot of research and used a lot of tips and tricks from this website already.

My first brew is a Pumpkin Ale from Northern Brewer. Malt extract recipe to keep it simple the first time around. From all the pictures I've seen my primary fermentation went well. I racked to my secondary a week ago. I see some trub on the bottom of my carboy with small amount of floaters on top. I'm using the secondary to condition the beer and I plan on adding some vanilla extract during the bottling phase.

So it brings me to this question. How long would you keep a Pumpkin Ale in the secondary? My hydrometer broke (from my own mishandling) and I don't know when secondary will be complete.

 

[Subdivisions]

How long was it in the primary? Being that it has been in secondary for a week, I'd probably get ready to bottle. This is assuming that it was in primary at least a week. You can add your vanilla extract with your priming sugar then rack the beer onto it in the bottling bucket to get a good mixture.

In the future look to leave the beer in primary at least 2 weeks before packaging. For most beers secondary is just more work and more chance for problems. It is an outmoded technique that frankly I think retailers use to sell more 5 gallon carboys.

Don't get me wrong, there is a place for secondary, it's rarely on your first beer though.

Congrats on your first beer! I hope you have many more!

EDIT: Get yourself another hydrometer. The only way to check if it's done is from a gravity reading. If your beer is a medium to low gravity beer then I'd be pretty confident that it's done after 2 weeks. I've never had one that wasn't done in that time frame. By medium to low gravity I mean under 1.06 OG.

 

[gobias315]

The wort was in the primary for a week and a half. If I had a hydrometer, which I will replace for the next time, I would of been certain if it was done. But at the time the airlock had no activity for a solid 5 minutes. My gut said it was done and I think it worked out.

Siphoning to the secondary wasn't all that bad I thought. But next time I may use the carboy as the primary and the bucket with a spigot as my secondary because this time given the equipment I have, I went from primary bucket to carboy and now back to bucket for bottling.

And thanks for the tip with the vanilla extract. I was wondering about the specific timing of adding it.

 

[RM-MN]

The only real way to tell if your beer is ready for bottling is with a hydrometer. There isn't any real rush to get the beer bottled so you have plenty of time to do so. Without a hydrometer reading you cannot know if the beer is done or if the yeast decided to take a break. If the yeast took a break and you bottle, they can restart in the bottles resulting in bottle bombs. Trust me, you don't want to go there.

 

[theseeker4]

Hi folks, first off I'd like to say that this forum has been a great help with my first ever home-brew. I did a lot of research and used a lot of tips and tricks from this website already.

My first brew is a Pumpkin Ale from Northern Brewer. Malt extract recipe to keep it simple the first time around. From all the pictures I've seen my primary fermentation went well. I racked to my secondary a week ago. I see some trub on the bottom of my carboy with small amount of floaters on top. I'm using the secondary to condition the beer and I plan on adding some vanilla extract during the bottling phase.

So it brings me to this question. How long would you keep a Pumpkin Ale in the secondary? My hydrometer broke (from my own mishandling) and I don't know when secondary will be complete.

Get a new hydrometer before you bottle. It is well worth the investment. If you have to mail-order one, or otherwise do not have a nearby store that you can just run to to pick up another, buy at least a couple so you have a backup on hand, in case the new one breaks.

 

[gobias315]

There is a home brew store not too far away where I can pickup a new one this weekend.

Do I run any risk of the beer losing any flavor or gaining unwanted flavors the longer it sits in the secondary?

Do ales in general benefit from a long stay on the secondary?

 

[deggenbe]

it will be fine in the secondary for a bit, and yes, ales can benefit from sitting.
many people leave their beers in a secondary for months.
but it all depends on the type of beer also, a pale ale can lose some of its hop aromas the longer it sits.

but dont fret over it if its only a few days, it will be fine.