How long to leave Wheat beer in primary

[azingsheim]

I am brewing the Northern Brewer American Wheat kit and am planning on racking it into the secondary onto 4lbs or raspberries. The directions call for 2 weeks primary - no secondary. Since I'm doing a secondary how long should I do the primary for? Still do the full two weeks? Cut it down to one? Does it matter?? Thanks!

 

[HalfPint]

I'd do a 3 week primary and then let it sit on the berries in the secondary until it has the flavor profile you're looking for.

 

[lumpher]

ahh, wheat.. my passion. i do 2 weeks primary, then 3 weeks secondary for the fruit. bottle or keg after that normally. it'll be good at this stage, and get more awesome later

 

[jimmythefoot]

lumpher i am a wheat nut too. you ever added fruit extract or squeezed juices from berries into brew at kegging time?


sorry for the off topic question azingsheim. i just finished a blue berry wheat and added my brew to the secondary ontop of 2 1/2 ilbs. of blueberries. it was very light in flavor. great red color though. aroma was there but not what i was looking for. if ya do the berries thing i would say freeze them first to split all the tiny cells and then when thawed mash them or puree them. mine only sat for a week but there where a lot of floaters and many of them did not look like they released much flavor if anything. they were very dark still in color.

 

[RM-MN]

I think it is only wheat beer until you put it in the secondary on top of the berries. From that point on it is a fruit beer.

 

[lumpher]

lumpher i am a wheat nut too. you ever added fruit extract or squeezed juices from berries into brew at kegging time?


sorry for the off topic question azingsheim. i just finished a blue berry wheat and added my brew to the secondary ontop of 2 1/2 ilbs. of blueberries. it was very light in flavor. great red color though. aroma was there but not what i was looking for. if ya do the berries thing i would say freeze them first to split all the tiny cells and then when thawed mash them or puree them. mine only sat for a week but there where a lot of floaters and many of them did not look like they released much flavor if anything. they were very dark still in color.

i always secondary the fruit after i sterilize it at 170 or so for 10 minutes, and i freeze it while the beer is in the primary. i add the sterilized fruit (and the water) when i secondary.

 

[mjs2103]

hey, i also did the Northern Brewer American Wheat kit as my frist homebrew. Its been in the primary for 10 days. As stated above, the directions say 2 weeks primary and 2 weeks bottle. I'm going to do get the FG for 3 days in a row to see if it stays the same. If it does is it okay to bottle or should i let it sit longer in primary?

 

[SeanTheWheatBrewer]

Most of the recipes on BeerSmith call for 7 primary and 14 days of secondary fermentation. I’ve only done primary on my wheats so far. Gonna try the 7/14 method

 

[chickypad]

I don't think it matters if you go 1 wk vs 2 wks primary as you're going to be restarting fermentation with the fruit anyway. IME American wheat fruit beers are at their best fresh. With whole fruit I've added directly to primary about a week in. These days though I've mostly been using juice, and will typically go 10-14 days primary then transfer to keg with fruit juice, let that ferment out a week, then chill/carb. So usually drinking around 3 wks.

 

[SeanTheWheatBrewer]

Does more bubbling action occur with secondary fermentation?

 

[chickypad]

Does more bubbling action occur with secondary fermentation?

If you add fermentables like fruit, then yes you will see fermentation = more CO2 production. Some people use the term "secondary fermentation" to mean they are transferring to a secondary vessel for aging but there is really no fermentation going on, in which case there should be no new CO2 production.

 

[NGD]

Necro'd

 

[SeanTheWheatBrewer]

I tried secondary fermenting after 4 days, jury is still out. I bottle on the 15th

 

[JohnDBrewer]

Check your gravity. Once it done, its done. I keg so if it is close & I have time I go ahead and keg it. Bottling make sure you are at your numbers.

I would not do a secondary. It's a wheat beer not sure what the secondary accomplishs?

 

[flars]

hey, i also did the Northern Brewer American Wheat kit as my frist homebrew. Its been in the primary for 10 days. As stated above, the directions say 2 weeks primary and 2 weeks bottle. I'm going to do get the FG for 3 days in a row to see if it stays the same. If it does is it okay to bottle or should i let it sit longer in primary?

No need to take SG readings on consecutive days. Take a SG reading when the beer looks clear and another a few days or more later. Less work and less risk of contamination. The visible change in SG for a fermentation that is finishing very slowly may not be noticeable with readings one day apart when they are taken too soon. When the beer starts clearing the fermentation has ended or is very near completion.