More or less time in primary?

[Bill Hopper]

I have a 3 gal hefeweizen that may have been slightly over pitched. OG: 1.046 Has been at 1.007 for more than 24 hours on day 7. Leaving town for a week, so my question is whether it is better to go ahead and bottle at 10 days, leave in primary for 18 days then bottle, or rack to a secondary at 10 days and bottle 8-12 later? (The smallest secondary I have is a 5 gal glass carboy.)

 

[day_trippr]

Of the choices, I definitely would not use a secondary vessel, and 18 days for a hefe is unnecessary time on the clock.
So I'd go with bottling after 10 days if you can pull that off, or the 18 day thing otherwise (it's not bad, just not something the style needs)...

Cheers!

 

[kh54s10]

Option one is OK. Option 2 is a little safer in case fermentation is not completely finished. I go that long regularly. Option 3 - secondary is a no go IMO... more risk than reward.

 

[CodeSection]

I wait until the gravity stays the same for three days before cold crashing and later bottling my brews. Many HBT members typically allow fermentation to go two or three weeks. I really see no real harm in leaving in the primary for 18 days and delay bottling.

On the other hand, as @kh54s10 hints at, if fermentation still continues after bottling too early, you may create hazardous bottle bombs.

 

[Bill Hopper]

Thank you all for your input. While there are still a few bubbles coming from the blow off tube, I think I'll change it out and let it sit until I get back. Was a little concerned about sitting on the yeast cake too long, but should be more concern with a bottle bomb situation.

 

[kh54s10]

Thank you all for your input. While there are still a few bubbles coming from the blow off tube, I think I'll change it out and let it sit until I get back. Was a little concerned about sitting on the yeast cake too long, but should be more concern with a bottle bomb situation.

Sitting on the yeast cake too long - autolysis - is something that homebrewers don't need to concern themselves with too much. It is a concern where hydrostatic pressure comes into play, like in 30ft tall commercial fermenters. In a home brew setting it takes months. I know because, through procrastination on packaging my beers they have often gone several months and came out fine. Once almost a year on the yeast.

Added: By the way, I don't recommend leaving the beer on the yeast for months.....

 

[homebrewer_99]

For me, it's a 6 of 1, half dozen of the other choice. Bottling too early always causes issues.

However, contrary to what many other brewers do, I secondary my HWs. Why? The more yeast that falls out the cleaner tasting the beer.

As for needing yeast for bottling, I rack just enough yeast off the bottom to make it "slightly" cloudy (leaving a lot of yeast behind) and just enough to restart a fermentation in the bottle after priming.

Not that it matters, I lived in Bavaria (twice) for 9 years. So, I know how I like my HWs.

 

[welch]

Hi, I'd like to follow up with a similar question. I'm still a brewing embryo. I just brewed a 5 gallon batch of IPA (Two-Hearted Ale clone, steeped grain with extract recipe), it's been in the primary for three days and is still fairly active. I had thought by now it might have settled down. I'm leaving town tomorrow for a week. If I leave it in the bucket, what's the best thing to do when I get back - just leave it alone until bottling? Or is it still okay to rack to secondary at ten days? With it still apparently in primary phase, if I try to rack it now, will that foul things up?
Thanks for your help.

 

[doug293cz]

Hi, I'd like to follow up with a similar question. I'm still a brewing embryo. I just brewed a 5 gallon batch of IPA (Two-Hearted Ale clone, steeped grain with extract recipe), it's been in the primary for three days and is still fairly active. I had thought by now it might have settled down. I'm leaving town tomorrow for a week. If I leave it in the bucket, what's the best thing to do when I get back - just leave it alone until bottling? Or is it still okay to rack to secondary at ten days? With it still apparently in primary phase, if I try to rack it now, will that foul things up?
Thanks for your help.

Forget racking to secondary. IPA's are sensitive to oxidation, and unnecessary racking is one of the major causes of oxidation. Do not bottle early, as you risk bottle bombs (think glass shrapnel handgenades.) Better to let it sit in primary until you get back.

Aside: It's long past time for kit makers to stop recommending secondaries. In most cases they do more harm than good. You only want to secondary if you are doing something like adding fruit, or want to bulk age a big beer.

Brew on

 

[welch]

Thanks for the response. This is only my third batch. I have racked both previous ones, and they were fine. I took all the precautions to try to avoid oxidation, and especially the second time, I had a delightfully drinkable brew. In "how to brew" Palmer seems to leave it up in the air, although he does say that leaving it alone for the whole shebang works just fine for an ale, and avoids all the possible down sides of racking. The one fly in the ointment is that I had in mind to add some more hops when I racked it (called for in the recipe). Is there any way to do that safely if I leave it in the primary?

 

[doug293cz]

Thanks for the response. This is only my third batch. I have racked both previous ones, and they were fine. I took all the precautions to try to avoid oxidation, and especially the second time, I had a delightfully drinkable brew. In "how to brew" Palmer seems to leave it up in the air, although he does say that leaving it alone for the whole shebang works just fine for an ale, and avoids all the possible down sides of racking. The one fly in the ointment is that I had in mind to add some more hops when I racked it (called for in the recipe). Is there any way to do that safely if I leave it in the primary?

Yes, just toss the dry hops into the primary. If you have a way to purge the headspace with CO2 after opening the fermenter, that is a good idea.

Brew on

 

[welch]

Thanks for your help!