Newbie fermenting question

[vercingetorix2989]

Hello, I'm new to both this site, and home brewing. I followed the instructions that came with my kit to the tee, but these instructions included transferring the beer to a secondary fermenter (plastic carboy) after spending 7 days in a food-grade plastic bucket. I figured (because the instructions were unclear on this point) that moving the beer to the secondary at exactly 7 days, and letting it "finish" fermenting in the carboy for another 7 days (per the instructions) was the best thing to do, regardless of any hydrometer readings I may take. Because I chose to follow the instructions instead of the hydrometer, I decided to take a reading for curiosity's sake and my specific gravity at the time I transferred to the secondary was 1.020. The airlock does bubble about once every 3 to 5 minutes in the secondary... I know this is probably way too much information (or perhaps not enough) but can anyone tell if I've done something wrong? The beer smells great, and looks like it should, but after reading the threads on this site, I feel I may have put the beer in the secondary too early, and that maybe I should not have done so at all?

 

[ElJefeBrews]

You should be fine. I believe racking to secondary is just to get it off the yeast and let it age, though I've never done a secondary. Let it sit for another week and start hydrometer readings

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[homebrewmike]

Yeah it was a little early IMO, but after another 7 days in the secondary lets see what the gravity drops to. On this site they will tell you to typically take a gravity reading each day for 3 days and if the gravity hasn't dropped then fermentation should be over.

Do you have more krausen on in you Secondary? Why did the instructions have you transfer it? Are you dry hopping or just "clearing the beer up"?

 

[vercingetorix2989]

There is no krausen in my secondary (although this is the first day the beer has been in there) I do not know why the instructions had me transfer the beer as I am not dry hopping. I suppose it will just clarify the beer like you said. Does the occasional bubble from the airlock definitely mean that it is still fermenting, and if it does, can it just be because I've agitated the still living yeast, and not that I transferred it too early? I used cheap (came with the kit) dry yeast, isn't it supposed to ferment quickly, and likely more or less finished after one week regardless of the occasional bubble from the airlock?

 

[homebrewmike]

I used cheap (came with the kit) dry yeast, isn't it supposed to ferment quickly, and likely more or less finished after one week regardless of the occasional bubble from the airlock?

Well that depends on your OG and the amount of yeast you start off with. If you pitched the dry yeast directly to the fermenter than you had a little bit of lag time while the yeast multiplied.

 

[vercingetorix2989]

Okie-doke, thanks for the help guys, it gave me some confidence that I will actually have some beer to drink at the end of this process will post back here in a week with good news hopefully.

 

[jdauria]

Just so you know, there is nothing wrong with letting in sit longer in the primary then the recipe says. Maybe of us let the beer sit 2-3 weeks in the primary just to give the yeast amble time to ferment and to clean up everything. You also really don't need to transfer to a secondary unless it will be sitting a long time and you want to get the beer off the trub.

 

[vercingetorix2989]

Thanks for all the advice. My first batch came out excellent! The taste, the color, the smell, the head. All was very well, except maybe the alcohol content (I assume this is due to my earlier, fermenting issue that you all helped me with.) Since my first brew was such a success, I decided to try again. This time I used a Wyeast activator pack, but by the time I was supposed to pitch the yeast I was running out of time (I'm going to learn not to brew when I have prior obligations) and pitched it while the wort was still too warm (just under 80 degrees.) Now it's the end of the fifth day since I pitched the yeast, and I've not noticed any bubbling. Could I have killed the yeast or something?

 

[dsaavedra]

Thanks for all the advice. My first batch came out excellent! The taste, the color, the smell, the head. All was very well, except maybe the alcohol content (I assume this is due to my earlier, fermenting issue that you all helped me with.) Since my first brew was such a success, I decided to try again. This time I used a Wyeast activator pack, but by the time I was supposed to pitch the yeast I was running out of time (I'm going to learn not to brew when I have prior obligations) and pitched it while the wort was still too warm (just under 80 degrees.) Now it's the end of the fifth day since I pitched the yeast, and I've not noticed any bubbling. Could I have killed the yeast or something?

From what I've read I don't think 80 degrees is too warm to kill yeast. It may stress them or shock them a little but it shouldn't kill them.

Based on your first post, I am assuming you are using a bucket as your primary fermenter? Buckets are notoriously leaky (meaning the lid on the bucket is not always airtight, so CO2 leaks out from the lid) so your beer may be fermenting away without the airlock bubbling at all. You could turn the lights off, then shine a flashlight directly down on the lid of the bucket and it should illuminate the inside. If you see a ring of krausen on the inside you're golden!

 

[vercingetorix2989]

Ok... there is krausen, don't ask me how I know (couldn't find a flashlight.) Hopefully we are still on track. One thing I have been weary to ask about are my gravity readings ('cause I feel like that's a first grade topic.) The final gravity of my last amber ale was 1.020... which I read as 2.5% by volume. Everyone I hear talking about their gravity readings however, mentions it hopefully "dropping." My question is, wouldn't a lower gravity beer, be a less alcoholic one? and doesn't beer go from a lower SG to a higher SG during fermentation?

 

[rattyboh]

The gravity measurements don't measure alcohol content. It measures the concentration of sugars. Those alcohol markings on the hydrometer are an estimate of how much alcohol would be produced by fermenting the available sugars. The difference between the alcohol reading at the start and end of fermentation gives the abv not the end reading. Higher gravity means more sugars and a drop in gravity means those sugars have been converted to alcohol


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