secondry fermentation (racking)

[SuperBroo]

Hi All,

I racked my first AG brew last night, after 4 days as beersmith suggested.

The krausen was say 2" high and light brown creamy, should i have waited for it to subside a bit into the brew ?

any harm done ?


(the brew tates nice after 4 days at SG 1018, trying to make a sorta carlton draught style beer, and might finally be onto something I'll have to lock away from my mates)...

cheers,
Chris

[drsmurto]

For some strange reason beersmith sets the default for primary fermentation as 4 days.

I always change that to 10-14 days for ales and longer for lagers although just cos beersmith tells me to do something i am naughty and dont always do it Have been known to rack after 6 days if it hits FG and i want beer on tap pronto.

Taking the beer off the yeastcake early may result in a stuck ferment, diacetyl left in the beer or it could be fine and produce a very nice beer, only time will tell.

What was the recipe, yeast used etc? What FG are you expecting?

[SuperBroo]

Cheers Doc,

it was pretty simple, and early indication is that it should taste nice...
(i know the final volume is wrong and it may be a bit thin, but we'll see)...

from now on I'll just rack when the krausen drops back in...

60 min mash...
4Kg pale malt.
0.3 Kg caramalt.

60 min boil...
20g POR 45 min
10g POR 10 min
10g POR flameout.

Yeast Safale US05 in at 21 deg, fermenter at 20 full time.

am expecting FG of maybe 08 - 06, but I actually forgot to take an OG, so not bothered on this one.

23L brew (should be more like 19 I think after a bit of messing in beersmith and brewmate).


cheers for the feedback...

[drsmurto]

Unless you mashed at 62C i don't see how it will get below 1.010.

It looks like an easy drink pale ale to me.

Don't go by the krausen dropping as a sign to rack.

Ideally, leave the beer in primary for 2 weeks even though fermentation may be complete in as little as 3 days. This allows the yeast to clean up after itself, converting some of the by products and generally producing a cleaner beer.

I don't rush my beer. 2 weeks primary and 2+ weeks secondary are my standard sort of time frames but nothing is locked in. A few days either way makes little difference.

[SuperBroo]

2 week cycle sounds good Doc,

that probly makes the timing of all bottling / brewing / racking pretty nice as well, and just forget the brews for 2 week breaks.

a brew day every fortnight where you bottle / brew / rack all the same time or within a day or 2 of each other sounds good

cheers for your replies

[drsmurto]

I know one bloke who is a set and forget brewer.

Wort goes into fermenting fridge, fridgemate is set, walks away for however long primary is 14-21 days.

I tend to check mine every day (before and after work) and start taking hydro readings after 5-6 days. Its not necessary but i love the changes in flavour that occur going from wort to beer. Probably the scientist in me

I have an alt lagering at the moment that spent 4 weeks in primary and has been lagering for 2 weeks now. It wont be kegged until the current keg of alt runs dry which is more than a month away.

This extended conditioning time really serves to clean the beer up.

Not recommended for some styles but i condition every beer i make.

[SuperBroo]

I'll just go an a 2 week cycle now for ales, 2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary.
Then for lagers say 2 weeks primary, 4 weeks secondary.

must say i'm so glad i had a crack at AG, its heaps of fun, and honestly, the taste after 4 days is so nice and mildly hoppy, i can just tell it will be a nice drop.

[earle]

I know one bloke who is a set and forget brewer.

Wort goes into fermenting fridge, fridgemate is set, walks away for however long primary is 14-21 days.

This is pretty similar to what I do. Ales in primary for 3 weeks, lagers in primary for 4 weeks, then bottle. Probably not quite the right method for true lagers but it does result in a clearer beer and I'm happy with the results. Fermentation is temp controlled or else I would be worried about off yeast flavour from leaving that long in the heat up here.

[warra48]

This topic is about racking.

About that, I'm not saying a thing.........

Ales are in primary for 2 weeks, then may get cold conditioned in primary for up to 2 more weeks.

Lagers, in primary for 3 weeks, diacetyl rest for 2 days (although they don't need it, as I pitch large and cold), then transferred to a jerry for lagering for up to 2 months.

[SuperBroo]

"jerry" - tell me more warra ?

[warra48]

"jerry" - tell me more warra ?

I use a nominal 20 litre plastic jerry can (actual volume is bigger) to do my lagering. I bought mine at Bunnings. It's made from the same material as your normal fermenter.
What makes it good is the shape. It fits beautifully into my fridge, and leaves room for other things.
It also has a bung hole where I can fit a tap to enable bottling.

[bullfrog]

Grog, the vessels that Warra is talking about are also regularly refered to as a cube. They're just food-grade gerry-cans that are much more conveniently shaped to fit into a fridge. Some people use them as fermenters, some as lagering vessels, others as no-chill containers.

[warra48]

They are not quite the same.
A cube tends to have a square footprint, whereas a jerry has a narrower rectangular footprint.
A jerry fits into the fridge easier because of its narrower footprint.
They're each made from the same material, food grade designed for water storage, so safe to use.
Apart from that, you can buy both at Bunnings and camping stores etc. They're not hard to find.

[SuperBroo]

I will have my eye open at bunnings next time, thanks lads...

[drsmurto]

They are not quite the same.
A cube tends to have a square footprint, whereas a jerry has a narrower rectangular footprint.
A jerry fits into the fridge easier because of its narrower footprint.
They're each made from the same material, food grade designed for water storage, so safe to use.
Apart from that, you can buy both at Bunnings and camping stores etc. They're not hard to find.

I use the same shape cube/jerries as Warra. Tall and skinny, enabling me to fit 2 into the cc fridge.

The ones i use are these (bottom picture)- Link

[bullfrog]

I've got the same ones. I have been looking for the more cube-shaped design but have had trouble finding them.