should I start to worry yet?

[batkins]

I brewed my 2nd home brew yesterday. I am now almost 24 hours after finishing. I am getting an occasional burp through the airlock, but no visible changes. No foam or bubbles. It has settled considerably. Just no visible fermentation. Should I start to worry? Is there anything I can do at this point? Am I way to impatient?

[mcarlson74]

I wouldn't start to worry quite yet. I just racked a Pale Ale that took 24 hours before it starte to do anything and I like you were starting to worry. I would just give it a little more time.

[YamahaXS]

nah.... it will go... especially if you get a burp everynow and then. just wait.

[batkins]

I just passed the 24 hour mark. I'm getting about 5 quick burps in a row, then 30 or 45 seconds it happens again. I'm starting to feel a little better. Lets hope this works. It's my second brew, and on top of that, I did a 1/4 mash with extract. At least my O.G. came out spot on.
In the original recipe, it says to ferment for 2 weeks. I was thinking of racking to a secondary after 1 week. Then let it go until it stops burping. Does that sound like a good thing to do?

[mcarlson74]

It really all depends on the yeast. My Pale Ale I just did did the exact same thing as your beer is doing and I did wait a week before racking. But, if your yeast really starts to take off and then slows down after only a couple of days then go ahead and transfer. It really is all up to you, but a week sounds pretty good.

[Tweek]

you cant rack your beer on a time schedule. You need to wait until the foam/head builds up then dies down again. If you want to do it by your airlock then this would be the point after it has gone through a vigorous ferment then back down to 1 bubble per minute. Patience is a virtue. I know it is hard to wait sometimes but it is the right thing to do.

[batkins]

After the last reply, I'm really confused now. I was under the impression, fermentation would continue after it was racked to a secondary. I thought the goal was to get the beer off the trub, remove all the protiens (or whatever will cause off flavors). If I wait until there is only 1 bubble per minute, what's the point of putting it in the secondary? At that point, wouldn't it only settle a little or maybe age a bit?
Also, at this point (only at about 40hrs into it), I am not getting a large foamy head. I am getting rapid 3-5 bubble burps every 5-10 seconds, so I'm not really worried.
But I am confused about when to rack to the secondary.
Make me understand.
Thanks,
Bill :confused:

[Tweek]

If you rack to soon you can leave to many good yeasties behind causing a stuck fermentation or unusually high final gravity. It is true that the reason you rack is to get your beer of the trub and to let it complete ferment in a clean environment, but it doesnt need to be rushed your beer can sit on that trub for quite a while before off flavors will develop.

at one to two bubbles a minute there is still a bit of fermenting that is happening though it is the final stage of primary fermentation (primary as in alcohol producing- not a reference to container) and though it may not look it there is still a bit of "stuff" in suspension so racking will help to settle that out. I am not sure if you are drinking a batch of your beer yet, but a good way to understand how things can change in a short period of time is start drinking your homebrew as soon as it is "ready" so like a couple weeks after bottle- you will see that it changes everyday and the fermentation/settling/maturing that is going on in the bottle is little compared to your secondary carboy after rack.

Sorry to confuse you I hope this clarified it a bit if not let me know and ill try again.

Cheers!

[paul84043]

There seem to be several schools of thought on this particular area, and I think they are largely based upon how you learned, and how far you are willing to deviate from what you have found to make good beer.
I know several people that let it sit in the secondary for a full week at a minimum, regardless of activity, just because that's what they have always done. Come to think of it, none of these people use a hydrometer, so I am sure that there are a few "beer bomb" stories that make them think they "have" to do a week long secondary. They just never learned any different.
I bottle when my hydrometer readings have stabilized, and I start to take readings when I reach the point that I'm getting a burp every 40 seconds or so. (After the primary of course...) It's usually only 3 to 5 days after that point that my beer is "done" and I have yet to make any bombs.
When your beer is sitting on the trub, there is still active yeast in the trub layer that is contributing C02, but the actual amount that it's helping is probably minimal since it's not in suspension..

I use a conical and therefore drain the trub off every couple of days during fermentation. What I have noticed is that I may have a burp every 10 seconds...then I drain off a bit of trub, probably not more than a cup total, and my "burping" rate decreases by almost half, from 10 to 15 or 20 seconds between burps.

I often wondered how much the trub layer is adding to active fermentation. I still don't know, but what I do know is that my first couple of batches came out perfect. I can't really ask for more than that.

I am going to start a few more batches in carboys, and I definitely plan on racking to a secondary after the kreusen falls and activity tapers off, but how long it sits there is going to depend on the Hydrometer readings.

[batkins]

Thanks for the help. The activity is picking up some, so I guess I'm on the right track so far. ;)

[mcarlson74]

Now I think that I am getting a little confused here. The reasons that I thought that you put your beer into the secondary was to

1) clarify your beer or
2) tweak (sorry Tweak no pun intended) the flavor aka dry hopping or adding fruit flavors.

Am I wrong in my thinking?

[paul84043]

No that is correct as well, but one of the main reasons is to get it off of the trub, especially if it's going to be a longer fermenting beer.

[toneyc]

I'm one of those people Paul was talking about. I don't use a hydrometer. I brew my beer on a Saturday or Sunday, and the next Saturday or Sunday I rack it to secondary, and the Saturday or Sunday after that I keg it. I did leave a London Pale Ale in the primary bucket for a month once. It was, um, robust. And chunky. I've never had any exploding bottles, but then I only bottled my first 3-4 batches.

:) Toney.

[paul84043]

My last 2 batches went over two weeks in the primary, before the gravity stabilized and activity began to drop off....
You never know!