I brewed an Irish red last Saturday and it been in the primary a week. Is that too soon to rack it to a secondary or should I leave it for another week and then rack it.
Thanks
[quote=“andyjhay55”]I brewed an Irish red last Saturday and it been in the primary a week. Is that too soon to rack it to a secondary or should I leave it for another week and then rack it.
Thanks[/quote]
Read on, Brother!
Most on here, and most other forums will tell you, don’t worry with a secondary, unless you are doing some other additions.
:cheers:
[quote=“andyjhay55”]I brewed an Irish red last Saturday and it been in the primary a week. Is that too soon to rack it to a secondary or should I leave it for another week and then rack it.
Thanks[/quote]
Leave for another week.
Primary usually completes on ales within 3-10 days, but anywhere from 3-10 days after reaching terminal specific gravity the yeast start to recomsume some of the bad byproducts/waste they create during primary. This is called a VDK rest. So if you rack too early you will arrest some of this “scrubbing” action leaving faults in beer.
Agree with other posts. Also keep in mind that this depends on the temperature of the fermenting process. If you ferment slightly cooler everything goes a bit slower.
Fermentation temp on the fermometer reads between 62 and 66
Please read up on primaries vs. secondaries. Then do beers with one just a primary and one a primary and secondary. Then do what works best for you. Many people on here swear by just primary unless aging for months and some swear by primary/secondary. Do what works best for YOU.
BTW, good choice on first beer kit. NB Irish red has been a staple for me at least since I first started into this hobby/craft along with NB opening( early 1990’s ) NB was easily the first choice at that time period for supplies as many shops did not exist yet, well at least in the Midwest. This beer is easy to brew, no extended aging required, drinks like a simple beer( not too light/ not too dark ) but with complexity not seen with commercial examples of this style. You will dig it.
Around low to mid 60’s is perfect for primary. Keep your temps low for primaries and also let rest for VDK and you have many advantages already over many newbies to curbing main faults in finished extract beers. Patience is a virtue in this craft.
Always leave it in primary. Secondary is really not necessary at all. When you think fermentation is done, check specific gravity. Then wait 3 days, then check gravity again. If the gravity stays exactly the same over 3 days, it’s done fermenting and ready to bottle/keg. If not, wait 3 days, then check gravity again. Repeat until finished.
Easy as that.
[quote=“ITsPossible”]BTW, good choice on first beer kit. NB Irish red has been a staple for me at least since I first started into this hobby/craft along with NB opening( early 1990’s ) NB was easily the first choice at that time period for supplies as many shops did not exist yet, well at least in the Midwest. This beer is easy to brew, no extended aging required, drinks like a simple beer( not too light/ not too dark ) but with complexity not seen with commercial examples of this style. You will dig it.
Around low to mid 60’s is perfect for primary. Keep your temps low for primaries and also let rest for VDK and you have many advantages already over many newbies to curbing main faults in finished extract beers. Patience is a virtue in this craft.[/quote]
This is actually my second brew. I did the NB Dead Ringer first. That has been bottled mad I am waiting to try it this week. A friend just gave me a honey bee ale kit. That will be next and I have about 6 or seven beers that I have in mind to do after that.
