This is my first batch of beer attempted, Caribou Slobber, when transferring from brew pot some of the true made it into the carboy, during the middle of night first night of fermentation the pressure blew the stopper and air lock off what a mess! The foam was actively spewing out of the carboy when I found it in the morning, I sanitized and inserted the blow off tube and vented to a bucket of sanitizer, it vented vigorously all day when it died down somewhat that night I replaced the blow off with the sanitized plug and air lock it’s been 4 days now and the foam is gone from the top of the liquid and the bubbles are coming out about every 10-12 seconds, when should I transfer to the secondary carboy?
Yeah the NB Caribou kit is pretty vicious for the initial fermentation. When to transfer to secondary is a thing of debate. I’m falling into the new mindset that it will settle out and cleanup just fine in the primary. This also from most things I’ve seen/read will reduce the time it has to be in the primary as well. I’d assume due to lack of stirring things up that need to settle out again, and limits the possibility to wake the yeast back up.
Recipe says primary 1-2 weeks, secondary 2 weeks, are you saying leave it in primary and forget secondary? How long should I leave it in primary before bottling?
Thanks
I left this kit in primary for 3wk, checked FG twice over the course of two days. If it’s the same, it’s done and time to bottle. I would give this one a little time in the bottle. I found three bottles of mine that were over three months old in the bottle, and they were AMAZING…Prost
To clarify…just leave it in primary, no real need for secondary. Bottle, wait, and enjoy a great beer
O.K. Got it thanks a bunch looking forward to it.
Whether or not to secondary is a choice that needs to be explored by you. I suggest that you brew it again and try a different method. So if you skipped secondary try it the next time.
On a personal experience, when I first moved to 10gal batches I had to use 2 carboys (I now have a conical). So o tested using a secondary on several batches. My secondary batches cleared quicker and remained clearer in keg. Therefore I always do a secondary. Now I will admit that its easier now that I use conicals for both 5 and 10 gal batches.
Basically secondaries are a hot topic and I suggest you experiment and see for yourself.
[quote=“Pboneil”]Recipe says primary 1-2 weeks, secondary 2 weeks, are you saying leave it in primary and forget secondary? How long should I leave it in primary before bottling?
Thanks[/quote]
Again to each their own, and trying is half the fun. I let mine go for 3 weeks in Primary and the FG stayed the same for two days so I bottled. I kinda messed up because of temps so it had an off taste, but like others have said this beer does really well with bottle conditioning.
Just don’t…no need!
There’s no particular need to transfer to secondary, I’d just leave it for 3-4 weeks in the primary.
The only real reason to use a secondary is if you need the primary for more beer, are adding fruit / other additions, bulk aging, adding “bugs”, etc.
[quote=“Machalel”]There’s no particular need to transfer to secondary, I’d just leave it for 3-4 weeks in the primary.
The only real reason to use a secondary is if you need the primary for more beer, are adding fruit / other additions, bulk aging, adding “bugs”, etc.[/quote]
This is my experience as well. Others say that the beer clears better for them if they use a secondary, and perhaps it does for them, but with my processes I find no difference.
As the OP is a new brewer and doesn’t really have a feel for what works and what doesn’t, I would suggest the simplest method to start with, and then start experimenting as he gets more comfortable with the process. So I’d advise just leaving it in the primary for three weeks, then transfer to a bottling bucket and bottle.
Also, for the next batch, try to make sure you cool the beer to fermentation temperature or below before adding the yeast. And see if there is anyplace in your house where you can keep the beer cooler, maybe 60-65F would be ideal for most ale yeasts. That will keep you from needing a blow off set up, and more importantly will result in cleaner tasting beer.
Having both conicals and car boys,
When using the conical, I just blow down after it calms down.
The car boys get racked to get the muck out.
but thats me.
So it’s been fermenting for four weeks now and airlock still bubbles every 12 seconds, should I bottle?
If you have a hydrometer, take a reading over the course of a couple of days, if they are the same, it’s done fermenting, and ready to bottle. I would think it’d be done after 4wks, may just be trapped co2 excaping the airlock. What temp are you fermenting at?
I typically roll with roughly three weeks in the primary and then bottle.
I like to do it while the primary is still bubbling slowly before it completely stops that way when I transfer to the secondary the head space is quickly displaced by the escaping co2 again. Last time I did it was around 10 days after pitching but all depends on fermentation. Beer turned out great. A lot of people say the risk isn’t worth it and just leave it in the primary. Some people like to transfer it to a secondary. Either way is fine. I like to watch the beer clear when it’s in the secondary since I use a plastic primary the carboy lets me see when it is time to bottle.
