First Extract Brew

[Tim_Reecer]

I received a beer brewing kit for Christmas and made my first batch this past Saturday. The beer was an Imperial Pale Ale extract kit. With this being my first brew I have a few questions that I am hoping has an easy answer.

The beer was placed into primary fermentation on Saturday with fermenting starting within 12 hours. The fermentation has slowed to a rate of 1-2 bubbles every 7 seconds through the airlock. My question is when should this be transfered to secondary and how long should this stay there prior to bottling? I have looked around and some say it should just finish in primary while others are die hard believers in racking to secondary.. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Tim

 

[GHW]

You're right in that opinions are divided. I intended to rack an extract brew into a secondary before bottling, to batch prime it (add dissolved sugar solution to the secondary and siphon beer on to evenly distribute sugar). In the end however I left it long enough in the primary fv (3 weeks) that it looked pretty clear so I went straight to bottles. I primed each 500ml bottle with 2 ish grams brewing sugar and bottled straight from the first fv. I got barely any sediment. Main reason I didn't rack off to secondary was the risk of oxidisation or contamination.

But as you've found, there are advocates for both methods. Maybe pick one, go with it, and try the other next time?

 

[Tim_Reecer]

Is there a general rule of thumb for moving to secondary as far as fermentation goes? I have read that you should move when it slows but before it is finished. How do you know when it is too soon or too late to move to secondary? With this being my first beer I don't want to mess it up because I fear that it may discourage me from this hobby.

 

[GHW]

If you're going to use a secondary I'd give it a week or two. You're really only doing it to get a bit more clarity before bottling/kegging.

 

[MyQul]

Is there a general rule of thumb for moving to secondary as far as fermentation goes? I have read that you should move when it slows but before it is finished. How do you know when it is too soon or too late to move to secondary? With this being my first beer I don't want to mess it up because I fear that it may discourage me from this hobby.

If this is your first beer I'd keep things as simple as possible and either don't rack to a secondary at all or (as I do, as I find it really helps with keeping sediment in the bottles to a minimum) only rack just before bottling/kegging