dead still secondary

What went wrong? Was this supposed to happen? Should I throw it out? What do I do now?

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Radler
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dead still secondary

Post by Radler »

I've just racked to secondary and all went quite well, siphon did it's thing and almost no bubbles were apparent. Now it's sitting in the secondary at 62 deg., after 4 days in primary and it's doing nothing, absolutely nothing (OG was 1.061 and FG 1.020-a little high I guess but it was bubbling like once every two minutes so I thought the time had definetely come). There was a few minutes of bubbling right after the transfer but then silence. The vodka in the airlock has even settled out even on both sides of the loopdidoo. I was not planning on bottling for another 2-6 weeks (I'll be away), have I done something wrong, is everything okay and I'm overreacting? Any bits of info will be okay.


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BillyBock
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Relax...don't worry

Post by BillyBock »

I'm sure it'll be fine. More than likely it's done...but if it isn't the extra 2-6 weeks in the secondary while you're gone will ensure it's done. Your high FG could be due to any number of reasons: fermentability of the wort, inadequate yeast cell count, inadequate aeration, etc. If you used extracts, not all are created equal. Some have a higher dextrin content than others and result in higher gravities. The bubbling you saw after transfer was due to the CO2 coming out of the beer because it was disturbed. If you don't see a foam covering on the top of the beer, then it's done fermenting.

So....relax enjoy your time away and when you return I'm sure you'll have brilliantly clear beer for bottling.

v/r
Bill
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brewmeisterintng
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fermentation

Post by brewmeisterintng »

The hard and fast rule is to rely on the gravity reading. If you take a reading two days in a row and they are the same... near the FG, it's done. I have made the mistake of only taking one FG just to find out that the beer wasn't done fermenting yet. Talk about over carbonation.
richanne
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Post by richanne »

The hard and fast rule -- yes, yes. If only... We were posting for awhile on this other fairly new forum, when all of a sudden we noticed this one poster, who was respected as some sort of authority there, posting messages in multiple threads advising everyone to throw out their hydrometers! He claimed the information from readings was next to useless and using them risked infection and caused people to worry unnecessarily! I kid you not. He also was allowed to insult people without any sort of editing/monitoring. He told this one guy that his LHBS owner was an idiot because he claimed to have started out planning to make one style of beer and wound up with another one (like that never happens). Finally, he insulted us outright, and we left. It's nice that the discourse here always remains civil, and the advice to new brewers is generally on the mark.
Richard and Anne Brady
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brewmeisterintng
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Expert Brewers

Post by brewmeisterintng »

Those that claim to be experts... usually are not. Even the great Charlie Papazian whom I have met and respect doesn't know everything. I personally believe that brewing is an art. Some hold their brushes differnt than others but still produce great masterpieces. Now some of my "Paintings" were flops but still I work (if you could call it work) to prefect my skills. Too may times we are too quick to judge other's techniques. Heck, my bother Roland taught me to brew yet my techniques have mutated from my initial learining and I still produce good results... with the help of Beer Tools.
Charlie said it best "Relax, don't worry and have a home brew".
Two common points that everyone believes are:
Sanitazation and record keeping. Neither should be shorted.
Azorean Brewer
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Every response is right on

Post by Azorean Brewer »

The first thing I thought of was "this must be an extract batch" I have had the same problem, the best thing you can do for your beer, is make a good fresh starter 1-2 days before you pitch and aerate as much as possible right up until you pitch, after that let the yeast do the work. I'd be curious to see a recipe or if it is in here, just tell us the name OK? I think after 4 more weeks of secondary it should settle down to the final S.G. good luck.

Regards,

Paul.
"I drink therefore I am"
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