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Hello, my name is nick, I am a scotianer who's lived in calgary a year now. i've just started doin the beer kit brewin and hope to get that down pat before i attempt anything more adventurous. perhaps i should be posting actual questions somewhere else, but here's a shot:

The only kits i have tried are the brewhouse ones (dont know if you get those back home). bottled an ipa and awaiting to try it, and got a stout in the secondary fermenter. Following the instructions, the ipa went fine, everything seemed ok. The first two days in the primary, the stout fermented quickly, and seemed to be quieting down by the third day. I know some people say not to use a secondary but i decided to stick with the instructions - which say to rack to secondary after the foam drops. Anyways after being in the secondary for about 4 days now, i am thinking the yeast has stopped "yeasting", as there has not been a single bubble on the top. Is it possible the yeast finished its business in three days? Or perhaps it is too cold and it went hibernating, as it has got cold in calgary at night sometimes. Temperature in house reads 17-19 during day, and havnt been able to wake myself up to take a reading at night. Any thoughts? oh yea OG = 1.055 and upon racking it was 1.011

Thanks,

nick

clam wrote:Hello, my name is nick, I am a scotianer who's lived in calgary a year now. i've just started doin the beer kit brewin and hope to get that down pat before i attempt anything more adventurous. perhaps i should be posting actual questions somewhere else

Hell, no! This is a fine place (and given that the Brewnosers are now taking over all of the Atlantic provinces _and_ Alberta, we are _the_ place to talk about brewing in Canada!

clam wrote:, but here's a shot:

The only kits i have tried are the brewhouse ones (dont know if you get those back home). bottled an ipa and awaiting to try it, and got a stout in the secondary fermenter. Following the instructions, the ipa went fine, everything seemed ok. The first two days in the primary, the stout fermented quickly, and seemed to be quieting down by the third day. I know some people say not to use a secondary

I'd say you don't have to have a secondary - that's not the same as "you shouldn't use a secondary". With a secondary, it'll be cleaner. I've stopped bothering

clam wrote: but i decided to stick with the instructions - which say to rack to secondary after the foam drops. Anyways after being in the secondary for about 4 days now, i am thinking the yeast has stopped "yeasting", as there has not been a single bubble on the top. Is it possible the yeast finished its business in three days?

Yes.

clam wrote: Or perhaps it is too cold and it went hibernating, as it has got cold in calgary at night sometimes.

Yes. [God, it gets cold in Calgary at night! I remember being there in August and starting a barbecue on a glorious hot day - needing sweaters by 8 and driven inside at 9]

clam wrote: Temperature in house reads 17-19 during day, and havnt been able to wake myself up to take a reading at night. Any thoughts? oh yea OG = 1.055 and upon racking it was 1.011

Sounds like you nailed it! Perhaps you are looking for a higher alcohol IPA - but you're constrained by the initial SG and that's about 5.8% alcohol. The finishing gravity looks typical. Looks right to me. Three days isn't terribly fast, but I'd say if anything your temperatures might be a bit high. The slower the fermentation, the more aromatics you get.

Oh -

What Derek said & RDWHAHB (relax, don't worry and have a home brew).

Welcome aboard from another Nick.
Hey, do you know John and Anita fro BC?

akr71 wrote:

What Chalmers said & RDWHAHB (relax, don't worry and have a home brew).

Hey, that was me! [at least Chalmers hasn't "chalmed" in, yet]

Keggermeister wrote:Welcome aboard from another Nick.
Hey, do you know John and Anita fro BC?

They're practically next door!

derek wrote:

akr71 wrote:

What Chalmers said & RDWHAHB (relax, don't worry and have a home brew).

Hey, that was me! [at least Chalmers hasn't "chalmed" in, yet]

D'oh - my eyes were playing tricks on me (or I've had too much to drink).

oh wow thanks for the welcomes. and the help! unfortunately i am not familiar with a john and anita, but they sound like nice folk. ok so good to know people are from around the country and i am not infringing on a sacred forum.

So if the secondary only makes the beer cleaner, is that mainly for the look? So it's not cloudy? Because yea thats not important to me. Or does it mean a cleaner taste? And even if the gravity has dropped considerably, should i be worried the yeast hibernating? should i make sure its done its business by waking it somehow? appreciate the tips!

3 days seems a little quick to finish, but if you get a consistent gravity reading over a couple days, I would trust that more than I would how many bubbles appear in the air lock. All that tells you is that co2 is coming out of solution. Once the foam dies down, you can still have active fermentation happening, just at a slower pace.

If it were me, I'd leave it be for another few days at least, regardless of the gravity reading - let the yeast clean up after themselves and re-absorb some fermentation by-products. If you are worried that it may have gotten to cold and want to rouse the yeast, gently rock the fermenter back & forth. Maybe store it somewhere less susceptible to temp swings, like a closet, or even wrap a few blankets around it.

Welcome (from the "real" chalmers)!

A secondary is pretty important to control your bottling carbonation level, as well as clarity. If you've got too much yeast still in suspension, it'll eat any/all priming sugar you add during the bottling process, maybe too vigorously, and could cause bottles popping (prematurely). Priming equations assume lower levels of yeast than what might still be kicking around.

In case your local homebrew shop has been scaring you, beers can be left in primary for weeks without issue, as long as everything is clean. This is overkill for most people, but helps to remove the necessity for a secondary before bottling.

Have we thoroughly confused you now?

chalmers wrote:Welcome (from the "real" chalmers)!

Oh, yeah - that's what you say!

chalmers wrote:A secondary is pretty important to control your bottling carbonation level, as well as clarity. If you've got too much yeast still in suspension, it'll eat any/all priming sugar you add during the bottling process, maybe too vigorously, and could cause bottles popping (prematurely).

Yeah - I should have mentioned that I stopped bothering with a secondary because I'm going straight into a keg - and yes, I sometimes have to let off pressure because there's some pretty "vigourous" action

clam wrote:Hello, my name is nick, I am a scotianer who's lived in calgary a year now. i've just started doin the beer kit brewin and hope to get that down pat before i attempt anything more adventurous. perhaps i should be posting actual questions somewhere else, but here's a shot:

The only kits i have tried are the brewhouse ones (dont know if you get those back home). bottled an ipa and awaiting to try it, and got a stout in the secondary fermenter. Following the instructions, the ipa went fine, everything seemed ok. The first two days in the primary, the stout fermented quickly, and seemed to be quieting down by the third day. I know some people say not to use a secondary but i decided to stick with the instructions - which say to rack to secondary after the foam drops. Anyways after being in the secondary for about 4 days now, i am thinking the yeast has stopped "yeasting", as there has not been a single bubble on the top. Is it possible the yeast finished its business in three days? Or perhaps it is too cold and it went hibernating, as it has got cold in calgary at night sometimes. Temperature in house reads 17-19 during day, and havnt been able to wake myself up to take a reading at night. Any thoughts? oh yea OG = 1.055 and upon racking it was 1.011

Thanks,

nick

Welcome from Nfld, Nick.
With those gravity readings using Brewhouse kits, I'd say it was done fermenting, but like was already said, leaving it for a few weeks to condition and clear
on the yeast won't hurt and can possibly help reducing some off flavours associated with young beer.