Brewing a Great Beer IV

From Primary to Secondary

Today is the 4th day of the brew cycle and time to transfer the fermenting beer from the primary to the secondary fermenter. After sanitizing all the equipment a siphon is started and the new beer begins to flow.

For the past few days the brew has been at a constant 65 degrees F on the basement floor. There has been a lot of action and a couple of times the foaming mess overflowed the container. Fortunately, there was a pot underneath the fermenter to catch the overflow.

A test of the specific gravity showed 1.025 / 64 degrees. This mean that about 81% of the available fermentable sugars have been converted to alcohol by the yeast. There are still 19% of the sugars left to arrive at a final SG of 1.017. Current alcohol is estimated at 4.7% ABV.

Taste Test

I tasted the test sample to assess the quality of the brew at this point. I am happy to report that there are no off flavours. In fact, the beer tastes pretty good. There is a very agreeable malt/hop balance, with perhaps a little less bitterness than anticipated. Floral notes in the hops were quite evident. This is still early, of course, but the flavour is well within the profile parameters of the beer type (India Pale Ale).