Hmm, I didn’t get updates posted quite as soon as I should have…
The Rack:
Over the first couple days of primary fermentation, I had a good bit of blow-through. After almost 2 weeks (on March 23rd), the fermentation had slowed a bit, and there was a significant yeast sludge at the bottom of the fermenter. I was going to be leaving town for a few days, so I racked to my 5-gal carboy for the secondary ferment. As per the recipe, I added 1oz of additional Centennial pellet hops to the fermenter. Here was a benefit to using a 6-gal carboy for the primary, I was able to get the siphon started and allow some leavings/sludge behind while still racking a full 5-gal. I was careful not to aerate during the transfer and sealed with a S-bubble air lock (with vodka as bubbling medium). The carboy was returned to the cool, dark spare bedroom and left to finish.
A couple notes:
1. I might try to pre-wet, or even boil additional hops for a minute or two next time. The additional hops were very buoyant and because there was less headspace in the carboy, the hop-mud that developed caused a little bit of blow-through over the first couple hours in the secondary.
2. I pulled a wee taste during transfer. It’s still quite sweet but seems smooth, and I didn’t notice any obvious off-flavors. Hard to judge right now.
3. After a week in the secondary, the wort had cleared pretty nicely and was bubbling about 4 times per minute. Looking good.
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