Hey guys, I am fermenting a porter in a 5 gallon BSG bucket. It has been in there for 7 days. My CO2 vile is only bubbling probably twice a minute now. Before I transferred it into my secondary I noticed it had a fruity/alcohol smell to it in the bucket. Is that normal or did I do something wrong? I was very diligent with my sanitation and had a great seal on the bucket. Any advice or suggestions? Thanks
When the beer is fermenting you get all kinds of weird smells. I often get a big fruity smell even with dark beers. I would just relax and wait until it's finished.
I used Wyeast 1028 London ale. The recipe recommend when fermentation slows but is not complete (5-7 days) then to transfer to a secondary
I would guess worst thing that happens is you don't get full fermentation and the beer has a higher FG than it should. Which, would result in less abv, a thicker body and sweeter beer...so yeah it could suck. Hopefully after 7 days it should be almost all done if not done, but bubbling 2 a minute "should" mean it's still fermenting. In general you want to wait until fermentation is complete and even wait a few days to let the yeast clean up. Did you take a gravity reading? By racking to a secondary while it's still fermenting means you stopped the yeast from completing it's job befor it was done. Also, I've had good success with keeping everything in the primary until bottling. Only time I use a 2ndary is adding adjuncts like coffee, chocolate, fruit etc. I even dry hop in my primary, but I cold crash to keep my beer clear, which is a better alternative than racking into the 2ndary for clarification purposes.
Based on those "instructions", I would not take any advice (or recipes) from that store again. Hopefully, it will work out for you.
No need to secondary a porter, unless you're aging it on something like oak or cacao nibs, and only after primary fermentation has been complete and verified with a gravity reading. Sounds like you need a new LHBS! Sit back and let the fermentation hopefully finish up and don't worry about what it smells like while fermenting...as many others have mentioned, its not an indicator of final product.
There's still yeast in suspension, though, so isn't it possible that the beer will finish fermenting in the secondary? Either way, you want to be damn sure it's done before you bottle it. Give it another week or two and then take two readings 3 days apart - if it hasn't moved, you can bottle it. If you bottle before fermentation is finished, you might end up with bottle bombs.
