Racking to Secondary Fermenter Day and Ayinger Oktoberfest-Marzen

I started brewing my first batch of beer on 10/10/14, seven days ago. I've been taking note of the amount of bubbles per minute over the past few days in order to figure out the best time to rack (siphon) to the secondary fermenter. The bubble frequency shown in the air lock allows me to judge the yeast activity. Primary fermentation is the time during which the yeast eats up all of the glucose and maltose. These are the quickest and easiest sugars for the yeast to digest, sometimes creating a violent fermentation that can blow the top off of the fermenting vessel. After the easy sugars are eaten, the yeast goes after the maltotriose. This is when fermentation slows waaaay down. It will be another week or two before all yeast activity has ceased. Only a few consistent hydrometer readings will tell the full truth, but we'll get to that later on.

Yesterday, there were 5 bubbles per minute, and today there were only about 2. That means it's time to rack to the secondary fermenter! Racking means siphoning liquid from one vessel to another. Just like with the brewing process, I took the best of all my reading materials and made a step by step list for myself. This stage of the brewing process is quite straight forward, so there wasn't much room for confusion. Here are the steps I followed:

2. Racking to Secondary Fermenter Day

1. Clean
1. Entire Work Space
2. Clean & Sanitize
1. Carboy
2. Rubber Plug
3. Auto-Siphon & Vinyl Tubing
3. Retain sanitizer for after the PF (primary fermenter) has been cleaned
4. Attach vinyl tubing to auto-siphon
5. Place PF on the counter, and SF (secondary fermenter) on the ground
6. Remove the airlock from the PF and place in sanitizer
7. Remove the lid from the PF
8. Slowly place the auto-siphon into the beer, and the other end of vinyl tubing in the bottom of the SF
9. Pump the auto-siphon until the beer starts to flow into the SF, making sure to leave behind the yeast cake/trub on the bottom of the PF
10. Once finished, remove the vinyl tubing from the SF
11. Place the rubber plug and sanitized airlock on top
12. Place SF in cool, dark place
13. Immediately clean and sanitize all equipment

As with just about everything in the brewing process so far, it took me twice as long to do all of this than I thought it would. I've done a bit more cleaning this time around than I'll do in the future (getting the kit second hand = lots of cleaning to start). Next time it will be a bit quicker because of less cleaning, and more experience.

And I'll tag this on because why the hell not? I didn't try this beer today, but I wanted to share my notes because it's truly the best Oktoberfest out there in my opinion. Definitely grab it if you have the chance!

Ayinger Oktoberfest-Marzen

BG 9/5/14

Poured from a 500ml bottle into a stemmed tulip, 5.8% ABV, no dates on the bottle

A Amber in color, eggshell white head with great retention, stunning tiny wisps of lacing, lots of constantly rising bubbles, very clear

A Very light aroma, biscuit malt forward, little bit of yeast tang, sourdough

T Biscuit malt again, but also notes of dried fruit, bread crust, earl grey, spicy hops

M Med-high carbonation, light body, pillowy/fluffy on the tongue - especially the backsides, effervescence

A Clean lager finish, beautiful balance of those spicy hops and biscuit malt lightly lingering

C I've read many times about Oktoberfest beer, and have long understood its purpose as a seasonal autumn beer that bridges the gap between a summery, light hefeweizen and a chewy winter stout. But it was not until this beer that I truly grasped the idea. It's light enough to session, but has those gorgeous hints of fall and winter flavor yet to come. The spicy hops and biscuit malt remind me of Thanksgiving and Christmas without the blunt qualities of pumpkin ale or even something as bold as Samichlaus. What a lightbulb moment this beer is! I can see the leaves turning, and the distant (but not too distant) ringing of sleigh bells. But not yet! Eureka! Oktoberfest!

FP The whole damn fall gamut - apple pie, turkey, pumpkin everything