Newby question - (first of many)

[Treeman]

My first brew is nearing end of fermentation. When it stops completely, what do I do.
I hear of secondary fermentation ???
Cold crashing. Which is first to do?

I thought I siphon of into a bucket and then settle again and then bottle ?
I had lots of coaching about the brewing, but just realized no one speaks of what happens when the bubbles stop.

[PaBz0r]

From a noob, I crash as is and rack to a secondary the day I bottle.

[Treeman]

From a noob, I crash as is and rack to a secondary the day I bottle.

***************
Is the secondary in the bottle?
I thought it took place after the original and before the bottling.

[PaBz0r]

No. I use another bucket with a tap which I rack to, then bottle from there. So you leave all the trub behind in the fermentor

[Treeman]

No. I use another bucket with a tap which I rack to, then bottle from there. So you leave all the trub behind in the fermentor

********************
Got it, going away tomorrow and when I get back it will be like over due.
ASking because no time to learn when I get back.

[BackOffMyBrew]

No. I use another bucket with a tap which I rack to, then bottle from there. So you leave all the trub behind in the fermentor

Same process I follow

[Treeman]

As I mentioned, everything is a first for me at moment.
I siphoned of out the bucket, and into a easier container to work with, a clear water container.
The wort is very cloudy and looks like dirty water?
It has no un-pleasnatries in or on it.
It smell like old stale beer, not bad or rotten - pretty much like a men's pub or a glass of beer left on table over night.
It tastes like flat old beer, with a strong bitter end note. It does not create the "uhg thats gross" reaction, nor does it make you wish for more - I assume thats just warm flat beer ??
Do I bottle this brown stuff or wait for it to settle further first?
It is not very appealing to look at.

[BackOffMyBrew]

Prime, bottle and wait 2 weeks. You may yet be surprised

[smitty]

As I mentioned, everything is a first for me at moment.
I siphoned of out the bucket, and into a easier container to work with, a clear water container.
The wort is very cloudy and looks like dirty water?
It has no un-pleasnatries in or on it.
It smell like old stale beer, not bad or rotten - pretty much like a men's pub or a glass of beer left on table over night.
It tastes like flat old beer, with a strong bitter end note. It does not create the "uhg thats gross" reaction, nor does it make you wish for more - I assume thats just warm flat beer ??
Do I bottle this brown stuff or wait for it to settle further first?
It is not very appealing to look at.

Stop fretting. It is not ready yet. :-)

Beer does not have to be clear to taste and smell great. There are a number of ways to get the beer clearer but they mostly revolve around getting the bits in suspension to drop out (e.g., cooling or fining agents) and then not siphoning or pouring the trub into your next step whether that be your fermentation vessel, bottling bucket or bottle.

Keep everything sanitized after the the boil. You do not want accidentally sour beer from a bacterial infection.

Give it time. Green beer (prior to bottle conditioning) really does not taste that great. It needs at least a week, and preferably two, after fermentation has finished. This is also where the bubbles get created from the priming sugar and these will also improve the beer.

[jakeslouw]

Pretty much answered by the old timers, but we cold crash in the primary fermenter then siphon off after a week or so.
Why? Well, the less oxygen you introduce to fermented wort, the better, and while professional breweries have the capability to purge a bright beer tank with CO2 and transfer using CO2 pressurisation of the primary conical, we don't.

It just makes more sense to put your 25L fermenter in a chest freezer for a week..........