2 wk ferment v primary/secondary ferment

[mrfrosty]

I always do a 2 wk ferment before bottling or kegging but i've noticed quite a few of you doing primary/secondary fermentation. Is there a distinct improvement over a 2 wk ferment?

cheers

Rob :)

 

[josh132]

I would also like to know this as i have my first batch of beer fermenting at the moment

 

[shearclass]

Hi

i would also like to know more about this. However, unlike Mr Frosty, I am just a kit brewer, not AG.

When i do beer i plan to put the majority in a barrel, but make about 5 litre bottles of the stuff, where as with lager i bottle it all.

Is it worth transferring the brew from 1 fermentation bucket after say 5-6 days to another fermentation bucket, and then once fermentation is finished moving it to the barrel or bottles?

What is the benefit of this? Does it mean there is less sediment in the final product? Does it affect flavour or FG at all?

Cheers

 

[Vindiv8]

Racking the beer for a 2nd ferment, gets the beer off the old yeast at the bottom of the barrel, the extra time allows the yeast in suspension to clean up after themselves. You will end up with a clearer and better tasting beer with less sediment at the bottom of the bottle.

 

[richc]

IMO it's not worth transferring your beer to another vessel unless you are planning on adding something to it or storing it in secondary for more than a few weeks. Transferring the beer adds a small risk of oxidation against the, probably mythical(over a two week period), risk of yeast autolysis. I usually only transfer to a secondary if I'm planning on dry hopping or storing the beer for an extended period in the fermenter.

 

[pjbiker]

In my experience, if you want to bottle your beer and not have a load of sediment, best to use a secondary, at least for a couple of days. When kegging, personally I usually wait until primary has reached or almost reached FG (around a week) and transfer to keg with priming sugar (~3g/L) and finings. The keg acts as the secondary FV :

 

[nuggitmv]

This is what I do(but I am open to suggestions!): when primary fermentation has finished I move it in to a pressure barrel for 3-4 weeks then in to a cornelious keg, this way makes for a brighter, clearer beer. oxynisation can be a problem - so when moving the beer from one to the other keep the syphon tube under the level (top) of the beer so to keep the air intake to a minimum, Like I say this is just the way I do things and it work well for me : but always open to suggestion... hope this helps.

 

[pjbiker]

oxynisation can be a problem - so when moving the beer from one to the other keep the syphon tube under the level (top) of the beer so to keep the air intake to a minimum,

I've started doing this too

 

[shearclass]

As stated above i generally bottle some of my stuff and barrel the rest. I plan to condition the brew for at least 4 weeks in the barrel/botles before drinking, and it will probably take at least 4 weeks to drink a kit, probably even longer as i plan to have a couple of kits on the go at one time.

So is the general consensus that transferring the brew to a secondary fermentation bucket prior to bottling/barreling is not necessary, but will produce clearer beer?

I've only done a couple of kits, and the last one I did I ended up with quite a lot of sediment in the bottom of the bottle, so I think i may trasnfer brew to a secondary fermentation bucket before i bottle the current kit. (current kit is lager so going to bottle the lot)

Unless of course, someone can tell me why i shouldn't do this. I can see i need to be careful with oxidation, but are there any other concerns? Does secondary fermentation (i.e. in the bottle) suffer at all for the brew being taken of the yeast sediment early? Am i righti nthinking that dead yeast sinks to the bottom, and active yeast is flaotign around the brew? OR does the live yeast also sink to the bottom?

Questions questions!

 

[Stone Cold]

I allways do secondary, never had a problem with the beer oxidizing/getting infected I find it improves the quality of the beer loads,

 

[graysalchemy]

I ferment for a week or until it has dropped to its final gravity. I then leave it at the same temp for a few days more to allow the yeast to clean up after itself. I then drop it into a fresh cleaned FV and leave it somewhere cool for a further week or 10 days to clear the beer before bottling. I then bottle using 7g of sugar per litre of beer. I then put it back in my fermentation cupboard at 21 deg c for a further week then take out and let mature in the bottle somewhere cool again for 4 weeks.

Then I open and drink :drink: :drink:

 

[richc]

I allways do secondary, never had a problem with the beer oxidizing/getting infected I find it improves the quality of the beer loads,

Interesting, in what way do you find it improves the quality of the beer?

 

[Stone Cold]

much cleaner crisper to taste and brilliantly clear. I used to have beer fermenting for about a week then id leave it to drop clear but always took a long time, i think by transferring it speeds the whole process up considerably, and MUCH MUCH less sediment in bottles and barrels which is a big plus point.
maybe try an experiment, transfer half into a secondary and see what the differences are.

 

[nuggitmv]

changing the subject slightly (I know!) but.....Have the kit brewers tried the two can method and not using sugar in the fermenting process.When I was doing kit brewing I found that the sugar gave it "sugar tang" and that in general i ended up with a bit more sediment.(Basically you are replacing the bag of sugar in the one can method, with another can - thus making it a 2 can method!). Using two cans worked a treat and made a much nicer beer. :drunk:

 

[46.philh]

maybe try an experiment, transfer half into a secondary and see what the differences are.

Sounds like a good plan. Got myself two of those oxfam buckets the other day so they would do the trick for the secondary FV.

 

[mrfrosty]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Got a batch that i set fermenting last sat, so may try the 2nd FV this sat for the week. I usually leave a heat belt on it for a full two weeks. I guess its best to drop it from the 2nd FV and leave cool?

Rob

 

[dogchillibilly]

Leave it primary for 2 weeks (lots of US guys now do 3!)
You are giving the yeast a chance to clean all of the off flavours resulting from fermentation out of the beer.

At 14 days most of the yeast should have dropped out anyway. If it hasnt either chill it or pop in some gelatine (standard supermarket stuff is fine) to clear. There will still be enough yeast left to condition it in bottle or barrel.

Secondary increases the risk of oxidation (as above) .... also infection.
Probably be ok, but if you dont have to why take the risk?

 

[graysalchemy]

I had a problem of beer left in secondary once last year it picked up some peskie fruit flies and ended up as vinegar :lol: :lol: 10 gallons down the drain (well actually I have kept 2 to try and make vinegar).

:

 

[StubbsPKS]

I had a problem of beer left in secondary once last year it picked up some peskie fruit flies and ended up as vinegar :lol: :lol: 10 gallons down the drain (well actually I have kept 2 to try and make vinegar).

:

If you're using another FV as your secondary, I can't really see this being a problem.


I've just started brewing, so I do kits as often as money will allow. I started doing a secondary fermentation bc I only have one keg and it doesn't get emptied fast enough

I have found that (at least with kits - not done anything beyond that yet) there is FAR less sediment in the bottom of my keg/bottles.

This is beneficial because when the keg has a lot of sediment at the bottom, the last bit of beer has a VERY different taste since it tends to have sediment in with it.

 

[shearclass]

Well after reading the replies on this thread i lashed out on another fermentation bucket, and transferred some lager that had been in the primary for a week into the secondary last night. I don't know what is the best length of time to keep it in primary before transferring to secondary, but as i wanted to get another kit on the go (Wheat beer) i transferred it after only a week.