Racking from primary to secondary?

[samnorfolk]

Do i need to rack my beer from its primary into a secondary fermenter?

Thoughts please

 

[Tanzanite]

Do i need to rack my beer from its primary into a secondary fermenter?

Thoughts please

personally yes , then leave for a week or so for the yeast to clean up and clear before bottling:thumb:

 

[samnorfolk]

personally yes , then leave for a week or so for the yeast to clean up and clear before bottling:thumb:

Ive got my currently in a 25 litre fermenter and would rack it into another 25 litre fermenter. How do i do this without oxidising the beer

 

[Tanzanite]

Ive got my currently in a 25 litre fermenter and would rack it into another 25 litre fermenter. How do i do this without oxidising the beer

dont worry about it , just use a sterilised plastic tube , suck on one end and rack it in leaving the yeast in the FV then seal it back up

 

[Brett74]

Why sterilise it if you are going to put it in your mouth? Use an auto siphon, rack to secondary once you have reached FG, leave it for at least a week, mine get left in secondary anything from one week to four depending my work schedule and how "big" the beers are...

 

[Pawlo7671]

Do you heck need to put it in secondary, 3 weeks in primary then bottle or keg. I only do a secondary if i'm dry hopping other than that why risk infection ?

 

[samnorfolk]

Why sterilise it if you are going to put it in your mouth? Use an auto siphon, rack to secondary once you have reached FG, leave it for at least a week, mine get left in secondary anything from one week to four depending my work schedule and how "big" the beers are...

The fermenter has a tap on it, would it work just opening the tap and transfering it that way?

 

[IainM]

The fermenter has a tap on it, would it work just opening the tap and transfering it that way?

Yes it would but I would attach some tubing to avoid splashing. Personally I don't use a secondary fv as I've never seen the need but I do rack to a bottling bucket on bottling day. I'm a tube sucker, and in the best part of 40 brews I've had zero infections.

 

[DoctorMick]

You don't need to use a secondary, a lot of people do it but it isn't an essential step unless you're planning on leaving the brew in the fermenter for a long time. As with most things brewing, give it a go one time and see how you get on with it.

When I transfer from fv to bottling bucket I use the tap and some tubing, find it much easier than using a siphon.

 

[foxbat]

Waste of time, an oxidation risk and makes no difference to the finished brew. The only reason I can think to do it would be if you've dry-hopped loose in the primary and need to get the beer off the hops for a cold crash.

 

[Graz]

Waste of time, an oxidation risk and makes no difference to the finished brew. The only reason I can think to do it would be if you've dry-hopped loose in the primary and need to get the beer off the hops for a cold crash.

Even in this scenario I don't bother, one of those little socks you get with the Festival kits over the end of the syphon filters out the hop bits and then straight into the pressure barrel or bottling bucket. I don't cold crash either, my beer is nearly always clear when I come to drink it or at worst a little hazy but it still tastes fine.

 

[terrym]

Do i need to rack my beer from its primary into a secondary fermenter?

Thoughts please

It is not absolutely necessary to rack off. Some do, some don't. It's down to personal choice.
I do it because I think it helps get a clearer beer for packaging.
I am also a siphon tube sucker and have never had any problems doing it that way, over many years of home brewing. And in answer to the question 'why sterilise (the siphon tube) when you are going to put it in your mouth?' it's obvious, there's still a lot of tube and cane that needs to be sanitised. It's all down to taking sensible steps to minimising the risk of spoiling your brew.
And that's my approach to the home brewer's twin paranoias, oxidation and infection which have reared their heads in this thread, i.e. where practicable I try to minimise the risks by keeping kit clean and sanitised and avoid splashing but don't get hung up about it like others seem to do.

 

[Manxnorton]

This is a good thread..
Like others I only rack off if I dry hop in a 'non' tap FV..(with the trub under the tap) cold crashing helps get most of the hops etc submerged.
Or in a conical FV no need to rack..as long as the yeast has clean up etc.
Experimenting with @Leon103 filtering suggestion as well.
Sometimes I even rack into my fav bottling FV but getting less n less...
Learnt long ago....time n patients and listening to others different suggestions and take notes at each suggestion what helps best for me...only coz I function differently to 'normal HB'ers lol
Try what's best...ever small batches to save time.
Regards
Bri

 

[dan125]

I've always racked to a 2ndry - until my last brew (a 5% hoppy pale ale)
I wanted to rush a brew through as I had nothing to drink and thought I'd experiment with changing my timings.
After 10 days fermenting I cold crashed until day 14, then kegged/bottled.
Tried it last night for the first time after 3 days carbing in a corny (2 weeks & 3 days from grain to glass) and its bloody lovely - a little hazy, but I can't tell any difference or off flavours compared to all the beers I've had in a 2ndry for a extra week.

 

[Fore]

Useful with Cornie kegs, because the dip tube draws from the very bottom, so you would always pull the latest settled yeast if you didn't clear first. So I rack to secondary as part of a move to a colder location, but probably would just leave longer in primary if I had standard kegs or bottled.

 

[Dr_Unkenly]

Sometimes I use secondary, sometimes I don't.

For me, putting a length of tube over the FV tap is the easiest way to transfer.

When there's hoppy bits that I need to filter out, I use a siphon (non-auto) with a little hop sock over the bottom of the cane.

I suck start the siphon by drawing Star san through it, then clamp it off. Move it to the FV, re-sanitise the end, drain it until the beer starts to flow and then get filling.

 

[TheQuokka]

If you are going to rack to a secondary, don't use your mouth! rinse your hands or gloves with starsan solution, insert the hose to fill it with beer, put your thumb over one end while holding the other below the surface and release it again when the tube is at the bottom of the secondary.

I personally haven't done it for years, it just doesn't help. Wastes beer, introduces oxygen and there's more cleaning. Cold crash and use gelatin, then an auto-syphon can get most of your beer off the trub crystal clear. I have force carbonated a beer and drunk it on the same night as I kegged and apart from chill haze it was fine.

 

[hamster]

I was doing research a while back on leaving beer in primary FV for conditioning over racking to secondary FV and conditioning in that... The main reason is not to leave it in FV as far as I can see is not leaving it on the yeast cake

I've completed 5 brews in total now and my last brew has undoubtedly turned out the best. This was left in primary for 5 weeks before I siphoned it into a bottling bucket and bottled it straight away.

There are plenty of folk that have left beer in primary for months before bottling/kegging as it bulk conditions which apparently is quicker than conditioning in small batches (bottles!)

I think it all comes down to personal preference ! Personally I won't bother with a secondary again unless I need to...

Dry hopping could be one reason. Not sure leaving the beer on dry hops for longer than a week is desirable but my current beer will be cold crashed for 3 days after 4 days dry hop and bottled... Secondary could be used after that if you wanted to bulk condition rather than leaving it on the hops. Indeed though I suspect if it's cold crashed it wouldn't make a difference... More experiments needed !

 

[hamster]

Oh and I'm a sucker... Hasn't made any impact to my beers !

 

[Tanzanite]

It is not absolutely necessary to rack off. Some do, some don't. It's down to personal choice.
I do it because I think it helps get a clearer beer for packaging.
I am also a siphon tube sucker and have never had any problems doing it that way, over many years of home brewing. And in answer to the question 'why sterilise (the siphon tube) when you are going to put it in your mouth?' it's obvious, there's still a lot of tube and cane that needs to be sanitised. It's all down to taking sensible steps to minimising the risk of spoiling your brew.
And that's my approach to the home brewer's twin paranoias, oxidation and infection which have reared their heads in this thread, i.e. where practicable I try to minimise the risks by keeping kit clean and sanitised and avoid splashing but don't get hung up about it like others seem to do.

Ditto terry i do exactly the same , i like crystal clear beer with a good lasting head when i pour not mud like some, to many people on here are infatuated with infection , we had a post running the other week about them , :thumb: