Secondary Fermentation

[MikeAdz]

Total newbie here.. can someone explain to me why this is done? I know some dont do it, so would like to know if I should.. thanks!

 

[The Baron]

It is done for several reasons. The reasons I have done it in the past is if I have a lot of trub/junk in the Fv and also some people do not like the beer sitting on the yeast as they say it can give off tastes. Me I only do it now if I have lots of trub usually from adding fruit to a IPA. The downside is it can be more at risk from infection and oxidisation but if you have a good cleaning/sanitisation process and do not splash the beer on transfer it is generally ok

 

[crowcrow]

I may well be wrong - but I've always understood it as a secondary fermentation vessel . As in it is the second vessel you move it to, not another phase of fermentation. If the fermentation is done in vessel 1, moving it to the second vessel won't make it ferment again.

But back to your question, as the baron says - people do it to move away from the dead yeast and other bits, but many people don't bother these days. I haven't for my last few brews and not had any issues at all. Modern yeasts are far better to those homebrewers were dealing with many years ago. I even left one for well over a month in the first vessel before bottling and it tasted fine.

 

[labrewski]

I allways transfer into a 2nd bucket after around 18 days for 3 to 6 days i dry hop so it can have a lot bits floating atound then with a sanitized tube and muslin cloth on the end i transfer end product is very clear no bits and tiny amount of sediment in bottle when pouring my sweet sweet pints

 

[foxy]

Wasn't there a poll on this a few days ago?

 

[St00]

Total newbie here.. can someone explain to me why this is done? I know some dont do it, so would like to know if I should.. thanks!

What are you making?
What Fermentation vessel(s) do you have?

Unfortunately it likely comes down to preference and if you're new you may not have one yet

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Total newbie here.. can someone explain to me why this is done? I know some dont do it, so would like to know if I should.. thanks!

Many people start brewing with beer kits and these typically use secondary fermentation to carbonate the beer.

The primary fermentation creates your alcohol but produces lots of CO2 which gets bled off through your bubble trap. After it’s finished...

Secondary fermentation uses a measured dose of sugar to pressurise and carbonate your beer in a sealed container - typically the plastic keg in a starter kit.

Instead of secondary fermentation you can just inject CO2 and drink the beer sooner!

Some people use a second phase of fermentation for other reasons as noted but as someone starting out you might want to keep things simple while you learn?

 

[Keenbutcher]

I allways transfer into a 2nd bucket after around 18 days for 3 to 6 days i dry hop so it can have a lot bits floating atound then with a sanitized tube and muslin cloth on the end i transfer end product is very clear no bits and tiny amount of sediment in bottle when pouring my sweet sweet pints

How did you attach you muslin cloth to the tube? Zip tie? String?

 

[labrewski]

Just tie a knot with the muslin