Secondary FV or no secondary FV , that is the question !

[JordanB]

Hello all , by rights my brew should have finished fermentation next friday. I have 58 bottles ready for my second stage of fermentation which I was planning to prime individually and siphon into bottles but I have had a change of heart and I am now thinking of using a secondary FV with a tap to make life easier.

Thoughts ?

 

[Dr. B]

Batch priming in a secondary vessel certainly makes for better consistency, and I always do it if I can.

In addition, it gets it off the sediment, so less chance of it getting in your bottles.

 

[jonnymorris]

I would highly recommend racking to your second FV and buying a bottling wand to attach to the tap. This will make the bottling process sooooo much easier.

You can also batch prime it which is also much easier than priming each bottle.

 

[graysalchemy]

:thumb: +1

 

[JordanB]

Secondary FV it is then : I will be sure to get a bottling wand cheers for that mate :thumb: what is the reccomend time to sit in a secondary FV and a good primer for stout ?

 

[graysalchemy]

I would leave a beer after it has got a stable gravity for a further 2-3 days at 20-21c this allows the yeast to metabolise some of the unwab-nted by products of fermentation. Then I would drop it into a secondry and leave it somewhere cool for a week or until the beer is clear.

You then want on bottling day decide how much sugar you are goiing to prime with. I would say about 4-5g per litre. Measure this out as per your volume of beer ie 23l brew at 5g/l is 115g. Disolve this in a little boiling water and place in the clean sterilised fv. Now syphon the beer onto this making sure you don't let is splash. Give it a good stir and you are ready to bottle. Once bottled place somewhere warm 21c for a week and then somewher cool for about a month.

:thumb:

 

[JordanB]

I would leave a beer after it has got a stable gravity for a further 2-3 days at 20-21c this allows the yeast to metabolise some of the unwab-nted by products of fermentation. Then I would drop it into a secondry and leave it somewhere cool for a week or until the beer is clear.

You then want on bottling day decide how much sugar you are goiing to prime with. I would say about 4-5g per litre. Measure this out as per your volume of beer ie 23l brew at 5g/l is 115g. Disolve this in a little boiling water and place in the clean sterilised fv. Now syphon the beer onto this making sure you don't let is splash. Give it a good stir and you are ready to bottle. Once bottled place somewhere warm 21c for a week and then somewher cool for about a month.

:thumb:

Great advice mate I will definetley take that on board : so basically transfer to a secondary for a week or so and prime when it comes to bottling. Being able to wait a further 5 weeks is a different matter :mrgreen:

 

[Mr BR]

+1 for all of the above :thumb:

 

[fubofo]

Can I just confirm the steps for this are:

1- FV1 until stable SG (plus another 2-3days @ 20*C)
2- FV2 for approx 1 week (cool)
3- back to FV1 (sterilised) with batch priming (4-5g per lt)
4- Syphon straight into bottles once primed and store for 1 week (21*C)
5- Store in cool / dark place for approx 1 month

Can I ask why not just leave in FV1 for step#2 ? Do we need to get rid of the majority of yeast or something? :wha:

 

[graysalchemy]

I find it easier to get it clear as when yo put it in the fv prior to bottling there is very little yeast to disturb. It also gets year beer out of a dirty FV reducing infection risk.

 

[jonnymorris]

I don't bother with step 2. I believe commercial brewers try and get it off the trub a.s.a.p. but this is not relevant for home brewers due to the lower volumes and hence pressures.

I don't think there's an issue with leaving it in a 'dirty' primary FV either. Assuming it was clean in the first place and it's been left alone there's probably a greater risk of introducing an infection by racking unnecessarily (IMHO).

 

[keith1664]

This one's down to personal preference and finding what works for you, mine is to allow about 2 weeks to ferment out then cold crash for another 5-7 days. I'll then keg straight from the primary or if bottling syphon it into a bottling bucket, batch prime then bottle. My philosophy being the less I mess about with it the less likely I am to introduce anything nasty.
The only time I'll bother with a secondary is if I want to dry hop but also want to save the yeast.

 

[fubofo]

Cheers for the replies. Nice to get some differing views and to see what methods some use :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

Assuming it was clean in the first place and it's been left alone there's probably a greater risk of introducing an infection by racking unnecessarily (IMHO)..

We have this argument every time I mention it and every time I tell you you have obviously never experienced a dirty fermentation when it pours all over the sides and this then dries on is exposed to the air where it harbours infection and runs the risk of dropping back into the FV. Its not about yeast autolysis, its basic hygiene especially if you plan on leaving it an fv for any length of time to settle.

 

[jonnymorris]

We have this argument every time I mention it...

I'd prefer to call it a discussion and no, I have never had one spill over the sides. If it did then I could see your point. However, if it's contained in a clean FV then I don't see the point of racking to another FV.

 

[graysalchemy]

if it's contained in a clean FV then I don't see the point of racking to another FV.

Because it is exposed to the air which is not a sterile environment. Every time you open an Fv the air becomes contaminated so dried on crud on the inside of an FV has the potential to harbour infection and worse still fall into the beer.

 

[jonnymorris]

Fair enough though I've never had a problem with it.

 

[graysalchemy]

not yet.

 

[Easy Peasie]

GA
I always transfer to secondary after about a week as you say and have never had any problems with about 30 od AG brews. Is it not also better to collect yeast for cultivation from the secondary fermenting vessel as opposed to the primary as all trub/crap will be removed. :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

Yes it is certainly cleaner. However I did read an american that didn't advise it because the yeast in the secondary will be less floculate so in fact you will be selectively breading a less floculant yeast. I understand the principal of this but whether in practice this is true I don't know.

Aleman would know the answer to that.