Secondary or not ?

[Slid]

I might do a comparison between non secondary and secondary using the same recipe and see what the difference is

I have read enough on Brulosophy and other sites to know the answer. Not a scrap of difference.

I rack across to a different FV after 2 weeks, mainly because I just do.

I have some paranoia around ingesting beer yeast, following an attack of gout two or three years ago and caused, I think, mainly from the purines in brewing yeast.

As purines are a by-product of anaerobic respiration (as we all know :lol:) it is obvious that clearer beer is going to be less of an issue.

This racking vs not bothering debate seems to run on and on and no new conclusions have been reached for ages.

So - either you do - or else you don't. Can we have a proper debate, please, and Swiftly, around the much more important subject of which end a boiled egg should be opened?

 

[Gunge]

Aw c'mon Slid, everyone knows a boiled egg should be lopped at the fat end - Delia says so! I can understand your slight paranoia over purines and clear beer, but if racking to a secondary doesn't make a jot of difference to final clarity, why bother?

 

[sidney]

I have only done it once (today oddly enough) and it's because I'm putting vanilla in this stout and I wanted it off the yeast first, dunno why mind just thought a fresh bucket may help.

 

[Cwrw666]

Only ever done it once or twice when a brew was finished fermenting but I didn't have quite enough bottles free to just bottle it. So put it in an old pressure barrel that could no longer hold pressure, adding a spoonful of sugar to purge the air out of it. It does let the beer clear so when you do bottle it there's less sediment in the bottle but you'd get the same effect just leaving it in the FV for a couple of weeks longer which I've done plenty of times as well. So only really useful if 1. you've not got enough bottles, and 2. you need the FV for another brew.

 

[Slid]

Aw c'mon Slid, everyone knows a boiled egg should be lopped at the fat end - Delia says so! I can understand your slight paranoia over purines and clear beer, but if racking to a secondary doesn't make a jot of difference to final clarity, why bother?

An excellent question and one that I have no answer to, other than the simple fact that I just do, at this time.

 

[chthon]

But there lies the rub: it does not make a difference to final clarity, but it does seem to make a difference in the speed of getting clarity. And I can't cold crash a whole batch of beer, I do not have (nor am I prepared to purchase/invest/make space for) a brewing freezer. It also does make a difference in the amount of sediment after bottling. When going from FV to bottling bucket there is much more sediment due to final racking. When going from FV to secondary and then to bottling bucket, there is still enough yeast for carbonation, but much less per bottle.

 

[Fore]

For those who rack to a secondary to help clearing, what's the theory behind that? How does it clear quicker in a second vessel?

No one answered this directly, but grizzly did cover it. As I understand it, it's less about being quicker, and more about taking it off the primary yeast cake to allow more time for clearing (less chance of flavour impact). I'm no expert on the subject, but if I were planning to extend fermentation/clearing for more than 3 weeks, I'd transfer to secondary.

And for me it's not about whether it's your routine or not, it's about the particular circumstances. I have a very milky Belgian that I think I'll crash cool, and transfer to secondary would not only help remove most yeast first (I have to carry it from the cellar to the kitchen), but also the smaller secondary will more easily fit in my kitchen fridge.