Secondary

[johnc86]

When people say they transfer to a secondary do they mean they did a secondary fermentation in a second FV, OR that they transferred to a second FV and did nothing else to it?

I transferred my Wherry to a corny after it had been in the FV for about 10 day's and then left it for a week before force carbonating it. It was fairly clear by this point but I don't know exactly how it got like that :? .

Is secondary fermentation just something that you do in the keg or bottle under pressure by adding more sugar? What advantage does transfering to a second FV have if not fermenting?

This has been bugging me and I have 2 fermenting atm so I could do with knowing how it works :).

 

[Tony]

Hi John

It basically means racking the beer off into a second fv after the initial vigorous fermentation has completed (4 - 7 days). There are arguements both for and against doing this, but speaking personally, I like to rack the beer off the dead yeast cells and crud (proteins and stuff) and transfer into a secondary. This allows the beer to drop clear for 1 - 2 weeks and makes bottling easier. I also prime in the secondary just before bottling.

The main arguement against this is that it does introduce another stage where nasties can get at your beer.
:

 

[johnc86]

Hi John

It basically means racking the beer off into a second fv after the initial vigorous fermentation has completed (4 - 7 days). There are arguements both for and against doing this, but speaking personally, I like to rack the beer off the dead yeast cells and crud (proteins and stuff) and transfer into a secondary. This allows the beer to drop clear for 1 - 2 weeks and makes bottling easier. I also prime in the secondary just before bottling.

The main arguement against this is that it does introduce another stage where nasties can get at your beer.
:

Ok that's great cheers.

If you rack the beer into a corny and then leave it for a while before force carbonating (in the same corny), is this the same thing? Obviously if you where going to do a second fermentation it would have to be a dedicated FV as there would be further dead yeast and stuff??.....I think I get it now.

 

[darrenwest1]

i was to belive that you have to force carbonate to seal a cornie

 

[Sean_Mc]

To seal a corny its recommended to get 20psi, to force carb it you'll need 60psi, and shake and shake and shake

 

[Aleman]

To seal a corny its recommended to get 20psi, to force carb it you'll need 60psi, and shake and shake and shake

And end up with over carbonated beer that gives you 3/4 a pint of froth. There is no need to go much above 30 psi for force carbing and a maximum of 60 seconds gentle rocking

 

[Sean_Mc]

Serving at 60psi, that would be interesting , more than 3/4froth I bet
Sorry I should of added, once its stopped gurgling I shake it until I get it down to 30psi and leave for several days. Serve at 6-9psi
Thankfully now my stocks are building up, hope to leave them for a couple of weeks

 

[Screwy]

Secondary.........the word is used to describe a fermentation stage or to describe the use of a vessel. You can rack to a second fermentation vessel (secondary vessel) to remove the beer from the yeastcake or whatever else you might want to separate it from. Or you can add some sort of food for the yeast for a secondary fermentation or even tertiary fermentation and so on. Secondary may be used to describe fruit added to the fermentation vessel after primary fermentation is complete for a secondary fermentation or racking the beer to a second fermentation vessel after or during primary fermentation to remove the beer from the fruit/trub yeastcake etc. Sugar is sometimes added to the beer in the secondary vessel prior to bottling where tertiary fermentation occurs providing bottle carbonation. All very confusing for newbs unless the process is described appropriately. We generally just refer to secondary as racking to another vessel.

Cheers,

Screwy

 

[Screwy]

To seal a corny its recommended to get 20psi, to force carb it you'll need 60psi, and shake and shake and shake

And end up with over carbonated beer that gives you 3/4 a pint of froth. There is no need to go much above 30 psi for force carbing and a maximum of 60 seconds gentle rocking

:clap:

A process used by a lot of brewers when time is of the essence.

The process:

Rack finished beer to keg, (add gelatine fining to keg prior if required) fill to about 1 inch below the gas in tube.
Seal up keg and to remove as much air as possible give a squirt of gas then purge by operating the pressure release valve, repeat.
Attach gas QD to gas in post on the keg and set reg to 300Kpa
Tip keg over to 45° set stopwatch or timer and begin rocking.
Rock keg back and forth (you will hear the gas bubbling into the liquid).
After 50 seconds stop rocking and shut off the gas bottle valve.
Now continue rocking the keg while monitoring keg pressure on the regulator.
The pressure may appear to rise momentarily, then it will begin to fall.
Rock the keg back and forth until the pressure stabilises, this will occur at different pressures depending upon some variables - level of headspace in the keg and temperature of the beer.
Generally this will occur around 100Kpa (this does not mean that this is the carbonation pressure, it is the pressure in the keg ATM, equalisation is not complete)
Remove the gas QD and put the keg into the serving container/fridge.
After 24 hrs release pressure by opening the release valve (carefully/slowly) and attach gas at serving pressure.
The first pour or two will be a little grubby depending on how much yeast etc was in the beer.
If you find carbonation a bit light on - extend the time rocking under pressure or vice versa if there is too much carbonation for your liking.

This method can be a bit hit and miss, but at least the process is measurable and repeatable and works well enough when in a hurry. I have poured beer after resting the keg for only one hour when the beer has been crash chilled and is clear and cold prior to force carbonation. The process works best at low temp (I do it around 4°C). It is very much a personal process, each brewer having his own process, one that works for him and is repeatable given the particular set of variables (temp, shaking or rocking, pressure, fill level etc) that make up his process.

Happy force carbing,

Screwy

 

[evanvine]

I,ve always found that my brews carbonate quite nicely in the pressure keg when at around 6psi.

 

[johnc86]

That was good reading. Cheers for the info.