What to do after primary fermentation?

[paulgough]

I currently have a Fullers ESB clone in primary fermentation.

I intend to bottle it.

I have heard different theories of what to do after primary fermentation.

Should I cask it for four weeks with dry hops before priming and bottling?

 

[Robbo100]

I can't answer your question, but I am planning on doing Fuller's ESB for my AG2 (I am doing AG1 this Saturday - Summer Lightening Clone).

I would be really interested in how close your Fuller's ESB is to the real thing (when you come to drinking it), and if it is a good clone, then I would love to see your receipe if you are happy to provide it.

Thanks and good luck

Robbo100

 

[graysalchemy]

I can't answer your question, but I am planning on doing Fuller's ESB for my AG2 (I am doing AG1 this Saturday - Summer Lightening Clone).

I would be really interested in how close your Fuller's ESB is to the real thing (when you come to drinking it), and if it is a good clone, then I would love to see your recipe if you are happy to provide it.

Thanks and good luck

Robbo100

To get a near to exact you will need there yeast as yeast accounts for about 70% of the flavour of a beer, having said that I make it using nottingham and get a very nice beer. I tend now to try not to clone exactly but get something which is my own take on the original.

With regards to what to do after primary fermentation, leave it at fermentation temp for a few days longer, the yeast will start to metabolise some of the unwanted by products of fermentation namely diacetyl. Then I always drop into a clean fresh sterilised fv, and put it somewhere cool for a week or until it has dropped clear. A concrete floor is an excellent place as the heat disipates

 

[calumscott]

That was a sneaky brewday Paul!

Did SWMBO even see it happen? :lol:

I think there are only a few on here who have casks for conditioning, the norm is just to drop to a clean FV, dry hop for a couple of weeks then bottle straight from there and let the bulk of the conditioning happen in the bottle.

There is, as far as I can tell, no harm whatsoever in what you are planning. A month should be long enough to get really good condition into the beer in the cask, then prime and bottle, bring up to fermentation temp for a couple of weeks to build the pressure and back to the cool for a week or so to clear.

Conditioned in bulk in cask would, IMO, mean that you would want a pretty weak priming load, probably 3 or 4g/l max. With a low carbonation you should preserve that cask-conditioned feel to the beer...

...I think...

...regardless - next time - brewday thread, photos etc... :thumb:

 

[paulgough]

When you get the green light for a brew day Calum, you have to act quickly!

Thanks for the advice.

Next time, I'll post pictures and a thread.

 

[calumscott]

Good man!!

I'm going to try to squeeze in the big beer BIAB brewday next Sunday if you fancy it? 9% Double IPA brew in a bag style...

 

[olriley]

Interesting topic this. I've been reading Graham Wheeler's CAMRA publishication Home Brewing (2nd edition I think, came with a bundle of old gear I bought). I take everything I read as guidance rather than instruction; his book contains some pretty sound guidance. He is fairly explicit about the benefits of casking an ale between fermentation and bottling, and cites 6-9 months as typical casking time for a decent strength ale. He calls bottling straight from the FV "barbaric"!

I've found this thread on here which has some interesting perspective on it from Aleman:

Proper maturation when bottling

I would be interested to hear any more about what people do (experience rather than opinon if poss). Does anyone routinely cask 5-gallon batches at home?

I'm not concerned will continue to bottle straight from the secondary like Aleman suggests, just interested really. :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

I always move from primary to secondary for about a week because I usually end up with pretty messy ferments and the risk of infection leaving it in a dirty FV is far greater than moving it to a clean one IMHO. I leave for a week then transfere again into a bottling bucket with priming sugar ready to bottle. My beer usually benifits from being left in the bottle for 3-4 months. :thumb:

 

[Dr Mike]

My process is to ferment out in the primary (usually 5 or 6 days thus far), then cool to 10C for a day to drop as much yeast as possible, then rack to a pressure barrel (which is effectively a secondary) and keep for a couple of weeks at 13C before transferring to bottling bucket with priming sugar.

Dunno if this is the right way but this is my interpretation of Wheeler's method.

 

[Robbo100]

GA

How long after initially putting your wort into the primary FV do you leave it, before you move it into your secondary FV?

I would like to do AG2 this weekend, so might move AG1 into my second (slightly smaller) FV this Friday, which will be 6 days in the primary (where I would leave it a further week). Is this enough time, or would it be sensible to delay AG2 until the weekend after?

Thanks, and sorry for hijacking the thread slightly.