I too rarely use secondaries. The issue you run into with letting the fermentation "mix up the flavors" is that the CO2 is scrubbing most of your aroma. You can do it obviously, but fruit additions are one of the few times that I always use a secondary.
Planning: Could be anything...
Primary: Rhubarb Berliner Weisse, Belgian Wit, American IPA
Secondary: Empty
On Tap: Orange Chocolate Stout, Sweet Stout, Saturnalia Ale (spiced ale)
Bottled: PB&J Sweet Stout, Belgian Saison, Brown Porter
Well I was really just trying to make the point that you don't need perfect dispersion of the fruit or whatever you're racking on to in order to get what you're looking for. Same goes with dry hopping in secondary - is it necessary for you to pound your hops into a powder and make sure they're evenly dispersed for them to work? Of course not. Is it good enough to rack onto it? Yes, that's what I was getting at. Does it mix up 'perfectly'? No but it's good enough and it works - that's what I was saying. I wasn't asserting that you actually *should* dump anything into secondary. Sorry for the confusion.
Oh no worries. I was just throwing out my two cents based on my misreading of your post. And very good point about dry hopping.
__________________ Primary: air and sadness =( Kegged: Cascadian Dark Ale, American Amber Ale Bottled: English Barleywine (brewed 9/26/09 -- bottled 5/5/10 -- 6 of 13 remain)
LA GALAXY -- 2011 Supporter Shield winners and MLS Cup Champs
LET'S GO LA!
LA CAMPIONE!
PLAY FOR GLORY, THE GLORY LA!
I just left it at the bottom but finally got a nice fruits krausen after 24 hours.
Now my next question, how do you guys filter the beer from the fruit puree when kegging/bottling ? Will the fruits krausen will fall back at the bottom like a regular yeast's krausen ?
Planning: Could be anything...
Primary: Rhubarb Berliner Weisse, Belgian Wit, American IPA
Secondary: Empty
On Tap: Orange Chocolate Stout, Sweet Stout, Saturnalia Ale (spiced ale)
Bottled: PB&J Sweet Stout, Belgian Saison, Brown Porter
Linear Mode
