A question to all from the "Primary Only" camp

Photopilot · 02-02-2010, 08:05 PM

I am doing primary only for all my current on deck brews now. One exception though is my Barley Wine. Even Revvy gave his approval for a secondary for this. I do only ales with a few exceptions coming up. In the past I put everything into secondary, I have had wines and meads there for 6 months or more.

On what type of beers do you go into a secondary? Please give examples of beers and situations you think requires secondary-ing. How long in secondary for each situation?

boo boo · 02-02-2010, 08:07 PM

I only secondary lagers, and I rack to a keg for actual lagering/secondary.

**GilaMinumBeer** · 02-02-2010, 08:08 PM

Gigantic beers (high gravity) where long term bulk conditiing is needed off the yeast, and fruited beers where a secondary fermentation will take place.

And lagers in bulk.

**mmb** · 02-02-2010, 08:08 PM

Barleywine and anything I need to add things to, be it hops, oak, or fruit. Times very based on what the beer needs. I think barleywine is the only one I'll bulk store in carboy. Most everything goes for aging in corneys...

KingBrianI · 02-02-2010, 08:12 PM

Big beers (barleywines, RIS, old ales, strong belgians) benefit from the bulk aging they recieve in secondary. The amount of time can range from a couple weeks to several months in this situation.

Dry-hopped beers are best dry-hopped in secondary. You want as little yeast around as possible when you dry hop. In this case, the beer only needs to be in secondary for as long as you dry hop (typically 3-10 days).

Lagers need to be "lagered" in secondary. This usually lasts 1-2 months.

You can also secondary any beer you would like to clear more. "Crash cooling" and/or the addition of finings are commonly done in secondary and greatly improve beer clarity.

Photopilot · 02-02-2010, 08:19 PM

Each question leads to more.

How big do the beers need to be to need a secondary?

In the case of adding to the secondary, do you give it the 3-4 weeks in primary then rack to the "additions" secondary?

How long do you guys leave in secondary?

Thanks KingBrian, I was typing when you posted.

As far as clarifying I have given up. I do not think i have ever had a clear beer. I will just make them all dark and delicious so no one cares. I take that back my beers clear when I bottled. Might have to start bottling again.

**cheezydemon3** · 02-02-2010, 08:23 PM

It is not the "BIG"ness of the beer, it is the time left on the yeast.

I am from the primary only camp, but I secondary most of my brews.

WHY???

I have 3 kids and a demanding job. If a brew sits 3 months on the yeast and I don't have time to bottle, I probably have time to rack.

I usually have 3-4 brews going at a time, I don't always have time to bottle.

Beerthoven · 02-02-2010, 08:26 PM

I secondary every beer I make for a week or so, just to reduce the amount of sediment in the keg.

Photopilot · 02-02-2010, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheezydemon3

I have 3 kids and a demanding job. If a brew sits 3 months on the yeast and I don't have time to bottle, I probably have time to rack.

Sounds like you need to start kegging. Seriously it makes the whole process so much easier. Imagine the process from your fermenter to your mouth only taking 10 minutes of effort? I am starting to dabble in bottles again mostly so I can give some away, brew larger batches, and keep some beers for long term. I would like to be able to sample months or years later and maybe have a number of porters down the road for vertical sampling. Maybe even have a beer cellar.

I think the concensus is the bigness of the beer = need for bulk storage away from the yeast, therefore secondary. Based on RIS, BW and other suggestions 8% is a good starting point for secondays with longer storage based on bigness?

**Revvy** · 02-02-2010, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingBrianI

Dry-hopped beers are best dry-hopped in secondary. You want as little yeast around as possible when you dry hop. In this case, the beer only needs to be in secondary for as long as you dry hop (typically 3-10 days).

That's not entirely true....you want fermentation to be complete before dry hopping, since you don't want excess co2 pushing hop aroma out of your airlock. But yeast presence doesn't really cause any issue, at the point you would dry hop in secondary, most of the yeast has flocculated out of suspension and is in the trub.

Many of us dry hop in primary. If it's for a week, we do it after week 3 of out month in primary.