skipping the secondary

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Do you use a secondary fermenter?

  • Always skip a secondary fermenter

  • Never skip a secondary fermenter

  • Only use a secondary when dry hopping

  • Other


Results are only viewable after voting.
I was in my LHBS and his said the current trend is to moving away from the secondary. He said he never uses a secondary.

I'm on the fence. I never did any real "scientific" tests to compare the two. Just because we can make more work for ourselves doesn't mean it's better.
 
I only use secondary for dry hopping. Even my lagers go straight to keg and then stored for lagering.


Here are my last two lagers I brewed and both were tapped 2 weeks after kegging.

American Pilsener..
DSCN2935.jpg


European Lager...
DSCN2917.jpg
 
If the style I'm brewing calls for clear beer, I will secondary. If it's a darker beer, I don't. I believe in the non-secondary camp, after spending time in Germany I felt like I was getting "a little more" for my money. Strain when you rack to primary, rack carefully when bottling, condition in bottles for no less than four weeks and you will have clear beer.
 
I dont use a secondary... yet...

Only started the whole home brew thing a few weeks ago, som im yet to build up a good supply of brewing gear. Only got the one fermneter at the moment.

But the more I read on this forum, the more im thinking it might be about time got a second fermenter. Im a big fan of the lighter/clearer beers, and it seems a secondary would help me out with that sort of stuff.

Im planning on heading to the local home brew shop this weekend... ill probably walk away with big holes in my pockets... Ill see all this fancy stuff there that ill wanna get... but a new fermenter is definatly up there on my list...
 
AleHole said:
From what research I have done it seems like the only people that do skip a secondary are people that are kegging.

I skip if it is a low gravity ale, that I am not going to add anything to (ie dry hop, fruit, etc). I have done 2 weeks primary, 6 weeks bottle conditioned and make some fantastic beer with it. I secondary any high gravity ale, lagers (obviously :D), and additions.
 
lgtg said:
Strain when you rack to primary, rack carefully when bottling, condition in bottles for no less than four weeks and you will have clear beer.

I don't do these steps, but have noticed that given enough time at around 50 °F most Ales clear beautifully.
 
I'll skip a secondary for one beer (an American Brown) and that's only if I'm in a hurry. The rest will wait patiently to be kegged.

Wild
 
I uese a secondary on most batches. Sometimes I'll make small test batches with no secondary, and stouts usually get an extended period in primary, about two weeks.

- magno
 
david_42 said:
Keg from the fermenter 95% of the time. Barleywines, hopwine & meads have been the only exceptions and those are all once a year (or less) batches.

David, did you shorten the pickup tubes on your kegs? Just wondering how to avoid sediment in the keg.

john
 
There are a myriad of factors why people choose to do a full volume secondary or bottle secondary. As Palmer points out they are just different. For the sake of argument though, there is a minimum time frame for every recipe which is determined by a myriad of factors.

If I have all of my carboys tied up, I know I can go right to bottle from the primary (with some recipes). This doesn't mean that I am inherently impatient. This simply means that I have found no reason to put that particular recipe into a secondary. I think quite often homebrewers tend to do things based solely on a course of habit rather than trying to understand why.
 
I always secondary, for most of the reasons here. I like to reuse yeast at least three times, so it frees up the primary for a new brew. I think it acts as a 'bright tank' and helps clarify. Once I begin kegging, I'll probably skip using secondaries.
 
Monster Mash said:
I only use secondary for dry hopping. Even my lagers go straight to keg and then stored for lagering.

Here are my last two lagers I brewed and both were tapped 2 weeks after kegging.

American Pilsener..

European Lager...

Wow, color me impressed. I imagine the answer to this is no, but are you doing a diacetyl rest?

The only time I use secondary's anymore is for lagers and my IPA. I am not doing it for any other reasnon than Iwhat Jamil has said a number of times about the lack of a need for secondary fermentation. I strictly keg (unless I have over 4 beers on hand), and never noticed a clarity issue.
 
Craig5_12 said:
I never rack to 2ndary....except for the experiment I'm running right now. I don't think it's worth the trouble IF you can get the beer off the yeast in less than 4 weeks. I also cold crash before I keg/bottle and this step is what clears the beer the most.

So this will be the first and last time I ever rack to 2ndary. I have 5 gallons in a keg and it is one of the best beers I've made.....but the 5 gallons that have been in bottles for the last 3 weeks aren't carbonating....well not much anyway. I get a tiny *pft* when I crack the cap, but no fizz in the beer at all. I previously thought that it would be near impossible to get so much yeast out of the beer that it wouldn't carbonate....but I guess when you crash cool and use a 2ndary it's not! I'm sticking with 1 fermentor from here on out.....
 
Having only made 4 batches so far I have only used a secondary on my 3rd batch for an oktoberfest. Personally I like using it. My primary is a 6.5gallon and I have yet to have a blow-off. I have 2 secondaries both 5gal and using a secondary seems great because it allows me to have an open primary to brew whenever I want.

Plus having a 5gal secondary allows me to have 2 racked in the same fridge, while having my primary in the open.
 
I indicated "other", because it depends on the recipe and how the beer has fermented. If after a week, I have met my target FG, no need to secondary.
 
I rarely use a secondary now unless it is going to be a well aged beer like a barley wine etc where it will be aged for more than 4-6 weeks or for lagering purposes.

I use 12g carboys and they use up a lot of space. Besides, autolysis does not occur as easily as most people think.
 
I don't know how much difference it makes but I like to get the beer of the primary lees or trub so I can let the beer clear in a clean carboy for 2 or 3 weeks.
 
i never used one until my brother's last batch. we decided to use one and were amazed at the difference in clarity. i plan to use one for my current batch. will be transfering to secondary this weekend.
 
I use secondaries for most beers EXCEPT for my Hefe's just because i did it once and noticed no difference, therefore if it is done fermenting, why waste a carboy and time?
 
Can i change my answer...

I'd only made 2 brews when i voted... neither of which went to secondary...

Just racked my IPA to secondary about an hr ago... my first time with secondary fermentation... And I think Im gonna keep doing it in future... Already putting thought into buying a 3rd carboy...
 
Primary only, like others here i leave it a for 2-3 weeks (more usually 3) and don't worry about the big boogie man (autolysis), also i i reckon sitting on that much yeast slurry will bring it into condition quicker than the small amount of 'lazy' poorly-flocculant yeast that goes into the secondary.
What makes a huge difference to clarity is crash cooling it for a couple of days!!

i don't even bother with a secondary when dry hopping (unless its a lager) i just wait till the initial vigirous ferment dies down and then throw the hops in.
The only time i do secondary is with lagers or big beers.
 
I used to always secondary, but with kegging, I have found that crash cooling for a week before kegging makes the beer pretty bright. After a keg is tapped, and it sits in my keggerator for a week, it comes out pretty darn clear. When it is done, there is a very small amount of sediment on the bottom, but I guess being chilled, it stays together after the dip tube picks up a bit on the first draw.

I might secondary my Kölsch after this batch if it is not clear, but I think it will be. I might also just filter it and make it very bright!.
 
For those of you who leave the beer in primary for an extended time rather than rack to secondary, do you use glass or plastic for your fermenter?
 
EdWort said:
I used to always secondary, but with kegging, I have found that crash cooling for a week before kegging makes the beer pretty bright. After a keg is tapped, and it sits in my keggerator for a week, it comes out pretty darn clear. When it is done, there is a very small amount of sediment on the bottom, but I guess being chilled, it stays together after the dip tube picks up a bit on the first draw.

I might secondary my Kölsch after this batch if it is not clear, but I think it will be. I might also just filter it and make it very bright!.

What process do you use to crash cool? I'm assuming you're just putting the primary in your chest freezer at serving temp.
 
Moonpile said:
For those of you who leave the beer in primary for an extended time rather than rack to secondary, do you use glass or plastic for your fermenter?

I've used both of them. I used to use old 15gal extract containers but I think this lead to offflavors, then I used glass carboys, but now I mainly use my 2 10gal SS kegs.

The crash cooling is definitely what makes the beer clear up and this (plus the experimental 2ndary) is what has lead to my uncorbonated beer as well. I crash cool in an extra fridge with an external temp controller. Just haul the primary in and turn the temp down to about 35F, wait 2 days and presto! Clear Beer! For the record, I think I'll be force carb'ing all my batches now.
 
I've got a couple reciipies that go straight to the keg and get force carbed. They are ready to drink in less than a week.

Safeale ferments fairly quick and is highly floculant. I try to keep it in primary for at least 10 days, but 5 or 6 days is usually sufficient.

Other than that, everything else gets secondary, except the ocasional hefe.
 
I cold filter my beers to 1 micron, so I use the secondary EVERYTIME to make sure the beer has plenty of time to condition. By the time it hits the keg, all but a very few yeasts have been removed.
 
rdwj said:
What process do you use to crash cool? I'm assuming you're just putting the primary in your chest freezer at serving temp.

I put the fermenter in my freezer with my kegs that are carbing. It's about 37 degrees in there. Here's my Stone IPA cooling that'll I'll keg and dry hop this Sunday.

Freezer.jpg


Off to the right, you can see a cup of water covered with plastic wrap with my thermometer probe and next to it is Damp Rid which keeps condensation at bay. Hanging on the left side is the thermistor from the Johnson Controller which keeps the freezer at 37 degrees. I have three cornies in there connected to a 5# CO2 bottle via a simple stainless T. No leaks and they stay connected at 12 PSI till I'm ready to pull one and put it the keggerator.

My Kegerator uses the same setup for dispensing 3 kegs of Brew. A simple stainless T splits my gas line to 3 kegs.

NewKegerator.jpg
 
Drunkensatyr said:
I cold filter my beers to 1 micron, so I use the secondary EVERYTIME to make sure the beer has plenty of time to condition. By the time it hits the keg, all but a very few yeasts have been removed.

Would you share your filtering process?
 
EdWort said:
I put the fermenter in my freezer with my kegs that are carbing. It's about 37 degrees in there. Here's my Stone IPA cooling that'll I'll keg and dry hop this Sunday.

Freezer.jpg


Off to the right, you can see a cup of water covered with plastic wrap with my thermometer probe and next to it is Damp Rid which keeps condensation at bay. Hanging on the left side is the thermistor from the Johnson Controller which keeps the freezer at 37 degrees. I have three cornies in there connected to a 5# CO2 bottle via a simple stainless T. No leaks and they stay connected at 12 PSI till I'm ready to pull one and put it the keggerator.

My Kegerator uses the same setup for dispensing 3 kegs of Brew. A simple stainless T splits my gas line to 3 kegs.

NewKegerator.jpg




how long do you leave them on 12 psi? I just started kegging and have was wondering how long you can leave the keg carbonated? I always thought it would get stale?
 
EdWort said:


Ed, what model is that fridge? Mines a danby and has that damn compressor hump/shelf at the back, so I can only fit 2 cornies in there.

Who ever asked. My 12g carboys are polypropylene. Your not going to have problems with O2 unless your beer has gone completely flat and has been in there for months, not weeks.
 
ajf said:
If I don't use a secondary, I run out of primaries :)

-a.

pretty much why i rack it, too. i need to get another primary carboy cuz i'm brewing way too much (is that possible?)

glad i read this thread. I'm brewing my own hefeweizen expiriment right now and i've now decided not to rack it. I'll just buy a new carboy (or use my roomates) while i'm waiting for it to finish. :D
 
Just started a new thread on this, guess I should have looked harder. I've skipping secondary with good results. I guess I just don't understand the difference between secondary and sitting in the bottles for 3-4 weeks.

Whats the difference between a cold crash before bottling and chilling the bottles for a few days in the fridge before drinking?
 
I'm not answering the poll, as there is no "Usually" or "Sometimes Skip Secondary" option.

My last ten batches, I've skipped the secondary, and left my beer in the primary for 3-6 weeks. I have to be more careful when racking, but otherwise I've noticed no difference in quality or clarity. I also crash cool for a few days before kegging or bottling, which I'm sure helps. Most batches were kegged, two of them were bottled.

My lightest beer ever (a Kolsch) spent six weeks in primary, and ended up being absolutely crystal clear...you could read the paper through it.

Unless I make something with an extremely high OG that needs extensive aging (barleywine or the like) I'm skipping the secondaries from here on out. And I'm a fanatic for clarity. Even if it doesn't detract from the taste, I think visual appeal really contributes to enjoyment of a fine beer.
 
This is a great debate. I've used secondaries before, but have given it up. The end product is not different enough IMO to go through the extra work, and more importantly-put the beer at risk. I usually primary for a month, am careful to not disturb the yeast cake while racking to the bottling bucket, then bottle condition for a good long while.

I'd likely do it differently if I kegged, but since I only bottle-this seems to work. If you bottle carb/condition, a beer 1 week after bottling will taste worse (green) and be cloudier than the flat beer right out of the fermenter. Once it is carbed, the yeast will condition the beer and settle out. I guess I never understood the great benefit of secondaries since you still need to allow for this second phase of fermentation/conditioning anyway. Once it's bottled, I try not to even try one for 4 weeks...much of the time, it'll be ready-if not, just let it sit for a few more weeks and repeat.
 
I almost always use a secondary. I like to have my 6.5 gallon carboys free, plus it allows for long term aging without taking up a keg.
 
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