need some opinions on transfering to secondaries please

I have been told that some beers are better off left in the primary. Pale ale for example. Well I have an Oktoberfest in the primary now, been in there for 11 days now. So lets hear it, should i rack to the secondary after 2 weeks or not. This is only my second batch so I am pretty green and open to all opinions.

I have left the practice of using a secondary behind.

To me, a little extra time in the primary does the trick, and I get optimal clarity every time if I'm careful when I rack to the keg.

That, and you get an extra fermenter to use while the other beer is fermenting, as well as piece of mind that you're not risking contaminating your product while racking to the secondary.

Leave in primary. Most on here only really use secondary for long aging, dry hopping or oaking/flavoring. Let it sit primary for 5 to 8 weeks.

I have heard this across the board I just wanted more opinions, so i should leave the Oktoberfest for 5 to 8 weeks?

Are you lagering the Oktoberfest? If so after about 3-4 weeks at 50 F raise the temp to about 65 for day or two then drop the temp down to about 35 F for another 2 weeks or so...that made mine phenomenal

If not lagering like the post before, I'd say leave it for a bit. The yeast will clean up after themselves and then your beer will be extra good and clearer also. I got a winter warmer going on 6 weeks in primary now. Headed straight to bottles and won't be touched until Christmas.

unless you are actually lagering this, 5-8 weeks is longer than a simple oktoberfest needs. well the extra time wont hurt it, but 3 weeks primary should be plenty sufficient

I secondary all my beers.

It's what I've always done and it works so I have no plans to change now.

I have had it at around 60 for the 11 days would i still be able to lager the beer? And would it be alright todrop the temp that fast?

I am almost pretty convinced on droping the secondary all together

I'm pretty new to brewing too, started last Christmas. I have found that leaving it in primary for 3 to 5 weeks seems to work well.

I was one of those guys who was unsure of what to do too, I have a pumpkin ale now and was not sure if I should rack or not to, I have decided to leave it alone for another week for a total if 4 weeks on pumpkin.

I hope this helps, I think it comes down to personal preference, some rack some don't.

I think you are right. The guy at my LHBS swears buy it, but i wonder if he was just trying to make a sale? I think I will just leave it just to see what happens. I am wondering if i can still lager it at 35 degrees though

I don't usually use a secondary unless I'm oaking or adding something. OR making a lager.

A lager is clean, crisp, and without yeast flavor. I would never ever consider lagering for 8 weeks on a yeast cake. I always rack off of the yeast cake right after the diacetyl rest (about day 12) and then lager at 34 degrees for 6-12 weeks (depending on what the OG of the beer was). I would never suggest to anyone to skip racking on a lager.

So if lagering rack to secondary if not just leave in primary?

johnheather125 said:

So if lagering rack to secondary if not just leave in primary?

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Well, not really. Lagers are super clean and crisp, and without yeast character. If you're not lagering, I'd still get it off of the yeast cake right after the diacetyl rest. If not lagering, then bottling I asssume. But the hallmark of a good lager is a super clean crisp mouthfeel which comes from lagering after fermenting at 50 degrees.

For ales, though, I'll leave them in primary 2-3 weeks without ever racking them to secondary.

Well like I said I have had the temp at about 60-62 F . Probably best just to bottle than lager huh?

3-4 weeks in primary then if you are lagering rack to keg for another 2-4 weeks.

Long primaries are the key to better tasting beers !

johnheather125 said:

Well like I said I have had the temp at about 60-62 F . Probably best just to bottle than lager huh?

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What yeast strain did you use? If you used a lager yeast, you could have some off flavors from such a high temperature fermentation. If you used an ale yeast, it could still benefit from cold conditioning depending on the recipe and the OG and FG.

I used a brewers best German oktoberfest kit. It came with a packet of lager yeast but the instructions said it will do fine at ale temps. I also asked both of my LHBS's if it would be ok both said yes. OG was 1.052 I have not taken another reading as of yet so no chance to taste yet

GoldMiner said:

I secondary all my beers.

It's what I've always done and it works so I have no plans to change now.

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Ditto that.

johnheather125 said:

I used a brewers best German oktoberfest kit. It came with a packet of lager yeast but the instructions said it will do fine at ale temps. I also asked both of my LHBS's if it would be ok both said yes. OG was 1.052 I have not taken another reading as of yet so no chance to taste yet

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while it was ok to use a lager yeast at ale temp, it likely wont be lager like. what i mean by that is that having it at the elevated temp will bring out more flavors from the yeast and cause it not to be as clean and crisp as one should be.

They did mention that it would not be as clean and crisp. Overall I think it should be drinkable. I hope anyway