Primary Fermentation

So I have a question about fermenting in the primary. I don't really understand why you have to wait until all fermentation stops before racking to the secondary? I understand why you would want to wait before racking into bottles (exploding bottles), but if you rack into the secondary before fermentation has stopped then wouldn't fermentation just continue in the secondary? Sure you would lose the layer of yeast on the bottom of the carboy, but there should be sufficient yeast within the beer to continue fermentation until complete right? Any thoughts on this?

The whole point of racking it to a seconday is to get the beer away from the yeast cake. This helps clear up the brew and reduces the chances for off-flavors caused by the yeast.

If fermentation is still going on strong when when you rack, you are going to get another considerable cake of yeast forming in the bottom of the secondary as time passes, and this will defeat the purpose of racking it.

You will almost always have SOME yeast sediment in the secondary, but if you rack after primary fermentation has ceased, the amount will be minimal, and you get a cleaner beer going into the bottles.

-walker

The idea of racking to the secondary is to get the beer off the yeast cake which is spent yeast. If you rack too soon you'll nullify this benefit because you'll still have a lot of yeast falling out. The secondary is not really for fermentation...it's for clarification and bulk aging (flavor blending/mellowing).

What he said. Is this thing slow for everybody else today? It's throwing off my morning schedule.

VERY slow today. i'm not going to get NEARLY enough slacking-off done today at this pace. I'll probably have to take some of my slacking home tonight.

-walker

Woah! the site seems to have suddenly picked up the pace.

full steam ahead with irresponsibility!

Ah... It all makes so much sense now. Thanks guys. I ask this question because I racked over to a secondary a few days ago. It fermented for a week, then bubbles slowed way down. I took a gravity reading of 1.0100. Then racked. The smell was heavenly. And it didn't taste that bad either. A buddy of mine commented that it tasted like a warm beer that had been left out for a little while.

jrabenhorst said:

A buddy of mine commented that it tasted like a warm beer that had been left out for a little while.

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Your buddy is very astute; it IS a warm beer and it HAS been sitting out for a while.

-walker

Sounds like you're in good shape...without looking at your recipe, 1.010 has to be pretty close to FG. Tastin' good at racking time isn't a sine qua non, but it's always a good thing in my book!

BeeGee said:

Tastin' good at racking time isn't a sine qua non, but it's always a good thing in my book!

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Is that some fancy latin you're spouting there, BeeGee?

BeeGee said:

Tastin' good at racking time isn't a sine qua non...

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I'm having a real hard time reconciling statements like this with that whole Dukes of Hazzard thing.

I'm a complex man, even conflicted at times. Plus, Latin had the easiest teacher in high school.

BeeGee said:

I'm a complex man

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I'd say so.

Speaks Latin
Writes software
Watches Dukes of Hazzard
Steals propane from his neighbor ("ninja style")
AG brewer that ferments in plastic

-walker

Walker said:

AG brewer that ferments in plastic

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Think I'm in company with david_42 and hb_99 on that one!

hb_99 doesn't do AG...he's always talking about ordering 55# of dme.

El Pistolero said:

hb_99 doesn't do AG...he's always talking about ordering 55# of dme.

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Well, he's a homebrew badass and ferments in plastic and has a dedicated brewery space inside his house bigger than my garage, so there!


Edit...he does ferment in plastic, doesn't he? Primary?

BeeGee said:

Well, he's a homebrew badass and ferments in plastic and has a dedicated brewery space inside his house bigger than my garage, so there!

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Has Bill got one of his 100 lb bullets trained on you or something?

Yes, I think he does ferment in plastic...old gallon milk cartons, IIRC.

Walker said:

I'd say so.

Speaks Latin
Writes software
Watches Dukes of Hazzard
Steals propane from his neighbor ("ninja style")
AG brewer that ferments in plastic

-walker

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um..... what is the process of stealing propane "ninja style"?

I don't know for certain, but I imagine it involves a lot of dark clothing, sneaking about, and sharp metal objects.

-walker

It's just a matter of creeping onto the deck, unhooking the propane, and taking it back to your house! I've only had to do it twice, and I always replace it with a full one. The only reason to do it ninja style instead of knocking and asking is that he'll first talk to me for 30 minutes and then want to come help, neither of which are productive for my brewing process.

As long as it isn't Chris Farley "ninja style", that sounds good.

So what causes the solid particles in the beer to fall out when you rack it? I had a high test IPA which had been in the primary for a week and activity was almost completely stopped. I racked it into a carboy 30 minutes ago, and within 15 minutes, I had at least 3/4" of sediment in the bottom of the carboy. Its like some magic thing that when you move the beer it falls out.

It gets rid of the most of yeast and trub you don't want to drink without adding more due to continued fermentation.

Look at your brew in the primary .... cloudy... gunky... bubbles dropping off more gunk. When fermentation stops and no buubles form you don't see the gunk dropping off.

jrabenhorst said:

So I have a question about fermenting in the primary. I don't really understand why you have to wait until all fermentation stops before racking to the secondary? I understand why you would want to wait before racking into bottles (exploding bottles), but if you rack into the secondary before fermentation has stopped then wouldn't fermentation just continue in the secondary? Sure you would lose the layer of yeast on the bottom of the carboy, but there should be sufficient yeast within the beer to continue fermentation until complete right? Any thoughts on this?

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