Sec. Fermentation

How much better will the beer be if you do a second ferment?

Huh? You mean use a secondary?

I do not recomend transfering beer to a secondary. 99% of beers are better off spending more time in the primary and then going straight to the bottle or keg.

LILJONNYWV said:

How much better will the beer be if you do a second ferment?

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I assume you mean use a secondary. As is mentioned often around here calling it "secondary fermenter/fermentation" is usually a misnomer. By the time you put it in secondary, fermentation is complete most of the time. What it really is is a bright tank. Which serves a couple purposes:

- Get the beer off the yeast cake and prevent autolysis (though there is debate over how necessary that is, see above)
- Let the yeast clean up their mess a bit more and let flavors meld (again debate over whether or not this is better served sitting on the yeast cake)
- Let more yeast and other junk fall out in order to clarify the beer

maida7 said:

I do not recomend transfering beer to a secondary. 99% of beers are better off spending more time in the primary and then going straight to the bottle or keg.

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I secondary most of my beers, and they are quite good.

Its more important to not rush the beer to the bottle, either via a longer primary, or a secondary...than whether you secondary or not.

I get much clearer beer when I secondary, as I invariably rack some yeast with my auto-siphon.