RosieTheGreat

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So was a student up at UC Davis. We had a actual brewing program (which i was not a part of) but i did take an intro to brewing class which is what got me into home brewing.

We didn't learn actually how to brew beer in the class, more just the theory behind it and had cool speakers like ken grossman.

So my question is at what point to i switch from my primary fermenter to my secondary fermenter?

One of my professors told me once the foam clears, which is usually about 5 days. It has been 5 days and the foam has not cleared. Im not freaking out or anything i just want to know how long should i wait for it to clear?

6,7,8... days?

This is an extract kit if that matters.

After that, whats a standard time to leave it in the secondary fermenter?

Thanks in advance.

Scimmia

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The "standard" anymore isn't even to use a secondary at all. Leave it in the primary for 2-3 weeks and bottle.

If you're going to dry hop or something, then a secondary becomes more useful, IMO.

Limited Visibility

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I usually don't transfer to a secondary unless I am doing a batch that needs to dry hop, or I am trying to clear a beer with gelatin or something.

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Revvy

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Hey I thought we were going ot start using the uber post that HAD BOTH our info...I have..you cheater you

Here...the major discussion is covered here, it shows both sides of the discussion in one place;

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/multiple-questions-about-secondary-fermentation-140978/#post1601829

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RosieTheGreat

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Thanks guys those were both very helpful.

Montanaandy

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Interesting. I brewed my 1st batch last Wed. and was trying to figure out when I should be ready to move over to secondary. I posed this very question to my LHBS guy today when I was purchasing supplies. My LBHAS has 30+ years experience, is a very knowledgeable guy, and brews 50-100 gallons every weekend. He told me that he goes to secondary after 1 week that 2 weeks is the max that he would recommend for primary. He kind of poo-pooed the idea of a long primary and told me that too long of a primary can create a number of possible problems. From reading various threads on this board as well as the comments on this thread, I know that the current idea is to go for a sustained primary and skip the secondary. What is the basis for staying in primary and skipping the secondary? Thanks. Montanaandy

Brewin06111

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Is this a typo? If it's not... HOLY CRAP

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Montanaandy

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No not a typo. It is a family HB business that has been around forever. The 2 sons currently run the business and so they have been involved in the home brewing business since they were teens.

Yooper

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Well, the idea of moving it from primary to secondary immediately after fermentation has a couple of origins. One is that many of us come into beer brewing from winemaking, which actually does require a true "secondary fermentation".

Another is that it's true that leaving the beer too long on the dormant yeast on the bottom of the fermenter will cause some undesirable flavors. The problem is determining what "too long" is. So, many people started moving the beer as soon as the fermentation was complete, to get the beer off of the trub as soon as possible.

Over the past several years, many brewers have discovered that a month or even longer is NOT too long, and indeed gives the yeast some time to clean up after itself a bit. It depends on temperature, yeast strain, wort composition, etc, but it's been generally accepted that up to a month at optimum fermentation temperatures for the yeast strain poses no risk.

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