No you really don't NEED a secondary on most beers. It is used for clearing, and aging. So if neither of those are important to you, then you can skip that step. If you do opt to skip the secondary make sure you let it sit long enough in the primary. You don't want to bottle a beer that is not finished.
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Primaries -Cider
Secondaries - Winter IPA, Belgium Noel
Extra Kegs - Empty
On Tap - Sam Adam's Boston Lager
Next - Nothing at the moment
Reading - Radical Brewing
Personally I've not used a secondary on any beer of mine except my first. Secondary is usually good to get the beer off the old yeast and to aid in clearing, but since switching to 21day minimum primary I've had great results with clarity and no need to secondary.
The BJCP guidelines for Witbier:
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Appearance: Very pale straw to very light gold in color. The beer will be very cloudy from starch haze and/or yeast, which gives it a milky, whitish-yellow appearance. Dense, white, moussy head. Head retention should be quite good.
That pretty much tells me I'd want to avoid a secondary altogether. YMMV
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Originally Posted by olllllo
Every brewer here would tuck in his junk to have this opportunity.
Quote:
A child-like man is not a man whose development has been arrested; on the contrary, he is a man who has given himself a chance of continuing to develop long after most adults have muffled themselves in the cocoon of middle-aged habit and convention. Aldous Huxley
secondary depends on the style. for wit, i'd say no secondary, period. maybe 10 days total in primary, and assuming your gravity readings are good, bottle it and wait.
__________________ Malkore
Primary: English Mild
On tap: Pale Ale, Lancelot's Wheat, English Brown Ale, Steam Beer, HoovNuts IPA
Bottled: MOAM, Braggot, Raspberry Melomel, Merlot, Apfelwein, Pyment, Sweet mead, Cabernet
Gal in 2009: 27, Gal in 2010: 34, Gal in 2011: 13, Gal in 2012: 10
...and the opposition says... I secondary my wheat beers for the simple reason it allows more yeast to fall out of suspension. You can always add more yeast from the secondary while racking to the bottling bucket/keg.
Doing this will reduce the amount of sediment in your bottles, but contain enough to make the brew cloudy again while pouring.
Witbier
I secondary my wheat beers for the simple reason it allows more yeast to fall out of suspension. You can always add more yeast from the secondary while racking to the bottling bucket/keg.
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