skipping the secondary

I know this is a debatable topic but I was wondering how many people here skip the secondary? I was going to do this on my next batch to see for myself the results of leaving my brew in the primary for 3-4 weeks.

If you mark other in the poll please explain...Thanks

I like to use a secondary! It really helps clear the beer, and helps me keep my beer around longer! I figure the longer it is in the secondary, the longer i will have let it condition before I drink them!

Once, when I was either in a hurry, or too lazy, or maybe didn't have one empty, I did skip the secondary. As I recall, it didn't really make that much of a difference. Normally, though, I always use one.

AleHole said:

I know this is a debatable topic but I was wondering how many people here skip the secondary? I was going to do this on my next batch to see for myself the results of leaving my brew in the primary for 3-4 weeks.

If you mark other in the poll please explain...Thanks

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I wouldn't leave my beer in the primary that long. If you want to skip the secondary, just bottle it after 2 weeks.

I have not used a secondary for my last 8 batches. I ferment in a primary for 10 days to 2 weeks, crash cool for a couple of days, then rack to a keg.

My beers come out clear enough for me. Here's my Haus Pale Ale.

I bottle, so I always use a secondary. If I was kegging, though, I'd probably skip it. One of the reasons I use a secondary is because bottling is such a pain! I procrastinate about bottling, until I feel I "have" to bottle next weekend.

I always use a secondary, even with my Hefe Weizens.

At least with a HW you can add the amount of yeast you want to make it cloudy again. Mush like a good German HW.

Here's a pic of my last Pale Ale...

From what research I have done it seems like the only people that do skip a secondary are people that are kegging.

I didn't get a secondary until my 6th batch, and I've used it on every batch except one since then. I didn't use it for my latest belgian wit. Other than wheat beers, I'll probably use it every time.

Keg from the fermenter 95% of the time. Barleywines, hopwine & meads have been the only exceptions and those are all once a year (or less) batches.

I selected 'other' primarily because I'm on the fence. I was going to start a thread but here one is!
Listening to podcasts from the Brewing Network, I have heard more and more proponents that are against secondaries. Most recently, I listened to a podcast from them including Jamil and John Palmer where they made it clear that they really believe the secondary is not good. They didn't say using the secondary is horrible, but Johh Palmer said his opinion regarding using secondaries has changed dramatically from the time he wrote his first edition of How to brew and now. He recommends against it now.

I skipped the secondary on a recent batch and it was fine - but then, I kegged it so who knows...

What are Palmer's reasons for not using a secondary fermenter? Contamination and oxidization fears? Something else?

I use a secondary with pretty much everything except Hefes.

I can see skipping the secondary on a really quick turn-around beer, but Im not gonna tie up my primary for weeks when I can just drop a beer to the secondary and start another one in the primary. (I only have 1 6.5 G carboy)

For pale ales or lighter-bodied beers that clear well on their own (particularly with a high floccuating yeast), I sometimes don't bother with a secondary. They seem to bottle condition just fine, so why bother?

And now that I have a keg, some lighter 'session' beers should be really easy to produce, especially if you can skip the secondary. Just ferment for 2-3 weeks, chill, rack to a keg with some finings, force-carb, and that's it. I am looking forward to trimming down my time spent processing beer so that I have time to brew MORE of it!

Chimone said:

I use a secondary with pretty much everything except Hefes.

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Same here! I keg everthing, and unless its a Hefe, I use a secondary.

I mainly use the secondary to free up my primary. I'm going to start kegging soon though so I will probably skip the secondary stage and just rack to the keg once fermentation is done except for high gravity beers that need more time or beers that I plan to bottle for whatever reason.

I've only skipped it once, and that's because I was making a hefe. I think I'll always keep it as part of my process. It gives everything an extra 2 weeks to mature.

I feel it clears my beer better than when I used to leave it in primary.

Torchiest said:

What are Palmer's reasons for not using a secondary fermenter? Contamination and oxidization fears? Something else?

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It isn't totally clear to me but here is what I've gleaned from what I've heard so far...

1 - Yeasties continue working and result in better tasting beer in the long run, less off-flavors because the yeast consumes the root causes
2 - Less chance of o2 getting in the beer resulting in longer shelf life (I don't have that worry since I drink my beer too fast to have shelf life)

Good topic! I've only brewed three batches, and put only one in secondary. I'm still too new to have a real opinion on if secondary is good or not, but at this stage of the game clarity of the brew isn't a concern for me; I'm sure the beer tastes just as good cloudy!

That being said, I didn't want to clarify my hefeweizen so I bottled it after 2 weeks in primary. And, it turned out crystal clear. Go figure!

Had to pick other only because of Hefe's. 60+ batches under my belt and my 1st Hefe. Time to rack it to a keg today! All my previous I've used a secondary.

Do hefe's really need to be cloudy or have yeast in the bottom of the bottle or is that just what a couple craft breweries do and now it is viewed as law?
I say, clear...

I still use a secondary. I do 2 weeks in primary and only one week in secondary plus I try to get it cold. I think it makes my beers clearer.

I brewed for about 2 years before ponying up the 20 or so bucks for a carboy...after I bought it and used it, I wished I would have done it sooner.


loop

Always use a secondary now. When I did my first batches I didn't, but since I've progressed I like the process of getting the beer out of the primary after 7-10 days and putting it in the secondary for a week or two. It seems to help the flavor of my beer. (I always natural carbonate in bottles or minikegs.)

I've also (knock on wood) never had to deal with a bottle bomb yet. I think the extra time i secondary helps with that, too.

I only started using one a few months ago and the beer is much clearer. As for how it affects the taste I can't say that I have noticed any difference.

I chose other.
I bottle and the *only* time I use a secondary is if I am using brett on a beer. Big beers, little beers, aged beers, quick beers; no brett no secondary.

if I'm doing mid range abv beers - below 7% - then i won't secondary. i hear a lot of people talking about clarity in the secondary. true...this will allow further clarification, however i achieve the same results or better in quicker time by cold crashing.

I've skipped using secondary once once, but it was a pretty modest-sized brown ale that didn't need to be clear. What I like about using the secondary as much as anything is that I don't have to give a second thought to making sure I get the beer off the yeast. I've gotten busy and not been able to bottle for four weeks after putting the beer in secondary, after sitting in primary for two. I've potentially be looking at autolysis (sp?) issues if I hadn't racked. It just gives me more flexibility, plus freeing up the bucket to brew again.

I never rack to 2ndary....except for the experiment I'm running right now. I don't think it's worth the trouble IF you can get the beer off the yeast in less than 4 weeks. I also cold crash before I keg/bottle and this step is what clears the beer the most.

I bottle. I tried one batch without a secondary and never will I do it again. It's not that the beer was cloudy when poured, it's that the yeast cake was quite gross on the bottom of the bottle and people who don't know how to properly pour a beer are going to have a pretty gross glass of brew and, well, that reflects poorly on me. Unless you can bottle directly from wherever your primary is sitting, I wouldn't move the carboy 3 feet and then think about sticking a siphon in there. Even sitting still, just getting the autosiphon in there disturbs too much crud for my tastes.


Just my $0.02.

I don't secondary anymore either. If you leave the beer in the primary, it will clear. I bottle condition and I don't get any more sediment in my bottles than when I wasted my time with the secondary.

I voted other because I kind of still use a secondary. I rack my beer from primary straight to a keg. Sometimes I carb it immediately, sometimes I let it age, but I rarely rack it again after that. I guess in some instances you could call what I do a "secondary".

I use a secondary on two occasions, primarily (harhar). If I'm dryhopping, or if I'm using a yeast type that isn't very flocculent. For me, that's usually the chico strain. It tends to take longer to fall out and I'm usually dryhopping those beers anyway. So it works out nice. Bitters, browns and stouts, no secondary. I don't make many Wits or HWs.

I've only skipped it once and thats because I didn't own one at the time.

When I bottled after 2 weeks in the primary, it was still 5 weeks until it was drinkable.

AleHole said:

From what research I have done it seems like the only people that do skip a secondary are people that are kegging.

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Incorrect. Even in the answers here, this is not the case. Beware of absolutes in brewing because there are darn few of them.

I said I always skip a secondary. The one exception (for dry hopping) does not apply, but there are others, and once in a while for some pther special purpose, I will use a secondary and sometimes a tertiary. However, for my house brew, it goes two weeks in the primary then right to bottles.

I pay great attention to hot and cold breaks and I use Irish Moss. These provide me with sufficient clarity.

I secondary about half of my beers, usually some combination of the following reasons:

1. I need to free up a primary fermentor.
2. It's a lighter colored beer and hasn't cleared yet.
3. It's an old ale or other high SG style that I want to condition longer.
4. It's a lager.
5. My keg conditioning chest is full.

Usually I will secondary darker beers and wheat beers in the keg. I have found, even after a long primary, that I will drop a half inch or so of yeast and sediment out in secondary. I do take a lot of care to sanitize well and not splash so I haven't had a problem with contamination or oxidization yet.

I bottle and never use a secondary. I actually use the fermentap on 2 carboys. I start draining trub out a couple days after fermentation, but never completely remove all of the trub or yeast cake. I rarely leave a beer in the fermenter for more than 2 weeks. I'll cold crash it 2 to 3 days before bottling and am fine with the clarity of my beers. They aren't as clear as a filtered commercial beer but they are pretty darn clear. I just don't want to deal with moving the beer to another vessel if I don't have to. The less it gets handled, the better.

I'm about to start kegging and the only thing I'll do different is force carbonate and age it a little longer in the keg.

homebrewer_99 said:

I always use a secondary, even with my Hefe Weizens.

At least with a HW you can add the amount of yeast you want to make it cloudy again. Mush like a good German HW.

Here's a pic of my last Pale Ale...

Click to expand...

Holy crap that is one clear beer!! Mine are never that clear, what are you doing?!