Racking to Secondary

I usually rack to a secondary but this last batch has been in my primary for 10 days now. It is still worth racking to a secondary or has it been to long in my primary and not worth racking.

Its always worth racking to a secondary. A secondary gives the beer more time to clear and "age". You certainly don't need to do a secondary, but its usually always worth it, IMHO.

vtfan99 said:

Its always worth racking to a secondary. A secondary gives the beer more time to clear and "age". You certainly don't need to do a secondary, but its usually always worth it, IMHO.

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Agreed. Even if it's only for a few days, give your beer time to "relax" off of that yeast bed.

My last brew sat in primary for 14 days before I racked to the secondary (where it sat for another 3 weeks); best beer I've made to date.

Yes by all means go to a secondary ASAP. Your beer will be better for it.

On this note-I was wondering how necessary it is when racking to keep the containers covered. If you're going into, or out of a carboy-there's little exposure to the air to begin with. But when using buckets, how crucial is it to keep it covered?

So far-I tried to keep the vessel covered with aluminum foil, but i wouldn't call it air tight. How vulnerable is it when going from primary->secondar or secondary->bottling bucket?

you don't HAVE to go to secondary...do a seach on google about it.

Some people (i haven't yet but am going to start) just let the beer sit in primary for the whole 3weeks (1week primary + 2weeks secondary) or more..

I've read that it allows the yeast to "finnish up" more of the complex sugars and *stuff (wish I had better brew vocabulary..)

the worry is about autolysis but i think thats a bit of a myth i mean i know it's possible but who has actually experienced it? I think it would take a lot longer than 3 or 4 or 5 weeks for it to actually happen...

good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Rack It!!!

Secondary is not necessary, but it makes for better beer. As far as keeping your bucket covered during racking/bottling, i never do and have had no problems; there should be enough CO2 in the head space to prevent any nasties.

What's the style? I might leave my hefe in the primary until it's ready to bottle since that is not inconsistent with the style. For a beer you want to clear up then yeah I'd do it.

Besides the batch that is in 2ndary right now, I've never racked to 2ndary. I chill the beer down to about 35 degrees before bottling/kegging and it comes out clear as can be.
I'm experimenting with the 2ndary right now to see if i can tell a difference. From what I can tell so far.....it's not worth the hassle (for me).

One of the reasons people to rack to a secondary is to free the primary up. And because you can dump fresh wort onto the old yeast cake and not have to add yeast or make a starter.

All my beers sit for 10 to 14 days in the primary. Then I do another 2 weeks in a secondary.

In my opinion and reading if you have a Plastic primary it is not recommended to leave it in a primary for more than 10 days, there maybe a risk of getting a plastic taste in the beer, however letting it stay in a primary for 7 days then putting it in the carboy for a cleaning stage for 1 - 6 weeks depending what you are going for. I do strongly recommend

sAvAgE said:

In my opinion and reading if you have a Plastic primary it is not recommended to leave it in a primary for more than 10 days, there maybe a risk of getting a plastic taste in the beer, however letting it stay in a primary for 7 days then putting it in the carboy for a cleaning stage for 1 - 6 weeks depending what you are going for. I do strongly recommend

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That's interesting. I've left a few batches in a plastic primary for up to 14 days with no problems; never gone longer than that though.

TheJadedDog said:

That's interesting. I've left a few batches in a plastic primary for up to 14 days with no problems; never gone longer than that though.

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I will find you the link. it was in a best practice from the Edmonton homebrewers Guild, up here in Canada

i'd cold crash it in the fridge for about another week - that will get things very clear