secondary was filtered... ruined?

So I did a search... and I did not find an answer to this question. I'm a new user. I just realized that oxidizing is bad after fermentation. When I moved my beer, an Irish red ale, to secondary, i filtered through a metal screen that came with my kit. I just realized this is a bad idea. Is my beer going to taste like "wet cardboard?" It had all kinds of bubbles that looked like a rather large head in the carboy when I finished the transfer.

I definately wont be doing such things again. The filter didnt even catch anything. The beer I have in primary now had a lot of hops added and had a lot of debris in the primary. Will it go away? What should I do about this?

Thanks
wes

I did the same thing with one of my first batches. It was my first time dry hopping and I thought that I would need to strain the hop pellets out. Needlees to say it was unnecessary. Anyway, I didn't get the dreaded wet cardboard flavor. The beer came out fine. Your results may vary, and I wouldn't advocate straining beer.

Depending on how long ago you did this you could add some sugars. When the yeast wakes up to eat the new sugars it may consume the O2 also.

Best bet is to forget about filtering and let the stuff drop out of suspension on its own. Use a clearing agent like Irish Moss or Whirlfloc (a form of Irish Moss) and let your beer sit for two weeks in the secondary. Another 2 weeks in the bottle and you should be pretty close to clear. if you're not, the cloudiness can't hurt you and is tasteless - just doesn't look as pretty.

As to whether you ruined your Ale? Probably not - you'll find out.

thanks guys. i dont plan to do that again. when i transfer to secondary do i want to try to prevent as much splashing as possible? my next one is getting dry hopped.

I dont really care much about clarity. I just didnt want chunks of hops in my bottles and in my mouth.

Seems to me that if you are patient and careful with your siphoning, chunks of anything shouldn't be a problem.

When I rack to a secondary I fill from the bottom up with an auto-siphon. Seems to work so far

A lot of people dry hop right in the primary. May want to try that. You can use a hop bag to help contain the sludge

You can just take a racking cane and rubberband a hop bag on the bottom (all sterilized of course), and it will filter basically everything out. I always dry hop with whole hops, and using this method I get to just stuff the hops in and let em swim around in the carboy without a single leaf making it into the bottling bucket. But as far as oxidation, you'll be fine. Even in a secondary there is activity that will consume the O2 in the brew. In the future, don't secondary. Unless your going to fruit the beer or something like that, its a meaningless step

I agree with everything that's been said here about not bothering with filtering. Leave beer in primary for 3-4 weeks and then in bottles for at least 3 weeks and pretty much all the particles will drop out.

As for the question of whether this batch is ruined: probably not. Oxidation is bad, but it doesn't mean cardboard-flavored beer overnight. Oxidation hurts the long-term stability of your beer, which means that if you wanted to age this beer, you probably would notice it developing cardboard taste over time.

If it's your first batch, or one of your first batches, my prediction is it won't last long enough for that to happen.

haha it definately wont last long. my second beer is a double ipa with a starting gravity about 1.07. It might last a little longer but im trying to be really careful with it. my hops are whole leaf. I did buy an extract kit for both. i have 2 more extract kits then i think im just going to start buying ingredients and measuring them myself. I want to do a Belgian style IPA that I'll probably just buy ingredients for. I want to get something similar to my favorite beer (Flying Dog Raging *****).

Thanks again guys. I'm sure I'll be posting more questions. I'm going to bottle this week on thursday or friday and probably bottle while I'm waiting for the water to boil and or cool on my next batch.

Would it hurt anything to transfer the beer i started this past Friday to Carboy and dry hop today? It seems to have reached its final gravity or close to it and the airlock hasnt bubbled since sunday. Or should I just transfer now and wait til later to dry hop? and do I need to sanitize my dry hops somehow or just the bag im putting them in?

Thanks

I checked with a hydrometer. Its close to final. But i was just going to change it from primary to secondary to leave for a week or so at least and use a muslim bag for the hop leaves. How would that be?

bottlebomber said:

You can just take a racking cane and rubberband a hop bag on the bottom (all sterilized of course), and it will filter basically everything out. I always dry hop with whole hops, and using this method I get to just stuff the hops in and let em swim around in the carboy without a single leaf making it into the bottling bucket. But as far as oxidation, you'll be fine. Even in a secondary there is activity that will consume the O2 in the brew. In the future, don't secondary. Unless your going to fruit the beer or something like that, its a meaningless step

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Do this. Especially if you are using whole hops. Just like not cooping your hops up in bags is good in the boil, its the same dry hopping. Don't secondary. Do NOT pull your beer off the yeast unless your going to be dry hopping AND you are going to save your yeast. The hops, trub and yeast will get along fine. Everything that comes into contact with the beer needs to be sanitized with the exception of hops, they are an antiseptic themselves. Also, trying to get swollen hop bags out of carboys can be a real hassle

I'm still confused. I am better off just stuffing the leaves in the fermenter with no bag (even a long cheesecloth looking bag with huge holes)? I kind of want to transfer even if i suck up some of the bottom just because my beer is in a plastic bucket right now and I sort of want it in a carboy. I don't have to I guess. I can just put my next beer in the empty carboy and leave it. Will the plastic affect the taste?

I must admit I only use glass carboys to ferment in because I think they're cool. I have a bucket I could use, but I can definitely see the wisdom in having a large opening if you need to put something in/take something out.

unionrdr said:

It seems like most noobs think it'll be cool to watch the fermentation. Then freak out over every little thing because they're not familiar with the process. I'd rather have ease of use then something I can watch that has a small opening.

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Im sure your an excellent brewer, but I really can't agree with that. While I don't have too many brews under my belt, about 15, I really can't see ever wanting to forgo watching the fermentation happen. And I have a friend who's been homebrewing since before it was legal who's made thousands of batches and he still likes to watch... why not just say that's how YOU feel about it, instead of making somewhat insulting generalizations

So i just added the whole leaf hops to the primary after a week and I plan on just leaving it there for 2 weeks. The whole leafs were cascade i believe. Is there any problem with this? In hindsight I think I should have waited til the final 5 days or so to dry hop but initially I was just gonna do a 2 week fermentation. I have some extra chinook (I think thats what they are) pellet hops. Should I maybe consider dry hopping with those the final couple days or so for aroma?? Like I said its a double IPA and its had a bunch of hops added during the boil.

bottlebomber said:

Im sure your an excellent brewer, but I really can't agree with that. While I don't have too many brews under my belt, about 15, I really can't see ever wanting to forgo watching the fermentation happen. And I have a friend who's been homebrewing since before it was legal who's made thousands of batches and he still likes to watch... why not just say that's how YOU feel about it, instead of making somewhat insulting generalizations

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I wasn't trying to be insulting or speak in glittering generalities. I was just iterating that although some like to watch the fermentation,they don't understand the process enough not to worry over many things to do with it. Just to relax & let it do it's thing.
It's the kind of thing I've seen on here many times before,hence my comments.
Jus to let the op know it's a common thing not to be dreaded,all things being normal. And dry hopping is generally 7-10 days,to avoid build up of grassy flavors. Your results may vary.