Should I rack to secondary?

So I am the process of brewing my first batch (Scotch Ale) and it has been 8 days in the primary. Need to check the SG again but I am planning on bottling tonight.

I just bought a standard kit (plastic bucket primary {that didn't seem to have a good seal since we never saw any activity in the airlock [ok, thats probably too many parentheses]}).

For our next batch do you guys suggest just buying a new primary (glass carboy) and then using the primary we have now for a secondary?

How many people use a secondary and are there that many advantages to make it worth it?

If you do use a secondary how long do you spend in the primary and how long in the secondary?

There is actually a recent poll on the subject. I imagine any questions you may have were already covered in there.

leave it in the primary until it is finished (FG has been reached) and then transfer to a secondary if you feel so inclined. secondary should be glass, not plastic.

Yes, they say secondary needs to be MORE airtight then the primary, so do not use your plastic pail for the secondary.

Well, as the trouble maker who posted the linked poll, I will chime in.

Do what you feel is right. Use the force, feel it, let it steer you...

oh wait, sorry. Uh, secondary? yeah, let's see.

Up to you, however 8 days primary and then straight to bottles? No way. Give it more time before you bottle it. I just tried one of my scottish 80/- ales the other day. Delicious!

I had it in the primary a little over 3 weeks. Then I bottled it. It has only been 2 weeks in the bottle but i usually sample one at 2 weeks to check carbonation and then move it to a cooler storage place if it is carbed.

Wait you said plastic primary? So, IMO, best option is this. In this case, get a 5 gallon glass carboy and transfer to that. Leave it 2 weeks at least. I suppose it may be okay on the plastic bucket. I have never brewed in one so I cannot give a qualified answer on that.

As I said this is our first batch and we were just following the instructions. I'm at work but I believe they say to bottle after 7-10 days in the primary.

What do you guys suggest for this beer. We want to brew another batch this weekend and need to free up the primary. If I waited to bottle till this Sunday that would put it at 14 days in the primary.

I would never do a secondary ever again unless dry hopping. There is no need for it listen to the brewing network and you will see what I mean.

If after 14 days in primary it has hit its FG and stabilized you could go ahead and bottle. I do secondary clearing so that I can a) free up a primary and b) help with the clarity of my beers (I don't keg).

If you don't want to use a secondary you can leave it for an extra couple of weeks in your primary, this gives it the same amount of time to clear as transferring to a clearing vessel.

Since you say you want to brew again I would either bottle first and then brew, or transfer to secondary and brew - then you can bottle at your leisure.

Brew-boy said:

I would never do a secondary ever again unless dry hopping. There is no need for it listen to the brewing network and you will see what I mean.

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After reading the thread accosicated with the poll I think I am going to skip the secondary.

I don't think I can wait 3 weeks to bottle. We are all anxious to brew our next batch.

you should always wait a total of 3 weeks (in the primary+secondary or just primary) before you bottle...you'll thank yourself for it...the beer is still conditioning. the only exception may be a hefe.

Did you say your brew's been in the primary for 8 days and you are going to bottle it?

I have one thing to say: Amateur! Your brew's not done.

All new brewers think fermentation can be rushed. It's a natural process. It runs its own course at its own slow pace.

You don't have to listen to me. I couldn't really care any less if you did or not. That's your burden. But I PROMISE you that if you practice a little patience your brew will taste better if you wait until the brew is ready. It can only get better.

Remember, we are here to try to help you AVOID all the amateur mistakes (that we made) and create some great tasting brews that you would not be afraid to share with your friends.

Learn to do a minimum of 10 days in the primary then 2 weeks or more in the secondary. Your brews will improve. Really.

If you must have beer right away then go buy some. Also go buy more equipment so you can have a couple of brews going at the same time.

homebrewer_99 said:

All new brewers think fermentation can be rushed.

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Ain't that the truth! (speaking from experience) and unfrotunately there are many sources out there (brew manuals, instructions with kits, word of mouth) that propagate this thinking. Then there are also many frustrated brewers who cannot understand what is wrong with their beer (again speaking from experience) until they learn to slow down!

I agree with HB_99. Go get the next batch of euipment, you know you want to... go on, It never ends! ha haha haaaaaa!

I agree with the guys above to a fair extent. But I would like to add one ther thing.

Its my experience, and this experience came from being an amatuer, that you can bottle after a week and still have a beer that tastes good or even great but there are two things about it...

1. If you ferment it longer in the primar, or use a secondary, it will almost certainly taste better, maybe only a little.

2. It usually means that to get the best taste out of it you have to bottle condition it longer, so you basically dont get to drink your (nice tasting) beer sooner anyway.

3. It offers the advantage of being able to open up a beer after 1 week bottle conditioning (+ 1 week in the primary) and see how bad it tastes. Then open another a week later and another a week later and so on. So you can see for yourself how the brew improves with time. You will probably find that after about 5 weeks in the bottle, it will hit the peak taste.

Good luck

homebrewer_99 said:

Did you say your brew's been in the primary for 8 days and you are going to bottle it?

I have one thing to say: Amateur! Your brew's not done.

All new brewers think fermentation can be rushed. It's a natural process. It runs its own course at its own slow pace.

You don't have to listen to me. I couldn't really care any less if you did or not. That's your burden. But I PROMISE you that if you practice a little patience your brew will taste better if you wait until the brew is ready. It can only get better.

Remember, we are here to try to help you AVOID all the amateur mistakes (that we made) and create some great tasting brews that you would not be afraid to share with your friends.

Learn to do a minimum of 10 days in the primary then 2 weeks or more in the secondary. Your brews will improve. Really.

If you must have beer right away then go buy some. Also go buy more equipment so you can have a couple of brews going at the same time.

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Oh I don't deny being a total n00b. This is our first batch but people on these boards have been a huge help. We were just planning on going with what the guide said that came with the kit said which was 10-14 days before botteling. I suppose I will have to go out and buy a glass carboy (they are only 20 bucks at the local brew shop) because we are ready to start our next batch. Our biggest fear is that we wait 6 weeks for the first one to finish and realize that it is fantastic and then have to wait another 6 weeks.

Although at the same time we are a little anxious about spending more money before we actually try any of our concoctions. We started from scratch so we had to buy all the equipment plus brew kit (that damn brew kettle was expensive).

Thanks for all the advice. How about this for a solution. Keep the Scotch that we have going now in the primary for 3.5-4 weeks and then go to bottles, then another 3-4 weeks before drinking, meanwhile we can buy a new carboy so we can start the next batch.

The reason for keeping it in the primary instead of going to the secondary is from what I have read on the link above about people making great beers just by keeping it in the primary and we are pretty new so it would be a shame to get it contaminated.

All good points! At least you are doing your research and listening to us.

I know we BS a lot, but when the serious questions come up we're always here for you new brewers.

I always like to go to a secondary, even though it may not always be necessary. I like to get the beer off of the trub that made it into the primary.

Fix your airlock leak! Since you never saw any activity, you either have a leak, or dead yeast. I would recomend transferring to a glass carboy that you know you can seal for extended fermentation. This is the time when it matters most! Then ferment your new beer in the pail, after you have addressed the poor sealing issue. It would be pretty heartbraking to have contaminated batch(s) because of something so simple.

Any suggestions on how to sail the pail.

Most of the time all you have to do is completely remove it, turn it about 1/4 of the way around and recap.

Could be something on the rim also keeping it from sealing.

I wouldn't worry about it too much, nothing will get into the fermenter while there is active fermentation.

bradsul said:

I wouldn't worry about it too much, nothing will get into the fermenter while there is active fermentation.

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True, it's all outgassing...