Newbie Questions (gravity measurement, secondary fermentation, preventing explosions)

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Ecogeek

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Last week, I brewed my second batch (a Sweetwater Festive Ale clone) after a fairly successful first batch from a Brewer's Best English Pale Ale kit.

Brewing day went quite well, and my beer is happily fermenting away in the bathtub. My OG reading was 1.073, which seems about right since the finished product is supposed to be 8.5% ABV. So, a few questions:

1) How do people generally measure gravity during fermentation? Do you just drop the hydrometer in your primary fermenter, or do you siphon off a bit and measure that? If the former, doesn't the krausen interfere with a good reading? If the latter, what do you typically siphon off beer into, and how do you keep the hydrometer from getting stuck to the wall of whatever container you're using?

2) I've been reading a lot of the debate about whether or not to use a secondary fermenter, and to me, the decision comes down to if it's worth risking contamination to achieve a greater level of clarity. This is a dark beer (I'm told it should be around 30 SRM), so I don't know that a little cloudiness would even be perceptible, but at the same time, I want to produce the best beer I can, and am fine with the extra work (and additional risk) to achieve that. Also, the fact that I have two engineering degrees (one of which in chemical engineering), and spent quite a bit of time in labs to get those degrees means I'm pretty comfortable with my ability to keep things sanitized/clean so I'm not as worried about contamination if I rack to a secondary fermenter.

Okay, that's a whole lot of preface before I get to a question, so my question is this: assuming I'm going to rack to a secondary, when should I do so?Everything I've read about racking to secondary says that you want to wait until fermentation has slowed, but not stopped, before you rack to a secondary fermenter. Well, my fermentation has definitely slowed (yes, I'm looking at a bubbling airlock, but I'm fairly certain I have a pretty tight seal based on how well it's been bubbling), but it's still going about twice a minute. I could do a gravity reading, but since I'm still a bit uncertain about how best to do that while it's fermenting (and I want to minimize how many times I open my bucket), I'm using a non-invasive method, at least for now.

As a corrolary to this, do the two methods (just primary vs. primary and secondary) differ in total fermentation time? I read about the 1-2-3 "rule," but then also read about some people fermenting in a primary for months, particularly for higher gravity beers. I can see arguments for either method fermenting faster (the primary only method will have more yeast, but the secondary provides for some additional aeration in a case where oxygen may be the limiting ingredient). The only reason I'm concerned about this is because I'm hoping to bottle 3 weeks after my brewing day, and if one method gives me a better chance that I can do so, that's probably the one I'll choose.

3) A brewing friend of mine recently had a batch explode, and given the high gravity in this batch, I was concerned about a potential explosion since the yeast would have so much sugar to snack on. Thankfully, this hasn't been a problem on this batch (at least so far, but things are slowing down so I'm hopeful). I've read about people using a blow-off tube to prevent explosions, but haven't really seen a good description of what this is or how to make one. Also, what are some other methods to prevent explosions, if any?

Okay...so that was a little long-winded, and if you made it this far, thanks for reading. Also, thanks-in-advance for any responses.
 
Hey,I like a good novel as much as the next guy,but sheez. ;) I use the tube the hydrometer came in for testing. I sanitize it with starsan first,hydrometer included. Just draw off a sample into the tube till the hydrometer floats. Do this for OG test before pitching yeast.
I get crystal clear beer without the secondary. I & many others only use it for fruit additions,oaking,or aging a big beer. Primary is even fine for dry hopping. Just let the beer reach FG & settle out clear or slightly misty 1st. This prevents the hop oils from coating the yeasties & heading down to see old Hob. And never rack to secondary before FG is stable!
Initial fermentation can be very vigorous & produce explosive messes. Just like when you have the hearshey squirts reeeeally bad. Same thing with fermenters,but in a good way. Here's a link to a beersmith blog about the Burton blow off method; http://beersmith.com/blog/2009/10/10/better-beer-with-the-burton-union-blow-off-method/
 
"How do people generally measure gravity during fermentation?'

You don't. Just leave it alone until fermentation is done. If there is a big krausen bubbling away, you really don't need any measurements to tell you it isn't finished yet. Once everything dies down and you don't see any activity for a couple of days, then you can take a measurement.
 
For the hydrometer you can get a 10-12" plastic cylinder, just like a laboratory graduated cylinder without the graduations. Get a wine thief or a turkey baster, sanitize them, and use them to fill the cylinder mostly to the top. Drop the hydrometer in and take the reading, spinning the hydrometer to get rid of bubbles that stick and add buoyancy.

The general consensus on these forums is that a primary will achieve the same level of clarity as a secondary, possibly just a little more slowly.

A blowoff tube is basically just a really big airlock. You stick a tube where the standard airlock goes and immerse the other end under water.
 
I don't wait till I think fermentation is completely done. without measuring,how would you know? But I should've mentioned I wait till the two week mark to test it to see where it's at.
 
unionrdr said:
I use the tube the hydrometer came in for testing. I sanitize it with starsan first,hydrometer included. Just draw off a sample into the tube till the hydrometer floats. Do this for OG test before pitching yeast.
Click to expand...


This is what I assumed you are meant to do, but I have 2 issues with this:

1) Every time I try to take a measurement in the tube, the hydrometer just sticks to one of the walls of the tube and I can never get a good reading
2) How do you typically draw-off a sample? Is there something better to use than an auto siphon/hose, which is something of a pain to sanitize, particularly if you're taking a reading every day.

unionrdr said:
I get crystal clear beer without the secondary. I & many others only use it for fruit additions,oaking,or aging a big beer. Primary is even fine for dry hopping. Just let the beer reach FG & settle out clear or slightly misty 1st. This prevents the hop oils from coating the yeasties & heading down to see old Hob. And never rack to secondary before FG is stable!
Click to expand...


Yeah...I'm having a hard time justifying a secondary at all, but then I wonder if I'm just being lazy. :)

unionrdr said:
Initial fermentation can be very vigorous & produce explosive messes. Just like when you have the hearshey squirts reeeeally bad. Same thing with fermenters,but in a good way. Here's a link to a beersmith blog about the Burton blow off method; http://beersmith.com/blog/2009/10/10/better-beer-with-the-burton-union-blow-off-method/
Click to expand...
That method requires fermenting in a carboy - is there something similar for a bucket, or should I just start doing my primary fermentation in a carboy?
 
I set the tube on my desk & give it a spin. I just had to find a spot where it stays roughly centered. I have spigots on all my FV's & bottling bucket. But a sanitized baster will work as well. And you don't need to rake readings every day. I wait two weeks,test. If it close to FG range,I give it another week. It's usually settling out by then,but test again. If it's in FG range,wait till the third day & check to se if the number's the same. If yes,bottle.
They just used a carboy as an example since most used them. I don't. I save 1/2 gallon plastic vodka jugs for blow offs. Use 3/8" tubing with a cut off end from an old airlock stuck in one end. This goes in the airlock grommet on the FV. The other end to the bottom of the jug 1/3 full of water & a splash of starsan.
 
For gravity readings, I use a wine thief to draw off a sample then just drop the hydrometer into the top of the thief. After measuring, the sample becomes a tasting sample.
 
Im sure I wont be popular for this response but here goes. You can use alot of "By Guess And By Golly" in beer brewing. Most recipes have a recommended ferment time(if you use a kit or known recipe that is). If not guess. Hmmmmmm its been 2wks I guess ill take a reading. and 2-3 days later take another reading if u want to be sure. Give the hydrometer a spin as you are placing it in the reading tube. If it sticks do it 3 or 4 more times if all eadings are the same. I guess its good. As far as needing a secondary, golly thats ur call. I used one because my primary was also my bottling bucket, doing a secondary gave me time to clarify, as well as free up my bottling bucket to get properly cleaned for bottlingday. This has always worked for me.
 
billl said:
"How do people generally measure gravity during fermentation?'

You don't. Just leave it alone until fermentation is done. If there is a big krausen bubbling away, you really don't need any measurements to tell you it isn't finished yet. Once everything dies down and you don't see any activity for a couple of days, then you can take a measurement.
Click to expand...
How does this work when using an opaque bucket for a primary fermenter? I can't see anything unless I open the bucket (which I understand you don't want to do), and I've seen several threads caution against using a bubbling (or not-bubbling) airlock as an indication of fermentation.

I get your point though - there isn't really a reason to measure gravity during fermentation. I meant it more generally as "How do you measure gravity once you've transferred your wort to a fermenter?"
 
Anybody that's done a few brews knows that the times listed in instructions are crap & way too short. So well,by golly,my beer sucks. I wonder why. Third eye blind doesn't cut it. Figure out a good process that works for you & you'll get better beer.
 
gelatin said:
For the hydrometer you can get a 10-12" plastic cylinder, just like a laboratory graduated cylinder without the graduations.
Click to expand...

Are these commonly available anywhere, or should I just buy from a lab supply store?

gelatin said:
Get a wine thief or a turkey baster, sanitize them, and use them to fill the cylinder mostly to the top. Drop the hydrometer in and take the reading, spinning the hydrometer to get rid of bubbles that stick and add buoyancy.
Click to expand...

Don't wine thieves fill from the bottom of the bucket (they have a spring-valve like most bottle fillers, right?), and if so, isn't the specific gravity thrown off by the sediment you'd take in?
 
1 - I don't bother to take a gravity reading until I rack to secondary. By then the primary fermentation is done anyway (I always wait a sufficient amount of time so that I'm sure the beer is at terminal gravity.

2 - I rack to secondary because I do like clear beer--I know this is opening up a can of worms, but my experience is that MY beers come out clearer with a secondary, and I am careful with sanitation and have never had problems with oxidation or infections. I know other people choose to do differently and that's cool. If you do rack, I'd keep it on the primary for at least three weeks (maybe for a month since it's a relatively large beer) so you know it's done fermenting.

3 - Blow-off tube is a good idea for high-OG beers-basically you can just buy one of the caps that goes over the top of your fermenter (like this one) and connect a hose to it, submerging the other end in a container filled with clean water. It (usually) won't get clogged like an airlock can get.
 
Ecogeek said:
Don't wine thieves fill from the bottom of the bucket (they have a spring-valve like most bottle fillers, right?), and if so, isn't the specific gravity thrown off by the sediment you'd take in?
Click to expand...

The thief I bought from my LHBS has a float valve rather than a spring-loaded valve, so it fills from the top of the bucket as soon as you start immersing it - no sediment problems..
 
Those test cylinders can be had from any LHBS. Wine thieves ar cool,but a baster will work. I can get beer just as clear in primary as secondary. Just not needed. You do not have to have a high OG beer to need a blow off. Just a good temp & healthy yeast pitch. I've had 1.04x beers blow like moby dick.:mug:
 
unionrdr said:
Anybody that's done a few brews knows that the times listed in instructions are crap & way too short. So well,by golly,my beer sucks. I wonder why. Third eye blind doesn't cut it. Figure out a good process that works for you & you'll get better beer.
Click to expand...

Well by golly i guess thats why I said test the gavity. Finished fermentation is finished fermentation. What you do from there is the ? let it sit in the primary, transfer to a secondary vessel.
 
Ecogeek said:
Are these commonly available anywhere, or should I just buy from a lab supply store?

Don't wine thieves fill from the bottom of the bucket (they have a spring-valve like most bottle fillers, right?), and if so, isn't the specific gravity thrown off by the sediment you'd take in?
Click to expand...

If you have access to a homebrew supply store or can receive packages from an internet store, they are extremely common. Probably not available at Wal-Mart.

If you do have a spring valve wine thief (not a float valve), you can always push against the side of the bucket as your valve should be plastic and not scratch the inside. I just use a well sanitized turkey baster, squeezing the bulb out first outside the fermenter to prevent oxygenation.
 
tchuklobrau said:
Im sure I wont be popular for this response but here goes. You can use alot of "By Guess And By Golly" in beer brewing. Most recipes have a recommended ferment time(if you use a kit or known recipe that is). If not guess. Hmmmmmm its been 2wks I guess ill take a reading. and 2-3 days later take another reading if u want to be sure. Give the hydrometer a spin as you are placing it in the reading tube. If it sticks do it 3 or 4 more times if all eadings are the same. I guess its good. As far as needing a secondary, golly thats ur call. I used one because my primary was also my bottling bucket, doing a secondary gave me time to clarify, as well as free up my bottling bucket to get properly cleaned for bottlingday. This has always worked for me.
Click to expand...

Testing the gravity wasn't all you said. You also talked about brewing being a lot of guesswork. Recommended ferment times in the recipe,etc from most kits are short & designed to sell more kits more often. That 's why so many wind up here. But yeah,finish fermentation before racking like I said before. I don't bother racking to secondaries myself.
 
I use a sanitized turkey baster. When removing the sample, I dispense it into a measuring cup or something with a wide opening, then I pour that into one of the test cylinders. The two-step process is to avoid having to aim the turkey baster into a narrow target. I sanitize the measuring cup before this, but I still try not to touch it with the turkey baster to minimize the chances of infection. It takes about 3 full squirts (5-6 ounces) to fill the test cylinder.

Unless I have some reason to be curious about the progress, I generally don't bother with any measurements until going to secondary. I give primary a lot of extra time. With mead and cider, and now with lagers, I do check on the gravity every week or so because it's a bit trickier to figure out the timing, at least to a noob.

To keep the hydrometer off the edge, make sure that the test jar is on a flat surface so its walls are vertical. Give the hydrometer a spin. Sometimes it takes a few tries, but eventually I get it to float freely in the center.
 
The only thing I saw not addressed from the OP was your mention of racking and adding oxygen as being an advantage...remember, once you pitch yeast and ferment starts, oxygen is your enemy.

Niether racking, nor primary only will make a beer finish fermenting faster, especially since you don't want to rack prior to fermentation being completed anyhow.
 
unionrdr said:
Those test cylinders can be had from any LHBS. Wine thieves ar cool,but a baster will work. I can get beer just as clear in primary as secondary. Just not needed. You do not have to have a high OG beer to need a blow off. Just a good temp & healthy yeast pitch. I've had 1.04x beers blow like moby dick.:mug:
Click to expand...

True enough, although I find in general I tend to get less intense krausening with most beers, probably because I prefer to ferment on the cooler end of the spectrum for almost any given yeast. My beers tend to ferment longer and not quite as intensely as some, but I like the results better.

As to the secondary issue, as I said I can only speak from my experience. I know others have a different perspective, but I'm pretty confident it does make MY beer better.

I suspect that the real truth to this, as with many aspects of beer brewing, is that our beer is sturdier in general than we think it is--infections, oxidation, autolysis, off flavors from trub or krausen, the risk of all these things is, to my way of thinking, somewhat overstated. If you practice good, reasonable procedures you can do a long primary or a shorter one, a secondary or no secondary, gravity readings or not, krausen skimming or not. There are any number of ways to mess up beer. But there are also any number of ways to do it "right".
 
Yeah,people worry too much. It's not the OG,but the temp & yeast governing the whole thing. I've needed blow offs down to about 66F. Lower than that,it's brewing too slow to need one. Cooler temps just slow down the yeasts matabolism.
 
bobbrewedit said:
The only thing I saw not addressed from the OP was your mention of racking and adding oxygen as being an advantage...remember, once you pitch yeast and ferment starts, oxygen is your enemy.
Click to expand...
I only meant it was advantageous with respect to speed of fermentation. I understand oxidation is definitely a concern, but if racking to a secondary fermenter added enough oxygen for this to be a problem, people wouldn't do it, right?

But since oxygen is required for fermentation (this is correct, isn't it? sugars have a 2:1 carbon:eek:xygen ratio, as does ethanol, but with all the CO2 coming off, all that extra oxygen has to come from somewhere), adding oxygen should speed up the reaction, right?

bobbrewedit said:
Niether racking, nor primary only will make a beer finish fermenting faster, especially since you don't want to rack prior to fermentation being completed anyhow.
Click to expand...
This is contrary to much of what I've read, that says that you should rack when fermentation slows, but has not stopped completely...
 
Check out any of the numerous threads on this site about oxidation to see why adding oxygen to your beer once the fermentation process is underway is a good way to ruin your beer.

Not sure where you read the bit about racking during fermentation, but it's a great way to stall your fermentation and end up with under-done beer. Where did you see it suggested that you should rack off during fermentation?

The reason this is a bad idea is that your yeast are relatively sensitive to changes in their environment. If you rack while they're still trying to convert all the available sugars to alcohol, you're likely to stall the process before it finishes. So you might end up with a beer that finishes out at 1.022 when it was supposed to finish at 1.015. More than that, the yeast may go dormant before they can clean up the byproducts of fermentation, some of which can create off-flavors in your beer.

My strong suggestion, and one I'm sure others will agree with, is to wait until at least a few days (better to wait a week or two IMO) after primary fermentation is complete--that is, after terminal gravity is reached. In the case of most ales, an easy way to ensure that you don't rack too early is just to leave your beer in the primary for two or three weeks, even a month, at which point fermentation should be complete and you can either rack to a secondary or bottle.
 
jerrodm said:
Not sure where you read the bit about racking during fermentation, but it's a great way to stall your fermentation and end up with under-done beer. Where did you see it suggested that you should rack off during fermentation?
Click to expand...

I'll preface this by saying I haven't done my own experiments... but I don't understand the claims that racking is likely to stall (or speed) a fermentation. Most of the active yeast are in suspension in the beer, and racking into a clean fermenter at the same temperature as the original isn't really changing their environment much. The only difference is that there's not a pile of trub and dormant yeast at the bottom. Maybe it's true, and I think it's just plausible that there's some activity down in the bottom that somehow contributes, but it seems like a stretch.

As to the last sentence, many sources say that you should rack to your "secondary" during the tail end of fermentation, but before it is completely done. I don't know what the logic is exactly, whether it's a talisman to ward off the evil spirits of autolysis, but I've read it in more than one place.
 
Any chance you could name a source, because I've either never read that, or I ignored it.
 
I think the "rack off the primary before fermentation is complete" idea is from the age where the yeast homebrewers had access to was of dubious quality, and the risk of autolysis was much greater. I'm no expert on this so I won't claim to know the Truth, but there have been a ton of discussions about if and when to secondary on this and other boards over the years, and to my mind the main benefit is potentially increased clarity (why I do it), while the main drawbacks are increased risk of infection and oxidation (why many others don't). The issue of speeding/slowing fermentation is probably a marginal one, although I still maintain that many of the stuck fermentations we hear about on HBT are probably traceable to "yeast abuse," and I would categorize early racking to secondary under this heading. If you want more info on this whole issue, check out the following threads, they've got plenty:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/secondary-not-john-palmer-jamil-zainasheff-weigh-176837/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/racking-secondary-227867/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/does-everyone-rack-secondary-82693/
 
Sorry just realized my last post might not have been clear. I should distinguish between two things:

1- racking off the primary before fermentation is complete: to my mind, this is never a good idea no matter what kind of beer you're making.
2- racking off the beer after terminal gravity is reached, to improve clarity: I do this, although I understand the increased risk of infection and oxidation. I also understand why many others choose not to do so.
 
bobbrewedit said:
Any chance you could name a source, because I've either never read that, or I ignored it.
Click to expand...
The primary source where I read this was the instructions from my first "Brewer's Best" kit:

When the fermentation slows (5-7 days), but before it completes, simply transfer the beer into the carboy and allow fermentation to finish in the 'secondary'.​

Hardly an authoritative source, but in The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, Papazian says:

After the initial activity has subsided, the beer is siphoned into another fermenter and a fermentation lock is attached. The sediment of spent yeast cells is left behind in the first fermenter.​

It's not explicit there, but by saying "initial activity," I get the impression that you're still looking to do some fermentation in secondary. The fact that it's called a secondary fermenter (rather than a clarifier or something else) suggests that you're looking to get additional fermentation in the secondary.

I readily admit that I'm by no means an expert. I'm just trying to understand why I'm hearing two different things on when to rack to secondary, if you end up doing it at all.
 
zeg said:
I'll preface this by saying I haven't done my own experiments... but I don't understand the claims that racking is likely to stall (or speed) a fermentation. Most of the active yeast are in suspension in the beer, and racking into a clean fermenter at the same temperature as the original isn't really changing their environment much. The only difference is that there's not a pile of trub and dormant yeast at the bottom. Maybe it's true, and I think it's just plausible that there's some activity down in the bottom that somehow contributes, but it seems like a stretch.

As to the last sentence, many sources say that you should rack to your "secondary" during the tail end of fermentation, but before it is completely done. I don't know what the logic is exactly, whether it's a talisman to ward off the evil spirits of autolysis, but I've read it in more than one place.
Click to expand...

The racking may or may not stall your fermentation. In most cases, probably not, but sometimes if you are using a highly flocculant yeast it helps to gently rouse the fermenter to get them back into suspension if they prematurely flocculated. And in a beer that is already a bit stalled, especially in an underpitched beer, racking it before it's done may be the final nail in the coffin.

One reason that racking may increase activity a bit (instead of stalling it!) is that racking may release some co2 from the beer and sometimes co2 can inhibit fermentation a bit. That's why a few people may see some more activity after racking- the c02 being released as well as the fermentation finishing up.

Racking before fermentation is done is something winemakers do all the time. The reason is that before fermentation is finished there is still co2 being produced. Racking before the wine is finished means a protective effect in the wine as 02 can't bind to it if co2 is coming out. That is where homebrewers picked it up from, and some older homebrewers continue to do this.

Normally, homebrewers do a method more like a brewery. That is, ferment in a fermenter, and then move to a "bright tank". The bright tank is where clearing and sometimes carbonating take place.

The reason breweries do this is so they can start another batch in the fermenter. The reason homebrewers do it, though, is sometimes just tradition. There isn't anything "magical" that makes a beer clear by moving it. Gravity is what clears the beer.

It's only been in the last few years, say maybe 5?, where many homebrewers forgo the racking to the bright tank (sometimes still called 'secondary' like winemakers, but that really is a misnomer) and now it's pretty well accepted by most experts in the homebrewing field.
 
Secondary used to be a standard protocol recommended by all brew experts, including Palmer and Papazian. Check out the first link I posted in my previous post, where Palmer says that earlier information was based on older, weaker yeasts then in use by homebrewers, and autolysis (the main reason that Papazian recommended a quick transfer) is no longer a real concern for HB'ers. For the record, the first ed. of Palmer's "How to Brew" recommended essentially the same thing, for essentially the same reason, so he's changed his own tune over the years.

Palmer and Zainasheff probably have more HB knowledge between them than any twenty of us on the fora, so I'll appeal to their expertise, if not my own. Hope that's helpful.
 
Yooper said:
if they prematurely flocculated.
Click to expand...

That's so embarrassing when that happens.

Yooper said:
There isn't anything "magical" that makes a beer clear by moving it. Gravity is what clears the beer.
Click to expand...

If I may weigh in here, my own proclivity for using a secondary does indeed have to do with clearing the beer. If I've left the beer in primary for 3-4 weeks and determined via S.G. that it's "done," then the next step is to cold crash it.

However, the carboy has a ring of dried krausen around the top, and an inch of trub on the bottom. Lifting it out of the fermentation chamber and moving it into the fridge tends to stir some of that stuff up, or dislodge it from the walls of the carboy.

Then after a week of cold-crashing and gelatin, I now need to move it out of the fridge and back up onto a higher surface, so I can rack it into a keg. But I just spent all week letting all that sediment settle out, and now some of it is going to get stirred up again, potentially clouding my beer just as I'm trying to keg it.

But if, after primary, I rack it into another carboy ("Secondary," but really in this case I suppose I'm using it more as a Bright tank), I get it away from all that krausen and trub. Certainly, during cold-crashing, some more sediment will settle out, but it's far less than what was in the primary, and at least I don't have that krausen ring around the top to worry about.

Is this not a valid concern? How do other homebrewers deal with the issue of all that gunk still sitting under/next to your beer while you're trying to clear it, but must move/disturb it as part of its journey into the keg?
 
I usually do "secondaries," and I like the protection against stirring up trub that you (kombat) mention. However, I think this may be more psychological than anything---in cases where I've not gone to secondary, I've not ever had significant disturbance of the trub or yeast. I do make an effort not to move it far, though.

Thanks for the thoughts, Yooper. I can see that losing the ability to rouse yeast wouldn't be good, but I guess I generally assume that the fermentation is healthy. The mechanisms for giving a little boost to the yeast seem like they're more likely to affect well-managed fermentations.

You mention the word "tradition," and I suspect that's what's behind a lot of it. There are a lot of voodoo brewing techniques, and as you note, techniques that make more sense for wine can get pulled into beer homebrewing.

For the sheer number of homebrewers out there (and on here), I think it's a very small number who put in the time to do careful scientific tests of their techniques. Most find a technique from word of mouth, books, etc, and try it. Like any advice, it may be good, or it may be bad. Eventually we develop a method that works for us, and understandably, that's usually where it ends. There are so many variables, and maintaining the pipeline is so important, that it's hard to do sufficient controls and testing to be sure of our understanding of the processes involved.

It's nice that beer yeast are so damn forgiving!
 
Mt FV's sit on the fermenter stand the whole time & never move. By the time it's ready to rack & prime,I set the bottling bucket on the floor under the FV with a tube from it's spigot to the bottom of the bottling bucket. Start racking,pour some priming solution,fill some more,pour rest of PS,then finish racking & stir gently. Nice clear beer in bottling bucket. I drilled the hole for the red & white spigot close enough to the bottom so that I only loose a couple TBSP of beer at the end.
Secondaries to me are for oaking or aging. I haven't added fruit yet,but that's a good thing for secondary too. I dry hop in primary after FG & it's settled out. I've even made starters for dry yeast succesfully. Some were a bit old & I wanted to see if I could rouse them. Other times,I wanted to see what method worked best. Watch & take 1oz samples of a beer after FG to see how long they take to settle out clear & changes in flavor. What hop schedule produces great flavor/aroma with what & when. What combos of extract produce what or how close to what I want without help from grains & whatnot. All can teach something.
 

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