left field brewer
Well-Known Member
I wasn't sure if this is where this thread should be, and it's probably been discussed many times before, but here goes. I made a belgian holiday ale with an OG of 1.064 with Wyeast 1214 and various spices. It has been in primary for about 16 days and I am getting ready to rack to secondary. Obviously, I was planning on having it ready, or fairly mature by the holidays. My question is whether it would be better to a.)leave in secondary just long enough to clear, then have longer time maturing in bottle; or b.)leave in secondary longer, say a month, then bottle? I'm not sure I understand the difference in conditioning in secondary (longer), or bottle conditioning other then the priming sugars being consumed by the remaining yeast. Ideas? Thanks.