Secondary Fermentation for Stout

Is it necessary to transfer a stout for secondary fermentation or am I wasting my time? I have been told that with a stout it really isn't necessary and from everything I have read there is no true consensus.

I don't believe it's necessary. The only reason I've read that you need to transfer to secondary would be to aid in clearing the beer (no point with a stout) or to dry hop (if you're dry hopping a stout, you are a true visionary my friend).

JBZSTL said:

Is it necessary to transfer a stout for secondary fermentation or am I wasting my time? I have been told that with a stout it really isn't necessary and from everything I have read there is no true consensus.

Click to expand...

If given enough time for the yeast to drop out there is no need. If you wanted to cold crash, add fruit, chocolate or coffee it can be useful.

<- Firm believer in one beer one vessel for fermentation .



But this is one of those 6 in one hand half dozen in the other arguments

It doesn't really matter much either way for a stout. Actually, this is the case with most ales. The benefits you gain from a secondary are mostly cosmetic. I wouldn't bother with the secondary unless you are planning to add some additional ingredients after primary fermentation or you are planning to wait a while before you are going to bottle it. I typically use a secondary, but only because I never know when I am going to get around to bottling.

I would definitely secondary a stout. I am NOT doubting your skills but rather mine...I know I always get some trub when I siphon but in a beer I could probably not see through well it would probably pretty easy to do. I do not like to chew my beer...:cross:

Racking to secondary is usually more of a pipeline necessity for me, I need the bucket for bottling or something else so I rack to free it up. heh.

JohnnyO said:

I don't believe it's necessary. The only reason I've read that you need to transfer to secondary would be to aid in clearing the beer (no point with a stout) or to dry hop (if you're dry hopping a stout, you are a true visionary my friend).

Click to expand...

+1 on no secondary. After 3 weeks in the primary, you should have little issue racking to a bottling bucket (or keg) and leaving the trub behind.

I agree there is no need for a secondary. I personally would leave a stout in the primary for 4 weeks, then bottle. If you use an autosiphon to transfer to the bottling bucket, you should have little to no trub transferred. If you let the bottling bucket sit for 30 minutes after mixing in the priming sugar, then you should get no trub in the bottle. Now if you are kegging, all the more reason to skip the secondary.

very interesting... if i knew this before! i would have use the glass carboy as fermenter instead of using the plastic bucket.

echotraveler said:

very interesting... if i knew this before! i would have use the glass carboy as fermenter instead of using the plastic bucket.

Click to expand...

Good point. Are you better off using a glass carboy as your primary as opposed to a plastic bucket?

JBZSTL said:

Good point. Are you better off using a glass carboy as your primary as opposed to a plastic bucket?

Click to expand...

If you are going to use 1 vessel for fermentation, using a carboy will help you not transfer any trub to your bottling bucket/keg because of the curved bottom. You just need to make sure to keep your siphon in the middle of the carboy where it is higher.

todda00 said:

If you are going to use 1 vessel for fermentation, using a carboy will help you not transfer any trub to your bottling bucket/keg because of the curved bottom. You just need to make sure to keep your siphon in the middle of the carboy where it is higher.

Click to expand...

GREAT TIP! thanx

JJL said:

It doesn't really matter much either way for a stout. Actually, this is the case with most ales. The benefits you gain from a secondary are mostly cosmetic. I wouldn't bother with the secondary unless you are planning to add some additional ingredients after primary fermentation or you are planning to wait a while before you are going to bottle it. I typically use a secondary, but only because I never know when I am going to get around to bottling.

Click to expand...

Can a vanilla bean be split and added in the last 5 minutes of the boil or off heat and go into the fermentation tank, so I don't have to rack to a secondary...or should a vanilla bean only be added in secondary? I was told 7-10 days until bottling, but I see a lot of people letting it sit for 3 or 4 weeks in either primary or secondary. What do you think? Thanks!

Vanilla is mostly aroma, which you loose a lot of during fermentation. You can toss it in your primary when fermentation is complete though.

bleme said:

Vanilla is mostly aroma, which you loose a lot of during fermentation. You can toss it in your primary when fermentation is complete though.

Click to expand...

Thanks! That's very helpful!

Clonefarmer said:

If given enough time for the yeast to drop out there is no need. If you wanted to cold crash, add fruit, chocolate or coffee it can be useful.

Click to expand...

Or vanilla beans. :rockin:

Ok, so stouts have to Condition for many many months (from what I've read anyways). So bottle after 4 weeks, then condition in the bottle for however long? Thinking about doing a big brew of stouts here in the next month or so for next winter and curious.

Tactical-Brewer said:

Ok, so stouts have to Condition for many many months (from what I've read anyways). So bottle after 4 weeks, then condition in the bottle for however long? Thinking about doing a big brew of stouts here in the next month or so for next winter and curious.

Click to expand...

I've done both bottle conditioning and bulk aging in a carboy for twelve months. The recipes weren't the same so I can't say one was better than the other.

If you bottle condition, use heavy bottles and store them cool, like under 60 degrees to avoid bombs.

Gotchya. If you bulk condition, should you do your best to keep it below 60 or right at it? Would it best an air lock while doing a secondary? Sorry if that's a dumb question about the air lock.

Once fermentation is over, conditioning temp doesn't really matter much (so long as it's not >120f yeast-killing or below freezing...). If fermentation is complete and you don't over prime them, bottle bombs shouldn't be an issue either, so I'm going to disagree with that.

No dumb questions at all, I'm pretty new to this myself.

I bulk age in a carboy with airlock at 55 degrees. I don't think it is critical as long as things don't get too warm. I'd think that anything in the 60's would be safe. This is for beers that I'll be aging for up to 12 months. If I'm doing a shorter conditioning I'll let it go at room temp as long as that doesn't get above mid 70's.

The same holds true for bottle conditioning.

Gotchya. Thinking about making a chocolate mocha stout in a month or two and just don't want to waste it.

May have to borrow my parents basement though through the summer as my house tends to get a little on the warm side

no need. I only secondary when dry hopping. Sometimes i will with a porter. I have a brown porter recipe that i lightly dry hop. It delicious

Tactical-Brewer said:

Ok, so stouts have to Condition for many many months (from what I've read anyways). So bottle after 4 weeks, then condition in the bottle for however long? Thinking about doing a big brew of stouts here in the next month or so for next winter and curious.

Click to expand...

There isn't any reason a typical stout needs months to condition, particularly "many months".

A very high alcohol beer may take longer to be ready, but that's true of all beers and not just a high ABV stout. For example, I'd condition a Belgian tripel or a barleywine much longer than even an imperial stout.

For my oatmeal stout, it's better at 4-6 weeks old than at 2 weeks old, but that still isn't very long. For a dry stout (like Guiness), several weeks is fine. Big bold complex flavors do take longer to meld and come together, but certainly not months.

Sorry - off topic a bit, but why does dry hopping necessitate transfer to secondary?

Redlantern said:

Sorry - off topic a bit, but why does dry hopping necessitate transfer to secondary?

Click to expand...

It doesn't. But some people feel that yeast falling out can "pull" hops oils out of suspension, or they may want to save the yeast from the primary, or they may want to move the beer to a carboy to get it out of a bucket, they may want to rack onto the hops, etc. There are many reasons to move a beer, but those are a couple of them.

Redlantern said:

Sorry - off topic a bit, but why does dry hopping necessitate transfer to secondary?

Click to expand...

it just makes it easier to wash. Especially when i do a heavy dry hop, or multiple ones. Easier to wash yeast before dry hopping than after adding another 6 oz of crap to the fermenter.

Ok awesome! So the idea of having to make a stout "now" to drink by next winter isn't factual at all?

And off topic again, but I don't want to secondary anything, and I'd be in the clear to leave them in the fermented for a couple months without having to worry about yeast flavors (I can't remember the correct name).

Tactical-Brewer said:

Ok awesome! So the idea of having to make a stout "now" to drink by next winter isn't factual at all?

And off topic again, but I don't want to secondary anything, and I'd be in the clear to leave them in the fermented for a couple months without having to worry about yeast flavors (I can't remember the correct name).

Click to expand...

I'm not a fan of ultra long primaries, but there may be others on the forum that would leave a beer on the trub for a couple of months. I dislike the character imparted by the long contract time, but others seem to not mind or even like it. A couple of months is a pretty long time, though.

I make some stouts that I"m drinking in less than 6 weeks, but just like with other styles of beer, higher alcohol content and/or more complex ingredients may necessitate some longer aging. Few beers are at their best at a year old or more, but there are a few that may age well.

Yooper, so do you bottle after a couple weeks primary and just let them bottle condition?

Tactical-Brewer said:

Yooper, so do you bottle after a couple weeks primary and just let them bottle condition?

Click to expand...

Usually 10-14 days primary for most beers, and then either keg or bottle. If I'm saving the yeast, I will rack for dryhopping. I have a beer now that I'm dryhopping in the fermenter, and not racking, as I'm not saving the yeast. It's 8 days old, so I'll dryhop today and package in about 5 days.

That's awesome, thanks for the info! Then bottle and condition at room temp for about a week or two then "cold crash" in the fridge for a week before drinking ish?

My stouts seem to get better with age however I'm going to drink them once carbonated. Kind of interesting to see how the flavor changes over time.

I used to secondary everything. Now it gets bottled after 2+ weeks in the primary.

All the Best,
D. White

Awesome! Thank you all for your help! It's greatly appreciated!

Ps, I'm going to tell everyone I got beer brewing advice from D. White, and let them go ahead and think me and the head of the UFC are on that level &#128521;

Tactical-Brewer said:

That's awesome, thanks for the info! Then bottle and condition at room temp for about a week or two then "cold crash" in the fridge for a week before drinking ish?

Click to expand...

It depends on the beer, but I'd go two to three weeks before chilling and drinking, and maybe only 2-3 days in the fridge for the first one to make sure it's had enough time at room temp for conditioning before chilling the whole batch.

Awesome! Thanks Yooper!