Puddlethumper
Well-Known Member
I've seen a lot of posts on this board about using a secondary fermenter. There seems to be a whole bunch of very strong opinions in both directions, but mostly against. The prevailing arguments against using a secondary seem to be:
1. Increased risk of contamination
2. Risks of oxidation
3. Unneccessary work
David Miller brought up the oxidation issue in "The Complete Handbook of Homebrewing" (c1988). But in his latest book, "Brew Like a Pro" (c2012) he revisits this point. In this book he actually recommends the use of a secondary but for a different reason. He says that oxidation is probably a non-issue at this time. He routinely uses a secondary vessel as "settling tank".
It becomes a choice of use of a secondary/settling tank for dry hopping or addition of finings or filtering prior to cold crashing the beer. If you have a filtration system you can draw directly from the fermenter to the bottling bucket or keg. (He does point out that there are some strong opinions about benefits/concerns related to filtration). To allow a beer to drop clear naturally may take some time so moving the beer to a smaller vessel for this period will free up a fermenter, hence the use of a 5 gal. bucket or carboy as a "settling tank". Natural clearing should always be done by cold crashing which can be accomplished in either the primary fermenter or in a secondary, depending on the homebrewer's situation and preference. He sees no value in holding most beers on their yeast cake once fermentation is complete.
Personally, I am inclined to agree with him. I have found that I have far less junk in the bottom of the bottle when I use a secondary between primary and bottling. This may not be as big an issue to those who keg, but since I choose to bottle, this is a big issue to me. I also believe that good sanitation practices negate the concerns about contamination. Whether one wants to do the extra work is simply a matter of choice.
1. Increased risk of contamination
2. Risks of oxidation
3. Unneccessary work
David Miller brought up the oxidation issue in "The Complete Handbook of Homebrewing" (c1988). But in his latest book, "Brew Like a Pro" (c2012) he revisits this point. In this book he actually recommends the use of a secondary but for a different reason. He says that oxidation is probably a non-issue at this time. He routinely uses a secondary vessel as "settling tank".
It becomes a choice of use of a secondary/settling tank for dry hopping or addition of finings or filtering prior to cold crashing the beer. If you have a filtration system you can draw directly from the fermenter to the bottling bucket or keg. (He does point out that there are some strong opinions about benefits/concerns related to filtration). To allow a beer to drop clear naturally may take some time so moving the beer to a smaller vessel for this period will free up a fermenter, hence the use of a 5 gal. bucket or carboy as a "settling tank". Natural clearing should always be done by cold crashing which can be accomplished in either the primary fermenter or in a secondary, depending on the homebrewer's situation and preference. He sees no value in holding most beers on their yeast cake once fermentation is complete.
Personally, I am inclined to agree with him. I have found that I have far less junk in the bottom of the bottle when I use a secondary between primary and bottling. This may not be as big an issue to those who keg, but since I choose to bottle, this is a big issue to me. I also believe that good sanitation practices negate the concerns about contamination. Whether one wants to do the extra work is simply a matter of choice.