Theory on When to Rack from Primary

Reading all these threads on racking and bottling has started my beer paranoia nodes to going.

The way I was taught (and it has been awhile) was that you were supposed to get your beer off the trub and into a glass secondary as soon as possible. The reason for this was supposed to be two fold: Trub was nasty stuff full of dead yeast and other undesirables (spent hops, pieces of barley, etc) and the plastic fermenters we used to use at the time were said to be permeable to oxygen and oxydation was possible if you left it in there too long. Soooo...the rule was (we didn't use saccharometers), "When the krausen falls and fermentation has slowed, rack into your glass secondary to finish out the fermentation". It was the falling krausen that was the signal.

Well I did this the other day and the reading was 22 on an OG of 58. Maybe a little early by what I'm reading. But my question is this: What difference does it make? The fermentation is going to continue as it will regardless of whether it is in a primary or a seconday. A secondary is safer (no possible oxydation), plus you get away from the trub. I'm not saying what I'm reading is wrong because I'm not sure whether my way of doing things is outmoded.

Then when the bubbler was quiet after a while and the beer cleared (crystal clear), bottle your beer and condition.

I usually wait a week after pitching, providing I can keep a steady temp during the ferment, then siphon into glass, because I have one, for 2 weeks to settle, then to keg or bottle, and let it sit for 3 weeks before drinking.(like THAT ever happens) It's a good rule of thumb that works for me.

Much of that "As Soon as Possible!" stuff is overkill. Yes dead yeast lead to off flavors and yes the buckets are a little oxygen permiable, but you are more likely to rack too soon than too late. You need on the order of months for autolysis to become a factor, and the small amount of O2 coming through the buccket is neglegible. That's not to say that I really want to use a bucket for months of secondary storage. You can leave the primary for at least a month with no ill effects. I personally have left primaries for 3 weeks for one reason or another.

Brewsmith said:

but you are more likely to rack too soon than too late.

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I tend to agree with you that getting away from the "evil trub" is overkill. But I'm not sure why racking off too soon into a glass secondary would make any difference. Fermentation proceeds the same doesn't it regardless of what it is in?

I like using two glass carboys. I let it blow off for usually a week then rack to the secondary and that works for me. Plus a little extra stuff in the beer helps with hangovers. Believe me I have not had a hangover since I started drinking homebrew!!!

Like brewsmith said, it is over rated. Removing the beer from the active yeast in the primary before it is finished will retard or even stick fermentation. Leave it there until primary fermentation is done before racking to secondary. The transfer to secondary will kick up enough co2 to blanket the beer and protect it.
Autolysis will take months to occur, so don't worry about that.

Secondary is more a clearing and conditioning phase than actual fermenting, and although some fermenting may be done, it is the former we want the most.

plastic fermenters we used to use at the time

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Possibly, but I thought the true Old Skul used pots chipped out of stone

david_42 said:

Possibly, but I thought the true Old Skul used pots chipped out of stone

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And yeast from the poo of babies.

I have been brewwing for about a year and read a lot of beer related forums. It seems that there is concensus that leaving the beer in primary for up to 3-4 weeks will not likely produce off flavors. Personally I have found that my brews fermented between 65-68 degrees ferment slower but longer and they have been better since I went to this practice. My usual time in primary now is 10-12 days with only about 5-7 in the secondary vessel so that it clears. I don't find that much fermenting is done in the secondary. I just looked at my latest batch and although there was no visible airlock activity I could still see fermentation happening.

67coupe390 said:

Believe me I have not had a hangover since I started drinking homebrew!!!

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Interesting... has anyone crunched any scientific numbers on this? Realistically, to much alcohol consumption = really crappy morning. But, it would certainly be interesting to see if there is a more positive side effect to having 7 or 8 homebrews compared to 7 or 8 other brews.

The only guarantee I give friends and family with my beer is "You won't go Blind".

I'd also be curious to know what could be the worse-case scenario from drinking bad homebrew?

J

jaymack said:

Interesting... has anyone crunched any scientific numbers on this? Realistically, to much alcohol consumption = really crappy morning. But, it would certainly be interesting to see if there is a more positive side effect to having 7 or 8 homebrews compared to 7 or 8 other brews.

The only guarantee I give friends and family with my beer is "You won't go Blind".

I'd also be curious to know what could be the worse-case scenario from drinking bad homebrew?

J

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I think you can go blind but just for a short time! LOL
Home brew is high in vitamin b complex which helps maintain fluid levels=not as bad of a hangover. pg333 sec. edition "the new complete joy of home brewing" and I think I'll prove this theory again tomarrow morning. LOL

It's the quality of the alcohol. The cheaper the beer/liquor, the cheaper the quality of the ethanol. In chemistry lab, we used to get samples of all kinds of different alcohols both beer and liquors and run them through the atomic absorbtion machine and you could tell a direct coorelation with the "good" stuff verses the cheap-O deluxe stuff. The good stuff had a prominent amount of the pure ethanol in it as compared to the cheaper stuff. It was alcohol, but not the good stuff. Surely, you guys have probably drank Red, White and Blue beer and one time and can still remember the taste.....now compare that with home brew....there is no comparison.