Secondary Fermentation as "storage"

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bondra76

bondra76

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I have a question in regards to secondary fermentation temperatures.

My current setup is a primary fermentation chamber that can fit one carboy. I have a 4-tap keezer so I am hoping to have 2 fermentations at all times on stand-by.

I was brainstorming that I would ferment one beer in the primary and then move it into the secondary. But as soon as I’d move it into the secondary, I’d like to take it out of the chamber and get another one going in there.

When I move the first beer out of the primary and into the secondary it would go to 60-70 degrees depending on where in my house I put the carboy. If my yeast is for the most part completed by the time I move it into the secondary, does it matter the temperature? Will I get a whole lot of esthers in a secondary at high temp? Or should I just kill the yeast with campden tablets when I move it into the secondary and then keg/cold crash the beer when I am ready for it? I guess I am just concerned that if I move it to a secondary that’s not at the optimal yeast temperature that I am going to start to get off flavors.

Thanks for any input and any suggestions are always most welcome.
 
bondra76 said:
I have a question in regards to secondary fermentation temperatures.

My current setup is a primary fermentation chamber that can fit one carboy. I have a 4-tap keezer so I am hoping to have 2 fermentations at all times on stand-by.

I was brainstorming that I would ferment one beer in the primary and then move it into the secondary. But as soon as I’d move it into the secondary, I’d like to take it out of the chamber and get another one going in there.

When I move the first beer out of the primary and into the secondary it would go to 60-70 degrees depending on where in my house I put the carboy. If my yeast is for the most part completed by the time I move it into the secondary, does it matter the temperature? Will I get a whole lot of esthers in a secondary at high temp? Or should I just kill the yeast with campden tablets when I move it into the secondary and then keg/cold crash the beer when I am ready for it? I guess I am just concerned that if I move it to a secondary that’s not at the optimal yeast temperature that I am going to start to get off flavors.

Thanks for any input and any suggestions are always most welcome.
Click to expand...

Within the range you gave (60-70F) the temperature of the secondary will not matter. The temperature matters most from when you pitch the yeast until high krausen. A little warm up at the end of fermentation can actually be good for the yeast.

When I'm trying to make batches close to each other, i do exactly as you described, carboy stays in fermentation chamber during the bulk of the fermentation activity, I usually give it two weeks to be safe. Then I move it to a dark closet or somewhere else out of the way where it's on the cool side of room temperature (68-72). If I don't need the fermentation chamber for another beer, i usually start increasing the temperature anyway. After that I cold crash.
 
The only think I would be concerned with is starved yeast trying to feed at that temperature. I have heard that their are some conditions that yeast can feed on other things due to the lack of sugar and may create off flavors. I have no direct scientific reference nor experience so I would research to make sure. When refrigerated kegged beer is stored cool with a little yeast on the bottom would be less of an issue because they are not at optimum ferment temperature like storing beer at 60-70 degrees.


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