A few tech questions...

After you begin primary... If you have a carboy, and a bottling bucket with a spigot... do you secondary in the bottling bucket? Or just single in the carboy, for 2-3 weeks, the bottling and bottle...?

Is double fermination necessary? If I want to do doble what exactly will I need?

The more I hear about single stage fermentation, the more convinced I am that secondary fermentation is simply unnecessary. For years, I have been racking my beers to secondary using the following process.

Wait until fermentation has visibly ceased. Then, place the primary fermenter (bucket) in a higher location than my secondary fermenter (glass carboy). Finally, using some form of siphoning device and a length of tubing, rack the beer to the glass carboy trying your best to avoid taking trub and other sediment with it. Leave beer in the secondary for 2 weeks or until it "brightens" (gets very clear). After this, you can put it into your bottling bucket and bottle.

A lot of homebrewers are starting to realize that this process is not essential in making great beer. You can leave your beers in your primary fermentation bucket (although a 6.5 gallon carboy would be the better long term option) for three weeks or so and then bottle. I still rack to secondary for the following two reasons:

1. Since I do not have a 6.5 gallon carboy, I feel like I have to rack the beer into my 5 gallon carboys so that I can see it in order to determine when it is ready for bottling.
2. I think that racking to secondary gives me the opportunity to get some particulate out of the beer - i.e. more clear beer.

Secondary fermentation is not necessary. For the reasons that sonvolt pointed out, it will benefit your beer, mostly the clarity and arguably the taste. I have always done primary and secondary fermentations, occasionally a tertiary as well.

If you are starting off with a bucket and carboy, and are planning to do a two stage fermentation, do the primary in the bucket, then move it to the carboy for secondary. This assumes that the carboy is five gallons.

A five gallon carboy will not be big enough to accommodate krausening beer, and the problem with doing the secondary in the bottling bucket is you will need to rack out of the bucket, clean the sediment out, then rack back into the bucket to bottle.

- magno

Alright that sounds good. Do you know anywhere where I can purchase a kit from a reputable store. So basically I only need one 6.5 gallon bucket, and 1 glass carboy? Can i siphon from carboy into bucket and bottle with a spigot or is this not wise? Basically can I leave a spigot on the primary fermintator?

Double fermintation isn't nessasy, but it does help a bit. I wouldn't do seconday in the bottling bucket simply because the sigot will be clogged with particulate that has fallen out. Better to use 2 different carboy/buckets then transfer to the bottling bucket.





There is a Local Home Brew Supply in Tampa on waters ave 1 mile west of dale mabry hwy called the brew shak (in the same building as pippo's) Maybe not the best supply but they can get you rolling. You can check out the Tampa Bay B.E.E.R.S (local brew club) if you like, they meet at Dunderbak's the first tuesday of every month.

Alright I will have to check that place out. Thanks man.

WeretheBrews said:

Alright that sounds good. Do you know anywhere where I can purchase a kit from a reputable store. So basically I only need one 6.5 gallon bucket, and 1 glass carboy? Can i siphon from carboy into bucket and bottle with a spigot or is this not wise? Basically can I leave a spigot on the primary fermintator?

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Greetings,

You can bottle from the bucket with spigot, just be sure to use tubing and a bottling cane - you do NOT want to bottle directly from the spigot!

If you would like to check out a reputable online store, check out www.morebeer.com as they truly rock.

BrewStef