transferring from primary to secondary

When I transfer from primary to my carboy how much sediment should I expect to be on the bottom of the primary? Should I just transfer it all or leave the seidment and crud behind? I mean once its in the carboy ill be able to judge when i sipon for bottling. I figure there is delicous beer in that crud so I might as well transfer it to the carboy. Let me know. Cheers.

sub1427 said:

When I transfer from primary to my carboy how much sediment should I expect to be on the bottom of the primary? Should I just transfer it all or leave the seidment and crud behind? I mean once its in the carboy ill be able to judge when i sipon for bottling. I figure there is delicous beer in that crud so I might as well transfer it to the carboy. Let me know. Cheers.

Click to expand...

There will be a semi-solid layer of yeast cake on the bottom--you definitely want to leave that behind.

Other than that, how greedy you are is kindof a matter of personal preference. The more trub you leave nehind now (and when you bottle), the clearer your beer will be.

If you have an autosiphon, the little cap gizmo that goes on the bottom holds it just about the right height off the bottom of the bucket.

Cweston, yeah my tube has this little back cap on the bottom, is that about how much crud will be left? not more then that 1/2 inch or so?

It kinda depends on some elements of your brewing process: how much hops you used, whether they were pellet or whole, and whether you did anything to remove hops and other trub from your wort when it went from the kettle to the fermenter.

If those factors add up to a relatively low amount of trub in the primary, then yeah, you can probably siphon down to that last inch or possibly even less.

I'd put it this way: if the liquid going through your siphon tube is cloudy, don't sweat it. If there are visible chunks of stuff, lift your racking cane or auto siphon a little higher.

I strained all the grains and hops and all that jazz out when it went into the primary so i guess your right, there shouldnt really be that much in it. Thanks again for your help.