Benefits of a Secondary "Vessel" without the Risks!

I've done an experiment that I want to share.

Essentially, I hope to get the benefits of using a secondary (get the beer off the trub, soak adjuncts in it for a prolonged period, be able to bottle the beer later whilst leaving the adjuncts behind) without taking the risks of multiple transfers and excess head space in the carboy.

Simply put, what i've done is 1) for every bottle that I want to alter, prepare separate satchels of adjucts and tie-off the ends with fine thread for easy retrieval later, 2) insert the "spice spliffs" into the bottles and secure the thread ends on the bottle neck (see photo), 3) rack over the "spliffs" by filling the bottles directly from the primary (as if bottle-priming) and 4) cap the bottles tightly. When it's time for carbonating (I'll give them 1 to 2 weeks) I'll just open the bottles, pull the "spliffs" out and drop in a couple of sugar cubes!



Naturally, everything's sanitsed and (this is critical) I've read in another forum that adding sugar cubes to bottled wort does not cause instantaneous foaming. I can see some risk of exposure opening the bottle to remove the "spliff" but I'd imagine it's no more exposure than having to transfer (again) from the secondary to the bottling bucket and then to the bottles.

If this works, then I'll also be able to experiment with individual bottles instead of entire batches. Eg, the photo shows one "spliff" with grated orange zest and crushed coriander and the other with just zest, both soaked overnight in vodka.

Now comes the fun part - hearing from everyone on where I might have flocc-ed up.

Interesting, would like to see how this works out. Just seems like alot of work an a lot of time. But if u wanted diff. Ingredients through out you batch of beer this is perfect.

haha, I like ur use of the word spliff.

I like the idea too though. Actually may cut down on some of the work and def let u experiment with different flavors... almost like a Randall Jr built into ur bottle.

Definitely great idea to test out different hops for dry hopping!

this is great idea, especially the spliffs haha they look a little too funky for me to smoke tho please give us updates as this progresses and you find out if your experiment works and how the brew tastes

Definitely will keep you guys posted. Unfortunately, this batch might not be very representative as I fear I flocced-up the bottling process by having sweat drip into both the fermenter and bottling bucket and my make-shift auto siphon clamp fell apart and dropped into the fermenter (I think I sanitized it). Must be my punishment for being cheap on the couple of bucks for a proper clamp.

BTW, has anyone tried rolling dry hops in a spliff.....sorry, I digress!!

What material are you using for the spliffs?

zz's of course!

skydvr74 said:

What material are you using for the spliffs?

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Just the standard cooking cloth bag/spice bag cut into small rectangles and tied off with cooking string (the retrieval end being tied off with the same string but unwound to get finer thread).

Fill with your adjunct, lick the edge to stick and light the end....:rockin:

What if when you remove the adjuncts, too much air space is left? That'll effect how much sugar you'll need to use to carb it.

looneybomber said:

What if when you remove the adjuncts, too much air space is left? That'll effect how much sugar you'll need to use to carb it.

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That's definitely a risk so I filled the bottles a touch more than I would normally and when I remove the spliffs I'll do it slowly so the liquid will drain out of the bags. The variance in volumes shouldn't be so dramatic that the sugar amounts need to be changed dramatically. Each sugar cube is ~5g and you can chip away at the cubes to get different sizes if needed.

finsfan said:

zz's of course!

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That's probably better than stuffing it in a blunt.

Just a quick update on the experiment:

After a week of steeping the spice spliffs in the "secondary", today's carbonation day. Pulling the spliffs out was very straightforward with very little liquid lost but the sugar cubes didn't fit in the bottle opening! Durgh.. So I just split the cubes using a knife, dropped them in, wiped the bottle opening with a cloth dipped in sanitized solution and "voila"!

So far it seems like we can have the benefits of a secondary without the risks and be able to experiment with individual bottles as opposed to entire batches. Whilst this is working (so far) for adjuncts, I'm not so sure if it can be used for dry hopping as the hops will expand (perhaps one can use a longer but thinner spliff).

Of course, the real test will be in 2-3 weeks' time when I'll crack one open.

very nice, i am excited to hear how these turn out

That looks like substantially more work then using a car boy.

I'm glad that all this spliff stuff was explained. At first I thought it was some kind of female hygiene thing stuck in a bottle. But, just so ya know. A spliff is a person who lets one rip in a hot tub before the bubblers are running.

It's always great to meet people with such sophistication.

Slightly OT, Are those IKEA bottles? If so, how are they working out for you?

"Houston, we have a problem"

Day 4 since beginning the carbonation and something white seems to be growing on the inside of the bottle walls. Looks to me like some kind of fungal growth. The rest of the batch weren't experimented on and are perfectly clear.

Does anyone know if this is some sort of bacterial growth?

If so, I can only guess that it comes from either the seal not being airtight enough with the thread passing through it (perhaps an even finer thread would work) or the sugar cubes weren't sanitary since they came from our sugar cube jar which everyone in the household sticks their hands in.

Bugger....

kylemryan said:

Slightly OT, Are those IKEA bottles? If so, how are they working out for you?

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Kylemryan, yup these are Ikea bottles (well spotted). I've used them for several batches now, some of which were VERY carbonated, yet I haven't once had an issue with them - no leaking, no exploding etc. I like them mostly because the washers are silicon so will last longer and seal better than the classic rubber ones.

One word of advice tho, you need to tweak the steel wires with pliers before using them to make sure the seal is super tight. If the swing top can be closed effortlessly, it's too loose.

Tippsy-Turvy said:

Kylemryan, yup these are Ikea bottles (well spotted). I've used them for several batches now, some of which were VERY carbonated, yet I haven't once had an issue with them - no leaking, no exploding etc. I like them mostly because the washers are silicon so will last longer and seal better than the classic rubber ones.

One word of advice tho, you need to tweak the steel wires with pliers before using them to make sure the seal is super tight. If the swing top can be closed effortlessly, it's too loose.

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Sweet, thanks for the info, Tip

Revvy said:

If you see anything below the surface it's not an infection it's just a floatie and 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of the time, the floaty in a bottle of beer is going to be yeast and perfectly normal.

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I like those odds from Revvy! What i've done is gently swirl the beer around in the bottle and it seems to dislodge the white stuff! Not sure if that means anything but nonetheless it feels good. So fingers crossed and another week or so to go...

For those who are interested, I just opened the bottle of Honey Bee Ale with the orange zest & coriander seed "spliff" and................ it was great!!

Very strong orange aroma and no off flavors, although I couldn't tell what effect the coriander seeds were supposed to have. If there's one disappointment it's the fact that orange zest doesn't seem to complement a honey aroma and the two seemed to clash.

Revvy was right and the white stuff on the bottle walls was just the yeast.

The experiment seems to have worked so I can now have the benefits of a secondary without the risks and be able to experiment with individual bottles instead of entire batches, if wanted. For my Hefeweizen that's currently brewing in the primary I'm going to experiment on 3 bottles with 3 different spliffs - orange zest, lychees and dried rose buds/cascade hops (my dry hop experiment)! :rockin: