That sounded way more *****ey than I meant it to.So, I can continue to transfer 80% of my beers to another vessel even though it's not for secondary fermentation or clearing?
Damn! You're such a nice guy. Thanks.
We really need a "Don't Like This Post" button.
Should you rack your beer to a secondary fermentor after primary fermentation is complete? When is it appropriate to rack to secondary? How long can you leave beer in a fermentor on the yeast cake before all hell breaks loose?
yada yada yada
They did it on Basic Brewing Radio and the results were that it did help with clarity (see pictures here; if that doesn't work, go here and go to the May 24, 2012 episode).I've never understood the concept of racking to increase clarity, I can't come up with the science behind the concept. The beer has no idea what vessel it is in nor how many times it's been moved. An existing yeast cake has no influence on how the beer above is behaving, at least from a settling/clarity standpoint. Clarity is a function of gravity, not vessel (think commercial unitanks which allow yeast removal, spunding, and clarifying without ever moving the beer).
Winemakers rack several times throughout the aging process, but this is done to get the wine off the lees as they settle over the 12-24 month aging period. It doesn't speed up clarity, it gets the wine off the lees.
Racking beer to secondary does one thing, it gets the beer off the yeast cake, period. If that is your goal/concern then racking makes sense.
They did it on Basic Brewing Radio and the results were that it did help with clarity
With that said, I seem to remember that after bottling and refrigerating, they both eventually cleared equally, but I'd have to listen to the results again to confirm. So I think at the end of the day it probably doesn't matter.
Cold crashing seems to do the job of clarifying a beer to its maximum potential, regardless of time in a settling tank.
I've about decided that trying for improved clarity is not a valid reason for use of a secondary vessel.
Welcome to the tribe.
Don't worry about the initiation ceremony. It won't hurt too much if you drink enough beer beforehand and the resulting scars are much cooler than tattoos.
They suggested a possible follow up test of agitating the carboy you didn't rack to see if the mechanical agitation was all that was required to cause the faster clearing. To me, it seems the agitation has to play a key role. Because otherwise it seems to come down to 1) yeast are less likely to settle on a bunch of yeast than they are on a clean carboy floor, which seems like nonsense, or 2) yeast which have previously flocculated are going to decide (term used very loosely, obviously) that they want to hop back up after all, despite their environment being less conducive to activity than it was when they flocculated in the first place. I suppose this is possible, but I'd be quite curious as who what would drive this behavior.
Could it be that a portion of the yeast prefer to flocculate and "rest" while their "friends/colleagues" fight over the buffet?
Once their "friends/colleagues" have had their fill the minority "un-flocculate" and revisit the buffet which is now much less stressful even given the increase in alcohol content, reduced PH and reduction in viable fermentables?
Yeast do have genetic and physical traits that cause them react differently, what they don't have is personalities or an intuitive or rational thought process.Could it be that a portion of the yeast prefer to flocculate and "rest" while their "friends/colleagues" fight over the buffet? Once their "friends/colleagues" have had their fill the minority "un-flocculate" and revisit the buffet which is now much less stressful even given the increase in alcohol content, reduced PH and reduction in viable fermentables?
True
I think the whole buffet analogy was just a way to potentially rationalise the idea posed by BrewKnurd
It would be interesting to speak to a microbiologist to see if they can shed any light on why the secondary clears faster. If there is a particular reason that we don't know about that causes this trait then perhaps it could be utilised in other ways?
I would argue that it doesn't necessarily.
“The second theory, that beer clears faster after transferring, also is illogical. Unless flocculation somehow increases after transfer, the time it takes for the beer to clear should increase, not decrease. Transferring”“remixes the particles that were slowly drifting down through the beer. If anything, this slows the process of clearing the beer.”
Excerpt From: White & Jamil Zainasheff. “Yeast.” Brewers Publications, 2010. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.
Aside from priming sugar, did you add some fresh yeast to your bottling bucket?Hi. I left my primary on the yeast for a year and 4 months. The beer ant too bad tasting. Is it drinkable? Its priming in bottela now l expect it to be a little better after cold and carbonated...
Watch out, you can't carbonate in growlers. They can't handle the pressure, they'll bust. There's too much volume for the surface area. And too large a bottom.so I better crack these growlers and add it hu.
It is an IPA brewers best style recipe with some different hops I had laying around I think.
The miracles of oxidation at work.it just really has very strong alcohol and barely wine qualities to it. Also it is tasting sort of like a brown ale...
You've come to the right place, welcome to HBT!Glad I made an account!
To stay on topic for this thread, you did not use a secondary. No Vegemite flavor after leaving it on the yeast for 16 months.I left my primary on the yeast for a year and 4 months.
Watch out, you can't carbonate in growlers. They can't handle the pressure, they'll bust. There's too much volume for the surface area. And too large a bottom.
The miracles of oxidation at work.
I wouldn't.I have growlers that I bought beer in from micro-breweries... am I safe to carbonate in these?
I wouldn't.
Use proper bottles (glass or plastic) made to endure the pressure of carbonation.
Or keg it.
@Denny can you elaborate which growlers can be safely used for bottle carbonation?
Ah, those heavy ones with the metal handles and the wide mouth with the gasketed Grolsch-like lid/stopper. That makes sense. Thanks!Heavy ones! Ones that look like large Grolsch bottles are what Ive used with success.
Well, I use my fruit in the primary after it has already crashed. Then I go to secondary. Maybe secondary is not necessary but I like the way it turns out. Why fix it if it aint broken? I'm going to continue doing things the way I have been because I sure do get a lot of compliments on my beer. One of the compliments I got on my Old Peculiar clone keg was "You should bottle and sell this stuff". And I live in Colorado where there are tons of microbreweries. So there is that.
That!^Adding more fermentables is one of the few situations where a secondary can be a good idea.
Well, I use my fruit in the primary after it has already crashed. Then I go to secondary.
Next time you brew, leave the beer in the primary for the same time as you would normally leave it in the secondary. Why would you think it's going to be any less clear? Whatever sediments out will be the same, provided you don't rouse the yeast/trub cake, no?I brew 3 gallons at a time. I use 5 gallon carboys for primary, 3 gallon carboys for secondary. I pretty much secondary everything, but I don’t think of it as a secondary fermentation. Because fermentation is pretty much finished before I transfer. I think of the extra step as a settling tank or clearing tank. I notice there is still plenty of junk that settles out to the bottom of the 3 gallon after transfer. So if I didn’t do this step, all that junk that settled out after transfer would still be in my beer, right? I guess I’m “old school”.
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