NB Caribou Slobber

I have read the debate on secondary fermentation and not trying to start it up again with this thread but wanted to ask the opinion of someone who has brewed this kit before. The instructions say to transfer to secondary but I am thinking of just leaving it in the primary. Anyone tried this with good results? Any change in flavor? It's a brown ale so i'm thinking clarity won't be a big deal here.

Sharks8kelly said:

I have read the debate on secondary fermentation and not trying to start it up again with this thread but wanted to ask the opinion of someone who has brewed this kit before. The instructions say to transfer to secondary but I am thinking of just leaving it in the primary. Anyone tried this with good results? Any change in flavor? It's a brown ale so i'm thinking clarity won't be a big deal here.

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Given the unscrupulous tendencies of Northern Brewer (search big mouth bubbler), I'd say that their recommendations for novice brewers to rack to secondary is merely a ploy to sell more fermentation vessels. I don't even secondary my IPA's when dry hopping, let alone a brown ale. Unless you're doing 3+ months of aging (lagers, aged stouts, etc.) there's no reason to mess with the beer. Let it sit and finish, then enjoy.

You'll be fine leaving it in primary for 3-4 weeks. You shouldn't see any ill effects. I generally only transfer to secondary if I'm doing multiple dry hop additions or lagering.

Brewed this many times. Three weeks in the primary will give you a good finished and clear beer. Beer clears in the primary just as well as in a secondary.

If you use WY 1332, keep the fermentation temp at the bottom of the temp range to prevent esters.

It's looking great in the primary so i'm keeping it put! Thanks for the input guys!

Sharks8kelly, you raised a great question that I too have been curious about. The majority of instructions from Northern Brewer indicate that if a secondary is not available, then you can simply add an additional week in the primary. This equates to roughly three weeks in the primary.

I am in my second week of an Irish Red and am going forward with leaving it in the Primary for three weeks and will then Bottle it. I used Irish Moss in the last 15 minutes and after checking the FG levels, the beer looks to be pretty clear and no floaters on top.

Thanks for posting this question and I am eager to hear how your Caribou Slobber turns out. That is the next kit I was going to order, I am curious however if the hop flavor is overwhelming or subtle.

The C. Slobber is a great kit. I will order again next early fall as it's a great cold weather beer, however, I'm sure you'll enjoy it this spring/summer just the same. I secondaried it, but I'm sure not doing that will be fine.

I've made this beer several times. Never used a secondary and always had turned out great. Has typ. Been done for me in 2-3 weeks.

Bottled my Slobber today... looks to be shaping up to be a nice looking beer. Cleared up well at 4 weeks in the primary. Smells delicious and a sample tastes good. We will see how it bottle conditions and I'll let you know on that hop flavor Scorpionsix.

Most extract kits from NB that do not need to be dry hopped and are in the 6 week time frame can be left in primary for the extended 1-2 weeks and will finish out fine. A couple of points here:

1) Leaving it in primary instead of transferring won't most likely harm the flavor as the remaining yeast in suspension in primary has a chance to finish cleaning up the taste. Shouldn't be an issue at all.

2) If you're concerned about the clarity of the beer then by all means rack to a secondary. Getting the beer off the yeast cake without disturbing it is one the the main reasons NB recommends that you put the beer in secondary. With the additional couple weeks in secondary it allows the beer to further clarify and let more yeast fall out of suspension. When you transfer to bottling bucket the product tends to be much clearer. There is no change in taste for the vast majority of beers if you rack from primary, just more yeast at the bottom of the bottles from pulling it directly from primary.

Long story short a lot of great brewers do not use a secondary fermentation for beers such as the NB Caribou Slobber so all should be fine.
Cheers!
Scott

I use secondary only for stouts, porters, and Kolsch. I would also use one for dry-hopping.

Otherwise, as long as its in contact with yeast for less than 4 weeks, I never have any off-flavors. Its safer to NOT transfer as well! Since I bottle, only the darkest of beers really need carboy conditioning, most beer still needs bottle aging before really being great, the only exception so far is Hefeweizen, after its done fermenting (2 weeks usually) and carbed up in the bottle (2 weeks), its ready to drink up!

Cracked open a bottle today to "test". Turned out pretty darn good! Hop flavor is very mellow and drinkable. The chocolate/coffee notes overtake the hop flavor for sure. Goes down nice and easy! Scorpionsix, I would recommend and hope you enjoy brewing this one as much as I have!

Sharks8kelly said:

I have read the debate on secondary fermentation and not trying to start it up again with this thread but wanted to ask the opinion of someone who has brewed this kit before. The instructions say to transfer to secondary but I am thinking of just leaving it in the primary. Anyone tried this with good results? Any change in flavor? It's a brown ale so i'm thinking clarity won't be a big deal here.

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I've brewed NB's Caribou Slobber, and siphoning to secondary is not crucial. But I do recommend it.

Secondary or not to secondary...

Secondary is mostly used to clear the beer and isolate it for adding flavorings/dryhops. It also takes the beer off the yeast, which many recommend. Rebecca Newman @ Dogfish says to ALWAYS move your beer off the yeast.

I've done it a few ways and all of them gave me delicious beer. I recently tasted a 2 wk old IPA fermented/dry-hopped in primary on top of the yeast for 2-3 weeks. It was one of my best brews ever.

This video is very informative about yeast and fermentation reactions.

I've brewed Caribou Slobber about 10 times. Treat it like my other ales. Normally three weeks in the primary, then bottle. One CS was in the primary five weeks, no off flavor.
Yeast is the only sediment in the bottles after a three week primary, no hop debris. I have always used WY 1332 fermenting in the low 60°s.
Quit using a secondary about 10 to 12 years ago after first, and only, infection.

Sharks8kelly said:

Cracked open a bottle today to "test". Turned out pretty darn good! Hop flavor is very mellow and drinkable. The chocolate/coffee notes overtake the hop flavor for sure. Goes down nice and easy! Scorpionsix, I would recommend and hope you enjoy brewing this one as much as I have!

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Glad to hear that you had great results, I just ordered this ME and it will be my second time brewing (fingers crossed)