Mencken
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- Jan 28, 2009
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Hey all, I keep reading about secondaries, and I'm flip flopping. Here's some questions I still have.
1) When you transfer from primary to secondary, you leave a lot of your yeast behind. Clearly, you don't want to do this if it's still fermenting. So do you wait until the SG is stable and fermenting is over before your transfer to the secondary?
2) If so, what's the purpose of the secondary? Is it just like bottle conditioning without the carbonation? That is, just lets the flavors mingle for longer? Does it do this better in a secondary?
3) Or is the secondary just about clarity? If this is the case, what's the advantage of racking to a secondary any longer than 24 hours or so before you bottle? Seems to me that would offer the same advantages in terms of clarity.
4) I've read repeatedly about the yeast continuing to eat up loose proteins in the beer, improving quality/taste. If this is the case, isn't the primary preferable, since it will have more yeast in it?
I guess I just don't see the advantages of a secondary, other than to add clarity, but #3 seems like it offers a clarity solution.
1) When you transfer from primary to secondary, you leave a lot of your yeast behind. Clearly, you don't want to do this if it's still fermenting. So do you wait until the SG is stable and fermenting is over before your transfer to the secondary?
2) If so, what's the purpose of the secondary? Is it just like bottle conditioning without the carbonation? That is, just lets the flavors mingle for longer? Does it do this better in a secondary?
3) Or is the secondary just about clarity? If this is the case, what's the advantage of racking to a secondary any longer than 24 hours or so before you bottle? Seems to me that would offer the same advantages in terms of clarity.
4) I've read repeatedly about the yeast continuing to eat up loose proteins in the beer, improving quality/taste. If this is the case, isn't the primary preferable, since it will have more yeast in it?
I guess I just don't see the advantages of a secondary, other than to add clarity, but #3 seems like it offers a clarity solution.