secondary fermentaion

I think I'd like to try it but I don't really know I have the need to as I'm just brewing simple extracts and no strong beers. Hefes for example. will it make a difference?

bajarob said:

I think I'd like to try it but I don't really know I have the need to as I'm just brewing simple extracts and no strong beers. Hefes for example. will it make a difference?

Click to expand...

this debate comes up about 3 times a day lol...no it is not a necessity...yes some still use em ( including myself) the bottom line is do it or don't do it....the decision is yours. try it both ways and see which you like.

For what you’re doing no, unless you are adding something, fruit for example. You can use a secondary to get it off the trub and try to make it clearer. I am no expert, by any means, but I have switched to a secondary to cold crash and get as much clarity out of my amber. To me it didn’t seem to do much but take longer till i could enjoy it, except for the "necessary" samples. That’s what is awesome about this, you can do what you want and try all kinds of new things. :rockin:

Not really. If you read through the forum on secondary's you will find a large debate over 'yes they are good' vs 'no they are not needed except for secondary additions like dry hop'

Personally I'm in the "don't secondary unless I need to for a reason" catagory like "I want to start my next beer and need a primary" or "I'm adding fruit" etc. Some others have found that if they do a long primary with a short secondary(about a day) they get clearer beer than just a long primary of the same amount of time. >shrugg<

Which comes back to this - if you try it, and it works foryou getting you improved results (flavor, clarity, peace of mind, etc) then do it, if not don't sweat it. RDWHAHB

Remember that "secondary fermentation" is a misnomer. I think the term comes from home winemakers, as they do rack into "secondary fermenters".

In a brewery, that second vessel is called a "bright tank". It's where the beer goes to condition and clear so that a new beer can be started in the fermenting tank ("primary").

If you choose to use a bright tank, that's fine. I often don't, but when I need a fermenter I sometimes will. (How's that for being equivocal? )

What I mean is that I have two ale pails with IPA in them right now. I really want to start another batch tomorrow, and I want one of those pails. So I very well may rack one of those to a carboy so I can use the pail. I often don't, and just dryhop in the fermenter before packaging. I really see no difference in clarity or taste anything different when I do use a clearing vessel. Nothing magical happens with moving the beer, it just gives you another place to store it until you're ready to package it.

I just put my first ever brew (Brewer's Best English Brown Ale kit) into the Ale Pail yesterday. Its chugging among nicely today.

The instructions recommend transfer to a carboy 'when fermentation slows'. This thread indicates its not necessary except to remove it from the trub which makes logical sense to me, but I'm a complete novice here. I don't even know what I don't know yet.

I think I probably will do it. Any recommendations on how, how long, and when? Also, how careful do I need to be about introducing too much oxygen to the wort?

if you do it, wait til after fermentation FINISHES, not slows. once FG is reach and stable, THEN transfer to secondary.