To rack or not to rack, to secondary.

I currently have my first real home brew on it's 6th day in the primary (Rogue Hazelnut Brown clone). SWSBO got me a good starter kit for father's day that
came with a 6 gallon fermenter bucket and a 6 gallon carboy. The instructions that came with my ingredients and the guy at my local brew shop say that with this beer I need to rack to the secondary after a week or so in the primary to let all the yeast settle out. I've seen a lot of posts on this site disputing this step. Should I just leave it in the bucket for a few weeks then bottle or should I rack it to my carboy? Since this is my first time I want the beer to be as good as possible to keep me going with my new hobby.

Leave it, but start planning your next brew to do in 2 or so weeks. I've been racking to secondary lately after about 2 weeks, but only due to a clog in my pipeline.

can o worms opened yet again.

It's your call. I generally use secondaries for the purpose of getting my primaries empty and clean so I can brew another beer. It isn't necessary, but it will stop fermentation, so use a hydrometer and be sure the beer is done before you rack it... or leave it alone for a few weeks to be sure it is completely done and the yeast will settle out just fine in the bucket and you can bottle without any problems. BTW how are you bottling? I don't see a bottling bucket in your equipment list.

shafferpilot said:

BTW how are you bottling? I don't see a bottling bucket in your equipment list.

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My primary has a spout so it can be used as a bottling bucket. I suppose I will have to rack to my secondary so that I can have my bucket to bottle with. Unless there is a way to add the priming sugar into the primary without stirring up the sediment or oxidizing. I think for my next batch I will use my glass carboy as the primary instead of the bucket and just use the bucket for bottling.

hmmm.... yeah, that's not a bad option.

For this one, I would rack to secondary, clean the bucket, add priming sugar solution to the bucket, rack back to your... bottling bucket..., bottle, then go get an actual primary carboy or bucket

BTW just so you know, a glass carboy with ribs around the sides is too small to ferment a 5 gallon batch. A primary glass carboy is smooth around the sides and holds around 7+ gallons. A Primary bucket is also 7+ gallons. Bottling buckets are generally a little smaller in diameter and really only hold around 6 gallons... which isn't big enough for fermenting if you get yeast that really kick off. It'll krausen right out the top and make a mess.

gilby_7 said:

My primary has a spout so it can be used as a bottling bucket. I suppose I will have to rack to my secondary so that I can have my bucket to bottle with. Unless there is a way to add the priming sugar into the primary without stirring up the sediment or oxidizing. I think for my next batch I will use my glass carboy as the primary instead of the bucket and just use the bucket for bottling.

Click to expand...

Most suggest against using a bottling bucket for fermentation, as there is a greater risk of infection as it is more difficult to sanitize all of the nooks and cranies. A new plastic fermentor and lid should run around $10 at your LHBS.

a 6 gallon carboy would be fine for a primary as long as either it isn't too vigorous of a fermentation, or you use a blowoff tube.. i've only ever used 6 gallon better bottles and i love them for fermenting

I don't use a secondary. I'm going to be using one on my next one because I'll be using fruit, but for non-addition beers (oak chips, fruit, etc) I'd leave it in the primary.