skipping secondary?

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Bytor1100

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Ever since I started brewing I've always racked into a secondary and let sit for at least 2 weeks. Is it possible to just cold condition the primary for a few days after fermentation has completed and then just rack into a corny and cold condition it without any difference?
Doesn't the secondary just allow the beer to clear?
I also want to try and keep the majority of yeast out of the keg.
 
The beer still clears in the primary without cold conditioning. For a normal gravity beer give it two weeks and then keg it. The keg will be plenty of cold storage. You can probably go 6 weeks before autolysis starts to become an issue.
 
I did just that on my last batch. It went about 3 weeks in the primary and then a day or so before kegging I tossed my bucket into the kegerator. My main reason for doing this wasn't to make sure the beer was as clear as I could, but to get as much yeast as I could out suspension to wash and save.
 
Glad you posted this question!
I did a 2.5 week primary,
and then just a few days on secondary, and
a few days in a corny at room temp, and then
decided to crash it in the keezer. I had second
thoughts afterward, but if I'm reading this right,
then all is well.
 
You not only can leave it in the primary without racking, it is a very good idea to do so. You want the yeast to finish their job, including eating up some of the fermentation byproducts that would otherwise be transferred. The beer will clear every bit as well in the primary as it would in the secondary. Not only that, but every time you transfer your beer, it is another chance for bacteria to get in, another chance for oxygenation, another bit of volume loss. Your beer can go for more weeks that it should ever take for fermentation and be just fine. The old fashioned fears that you are going to pick up off-flavors from decaying yeast are largely unfounded, unless you are leaving it for months instead of weeks.
I never do a secondary, unless I have an unusual circumstance.
 
Alemental said:
You not only can leave it in the primary without racking, it is a very good idea to do so. You want the yeast to finish their job, including eating up some of the fermentation byproducts that would otherwise be transferred. The beer will clear every bit as well in the primary as it would in the secondary. Not only that, but every time you transfer your beer, it is another chance for bacteria to get in, another chance for oxygenation, another bit of volume loss. Your beer can go for more weeks that it should ever take for fermentation and be just fine. The old fashioned fears that you are going to pick up off-flavors from decaying yeast are largely unfounded, unless you are leaving it for months instead of weeks.
I never do a secondary, unless I have an unusual circumstance.

+1 On this. I left a cream ale in the primary for 6 weeks, at bottling time it was tasty and totally clear. I usually leave it in the primary for about a month-then right to the bottle. It's a pretty popular debate. For me-the simpler the process can be-the better. Why introduce more variables when not necessary?
 
I typicaly leave all my beers in the primary 3-4 weeks, then keg and store until I am ready to put them on tap. This way I can use the carboy I orriginaly bought for a "secondary" as another fermentar and have twice as much fermenting at a time:mug:
 
Cool, thanks for the input guys, I'm gonna be playing around with my process now, bwah hah hah
 
The last beer I put in the secondary per the 1-2-3 process still wasn't done fermenting after 3 weeks and ended up being overcarbed in the bottle. It was my fault because I forgot to take a FG reading, but that was enough for me to give up on secondaries. Now I will only use them during lagering or certain beers that require them. The keg works as a secondary anyway.
 
Used to secondary all the time per the sentiment on this forum. then I figured WHY am I doing all this extra work and chance of getting infected? Never had a problem and usually bottle in 3-4 weeks anyway. figure it gives the yeast a chance to finish their job and don't have to take fg readings until I bottle.
 
Hmmm... Doesn't it depend on the type of beer you want to make? I mean, a stout or darker beer can simply stay in the primary for a few weeks. But if you want a blonde clear summer beer wouldn't a secondary be a good idea just to get the clearity?

Should I dare to simply use the primary and bottle/keg (using the tap-a-draft) and expect the same clearity that I get from doing the secondary method?
 
technically, each bottle or keg is itself a secondary. All its doing is clearing and aging, the vessel is not important. Therefore you should, in time, get just as clear beer as with a proper secondary. I've done a super light summer ale in primary only, and by the time they were drinkable, they were crystal clear. But, some yeast stay in suspension longer by nature, the above beer was a dry yeast and they tend to settle out quick and thoroughly.

I have a question on this topic: Some say that with the prolonged primary, the yeast are still cleaning up ferm. flavors and such. Wouldn't this still occur in the secondary? there is still much yeast in suspension, enough to form another cake in the secondary. I would also assume that the cleaning up of flavors is happening throughout the wort by the suspended yeast, not just near the cake. I haven't read anything along these lines in the recent "2ndary or no 2ndary" threads, and have been wondering about it much lately.
 
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