anchorandoak
Active Member
So I've been brewing for quite a while now and am currently doing all-grain. I read these forums often and it seems like many beginning homebrewers have questions about primary and secondary fermentation. I remember when I first started I was in a constant panic about how long is too long to leave my beer in primary, if secondary was necessary...basically I just constantly wondered if I was "doing it wrong", so I decided to post my observations here for new brewers that may hopefully find useful.
First off, I'd like to preface this post with an explanation of why I think my experiences are worth mentioniong:
1. I have bottled before primary fermentation was over. How do I know this? Well, the better question is, how do my neighbors know this? Easy. Because when my bottles exploded half the neighborhood heard it. No, I am not joking. It sounded like a shotgun went off in my room. The whole family flew out of bed and the neighbors asked the next morning what happened.
2. I have also had a beer sit in primary for what I think most people would consider an excessive amount of time (3+ months). I brewed a Belgian Tripel about a year ago. Between school, work and other things that life had to throw at me I just simply forgot about the beer. I know that this seems ridiculous (particularly because of how much the ingredients cost), but trust me it happened. After I finally had a little time I had a decision to make: throw it out or bottle and see what happened. You see, before this I had been under the impression that a long primary fermentation with my beer sitting on all that nasty gunk would mean my beer would completely suck. At that point my process was about 14 days in primary and then 14 or more days in secondary. I bottled this stuff, let it sit for about another two weeks and finally stood over the sink (incase I had to spit it out), popped the bottle, poured some out and WOW! this was stuff looked and smelled amazing! I took a sip and almost fainted. I COULDN't BELIEVE IT. There was no way this beer could have turned out so good. I left it in primary for over 3 months, never bothered with a secondary and it was one of the best beers I ever made!
So my point is this...never get antsy and bottle your beer before you know it is done fermenting. This isn't a matter of patience reaping a better product, rather, there is a good chance you will have bottle bombs that give you a heart attack and a heck of a mess! Be patient! And don't be too concerned with secondary fermentation, I used to do it all the time but have since stopped in favor of a 3-4 week primary ONLY. No secondary for me. Aside from the pain and hassle of cleaning and santizing and risk of contamination, the secondary may not make as big of a difference as you think it will!
I hope someone finds this helpful.
First off, I'd like to preface this post with an explanation of why I think my experiences are worth mentioniong:
1. I have bottled before primary fermentation was over. How do I know this? Well, the better question is, how do my neighbors know this? Easy. Because when my bottles exploded half the neighborhood heard it. No, I am not joking. It sounded like a shotgun went off in my room. The whole family flew out of bed and the neighbors asked the next morning what happened.
2. I have also had a beer sit in primary for what I think most people would consider an excessive amount of time (3+ months). I brewed a Belgian Tripel about a year ago. Between school, work and other things that life had to throw at me I just simply forgot about the beer. I know that this seems ridiculous (particularly because of how much the ingredients cost), but trust me it happened. After I finally had a little time I had a decision to make: throw it out or bottle and see what happened. You see, before this I had been under the impression that a long primary fermentation with my beer sitting on all that nasty gunk would mean my beer would completely suck. At that point my process was about 14 days in primary and then 14 or more days in secondary. I bottled this stuff, let it sit for about another two weeks and finally stood over the sink (incase I had to spit it out), popped the bottle, poured some out and WOW! this was stuff looked and smelled amazing! I took a sip and almost fainted. I COULDN't BELIEVE IT. There was no way this beer could have turned out so good. I left it in primary for over 3 months, never bothered with a secondary and it was one of the best beers I ever made!
So my point is this...never get antsy and bottle your beer before you know it is done fermenting. This isn't a matter of patience reaping a better product, rather, there is a good chance you will have bottle bombs that give you a heart attack and a heck of a mess! Be patient! And don't be too concerned with secondary fermentation, I used to do it all the time but have since stopped in favor of a 3-4 week primary ONLY. No secondary for me. Aside from the pain and hassle of cleaning and santizing and risk of contamination, the secondary may not make as big of a difference as you think it will!
I hope someone finds this helpful.