Have I waited to long to use a secondary?

Its been 12 days in the primary. Haven't had a chance to transfer due to crazy work schedule. Is it too late? I know its not neccessary but I haven't tried it yet and was planning on it this batch. Its a nut brown ale if that makes a difference. And my glass carboy is 6.5 gallons on a 5 gallon batch. Is that an oxidation risk?

If I do secondary, which is rarer and rarer these days for many of us I don;'t even think about racking til day 14, you really want fermentation to be complete before doing that, and it gives some more yeast contact to clean up the beer.

But like I said, you'll find that more and more folks skip secondary all together and opt for a longer primary. I leave the majority of my beers in primary for a month, which allows plenty of time for the yeast to clean up after itself, and get rid of many of the byproducts of fermentation that leads to off flavors.

There's a million threads on here discussing this... This is probably the most up to date. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/s...amil-zainasheff-weigh-176837/?highlight=jamil

He only time most of us secondary these days is if we're adding fruit, or oak (we even dry hop at the end of primary these days) or if we are bulk aging. But for "normal" beers, it's a month in primary then straight to bottle.

Thanks revvy I'll do a month then bottle. I'll take a look at that thread when I get a moment also. I know I'm new here but you seem to be the man with the answers. Thanks for lookin out.

And why do you even want to use a secondary???

Brew-boy said:

And why do you even want to use a secondary???

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Short answer is it came with the kit figured I should use it. Slightly longer answer is I like the idea of a clearer beer and although I haven't read up on the benefits vs just using a primary it sounds like something I need to atleast try. I'm only on my second batch.

Daniel82 said:

Short answer is it came with the kit figured I should use it. Slightly longer answer is I like the idea of a clearer beer and although I haven't read up on the benefits vs just using a primary it sounds like something I need to atleast try. I'm only on my second batch.

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I, and many others have actually found our beer is cleaner and clearer , and "crisper" tasting after prolonged yeast contact rather than when we used secondaries. That's why we have chosen to do it.

That 5 gallon "secondary" you have is perfect for 5 gallons of Ed Wort's Apfelwein, or mead.

Revvy speaks the truth. I have tasted two of my batches fermented since I went the "no-secondary" route. I have noticed a general improvement in the overall flavor profile. Occasionally, I would get what my friends called "that homebrew taste". I am assuming that I was not giving the yeast sufficient time to finish their work.

Revvy said:

I, and many others have actually found our beer is cleaner and clearer , and "crisper" tasting after prolonged yeast contact rather than when we used secondaries. That's why we have chosen to do it.

That 5 gallon "secondary" you have is perfect for 5 gallons of Ed Wort's Apfelwein, or mead.

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The only thing I noticed is a good deal of yeast collects at the bottom of the keg. Just pour out the first glass that's full of yeast/trub, and you're golden.

I mistook the yeast for odd-colored head the first time...bleh.