newbie: one or two stage

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sause

Steel Comma Ale & Lagery
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Been doing research on home brewing and most places I check say to go with a two fermenters but most places sell there kits with only one, do you need to rack it into a second? Will not racking it make it not worth doing? Will a one stage taste better than most mass produced beer?

Anyfeed back would be great!!
 
sause said:
Been doing research on home brewing and most places I check say to go with a two fermenters but most places sell there kits with only one, do you need to rack it into a second? Will not racking it make it not worth doing? Will a one stage taste better than most mass produced beer?

Anyfeed back would be great!!

Hi Sause, If you're just starting out skipping the secondary is usually not a problem depending on what you're brewing, i.e a basic pale ale. Are you looking at kits on the web or at a homebrew shop? It's been my experience that most kits come with a single stage fermentor and a bottling bucket, and the bottling bucket can also be used for secondary fermentation (must have an airlock provision). Secondary does do a lot to help your beer but until you get some practice with siphoning etc, just doing single stage should be fine. Hope this helps,
 
Thanks, I just got the equipment about an hour ago from a homebrew shop it's nice, for the same price as on-line plastic fermenter I get a carboy. I'm starting off with an amber kit, guy at the store picked it out for me.
 
A lower gravity (1.036-1.048) homebrew made in a single stage fermentation (single fermenter) can taste just as good as some commercial microbrewed ales. Sanitation is more important than secondary fermentation. I use a secondary fermenter when I need to ferment a beer longer than 14 days (usually a stronger beer). I also use the secondary for dry hopping. If you are unfamiliar, this is adding dry hop pellets to the secondary for added hop aroma. Lagers need to be racked to a secondary to complete fermentation and to separate the fermenting beer from the yeast cake for a cleaner flavor.

sause said:
Been doing research on home brewing and most places I check say to go with a two fermenters but most places sell there kits with only one, do you need to rack it into a second? Will not racking it make it not worth doing? Will a one stage taste better than most mass produced beer?

Anyfeed back would be great!!
 
marcobrau said:
A lower gravity (1.036-1.048) homebrew made in a single stage fermentation (single fermenter) can taste just as good as some commercial microbrewed ales. Sanitation is more important than secondary fermentation. I use a secondary fermenter when I need to ferment a beer longer than 14 days (usually a stronger beer). I also use the secondary for dry hopping. If you are unfamiliar, this is adding dry hop pellets to the secondary for added hop aroma. Lagers need to be racked to a secondary to complete fermentation and to separate the fermenting beer from the yeast cake for a cleaner flavor.

I don't have much experience yet but from what I have read and have tried you can ferment in the same vessle for up to 3 weeks without risking off-flavors.

The more fermentables you have in the brew the longer it will take for the yeast to ferment and settle and you absolutely want the yeast to settle before you bottle or you have yummy yeasty beer.

Also racking into a second fermenter you risk infecting your beer. I would say only hard-core brewers should screw around with secondary stage fermenting. You can bassically acomplish secondary fermentation in the bottle by condition for a few weeks after bottling and before drinking.
 
I agree with Marcobrau, secondary fermentation is only really necessary if you plan to keep the beer in the secondary fermenter for at least two weeks. Then, it is great.

The idea behind using a secondary fermenter is to move the beer off the spent yeast cells in order to avoid "off flavors" caused by the yeast autolization. This is only necessary if you plan to allow the beer to sit in the fermenter to further clarify. Use of a secondary fermenter can give a cleaner tasting, clearer beer because more of the suspended solids in the liquid have time to settle out.

If you are just beginning, this is not really necessary. However, you should try it with your next brew. In my opinion it is one of the biggest improvements you can make in the flavor of your beer.
 
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