secondary fermentation question(s)

hey all - relatively new 'round these parts. i have my 4th batch (a porter) conditioning in bottles as of saturday, and my 5th batch (an IPA) in primary fermentation. i've got a pretty good feel for the basics, but my IPA will be my first that goes into secondary.

so, once i buy a second glass carboy, .......

i obviously understand that i'll need to sanitize the second carboy, funnel, etc.

• do i need to pitch more yeast into secondary?

• do i need to aerate?

• what's the best way to dry-hop? boil the hops in a bit of water for sanitization, then add to secondary?

i think that's it. this forum is an excellent resource. thanks ahead of time!!

No, on the pitching of more yeast. The bulk of the fermentation is already done so you don't want to add more. One of the reasons to secondary is to remove it from the bulk of the yeast (topic for debate)

NO, NO, NO on aeration when transfering to secondary. It will create oxidized flavors in the final product. You want to disturb the beer as little as possible. The only possible time one would want to aerate an already fermenting beer is if it has stopped prematurely for some reason, typically seen only with very big beers.

You want to gently siphon the beer into your secondary. There is a great thread on a homemade siphon starter flyguys siphon

For dry hopping just toss them in. This is what most people do. I just make sure my hands are clean, and try to handle them as little as possible. I usually just weigh them out into a clean container and dump them in. I don't touch the hops at all.

+1 all around.

Also, look into getting a Better Bottle, rather than a glass carboy. Better Bottles cost about the same as glass (sometimes less), are much safer and easier to handle, and they do not affect your beer any more than glass would.


TL

thanks guys!