Second Fermentation

When and Why do it?

Cause I like the complex delicious flavors that develop when a well made beer is properly aged.

after you finish your first fermentation, it's time to ferment something else. you move on to your second fermentation.

dinnerstick said:

after you finish your first fermentation, it's time to ferment something else. you move on to your second fermentation.

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talking about racking into 2nd carboy after 5-7 days,,,,,some say it's to help with clarity and some say it's a waste of time

PackerfaninSanDiego said:

talking about racking into 2nd carboy after 5-7 days,,,,,some say it's to help with clarity and some say it's a waste of time

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Yup.

Seriously though, do a quick Google search. This topic is asked about daily and there really is no right answer. There is just the right answer for you.

does all the yeast eventually settle on the bottom of the carboy during 1st fermentation?
when it's time to bottle(this Saturday for me) I'll mix in my corn sugar in my bottling bucket..is there going to be enuff yeast to munch on te corn sugar once it goes into the bottles? We don't like flat beer..........I'm a newbie on all of this, that's why the rookie questions

There will be plenty of yeast for bottle conditioning. The purpose of secondary fermentation is to extend the aging process of beers, typically those with higher alcoholic content, so that the flavors are able to mingle and change, much in the way that the flavors in your homemade pasta sauce will improve if you let it sit in the fridge overnight. Except that this process takes way longer with beer.

In the case of beers of moderate alcoholic strength (4-5%) their peak flavor can be enjoyed by consuming them within 3 or 4 weeks of brewing. My own preference is to let them age at least 4 weeks. This creates 2 issues. First, the headspace in the typical primary fermenter may have too much oxygen in it, or airborne microbes, both of which can deteriorate the flavor of the beer, so some brewers put it in a carboy with minimum headspace. Second, if you have only one primary fermenter you might want to get another batch going and tranferring to a secondary allows that.

There's a chance of oxidation when you transfer that can be minimized by filling the secondary carboy with CO2 before you rack into it. I have never had a problem with this as I make an effort to avoid any splashing when I rack.

RobertRGeorge said:

In the case of beers of moderate alcoholic strength (4-5%) their peak flavor can be enjoyed by consuming them within 3 or 4 weeks of brewing. My own preference is to let them age at least 4 weeks. This creates 2 issues. First, the headspace in the typical primary fermenter may have too much oxygen in it, or airborne microbes, both of which can deteriorate the flavor of the beer, so some brewers put it in a carboy with minimum headspace. Second, if you have only one primary fermenter you might want to get another batch going and tranferring to a secondary allows that.

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How do you figure there is to much oxygen left in the fermenter after fermentation? Carbon dioxide is heavier than oxygen and there is a lot of CO2 produced during fermentation.

logan3825 said:

How do you figure there is to much oxygen left in the fermenter after fermentation? Carbon dioxide is heavier than oxygen and there is a lot of CO2 produced during fermentation.

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There is also a lot of turbulence in there so there *could* still be some oxygen mixed up in the gasses. Certainly while the kreusen is still there the beer is more protected, but after it falls it becomes susceptible, particularly if the brewer succumbs to the urge to get his/her nose in there to give it a sniff. Over a two or three week period this oxygen *could* cause a problem. Same with airborne microbes. Not saying these *will* cause problems, but to feel more secure some brewers eliminate the possibility by minimizing head space.

RobertRGeorge said:

There is also a lot of turbulence in there so there *could* still be some oxygen mixed up in the gasses. Certainly while the kreusen is still there the beer is more protected, but after it falls it becomes susceptible, particularly if the brewer succumbs to the urge to get his/her nose in there to give it a sniff. Over a two or three week period this oxygen *could* cause a problem. Same with airborne microbes. Not saying these *will* cause problems, but to feel more secure some brewers eliminate the possibility by minimizing head space.

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Sanitizing well and leaving it alone seems easier to me than moving to minimize headspace. I don't keg or have CO2 on hand though.

I forgot to mention one other reason some brewers rack to a secondary, and that is to get the beer off the cold break trub and yeast cake. Traditional German brewers often remove it for flavor reasons. The desirability of this has been debated for decades though.

For me the reason I use a secondary fermenter is that for stronger beers I like to age them quite a while and I prefer to do that in a carboy rather than let them sit in a primary fermenter on the initial spent yeast for 3 to 6 months.