secondary or no secondary?

I currently have my first witbier on day 6 in my primary. Since it will already be an estery, hazy beer, will there be any benefit to transfering it to a secondary? Or should I just go ahead and bottle?

personally unless adding bugs or fruit I see no benefit at all to ever doing a secondary

I would leave it in the primary for another week or two and bottle. The yeast will keep working to "clean up" your beer and remove off flavors.

I ferment my Wit's for 3-4 weeks and they come out delicious!

It's a good practice to get into checking the gravity of your beer before bottling. If your yeast haven't finished breaking down the sugar and are fed again and then bottled you can have what is affectionately referred to as "bottle bombs". Your bottles literally explode from the pressure. By taking a gravity reading before you pitch your yeast and you know about how much sugar your yeast will eat you can approximate the ending gravity of your beer. If you've reached that point, or are very close to it for 3 successive days, you can go ahead and bottle.

The use of a secondary is a point of contention in home brewing. Some people use them all the time and some people never use them. I personally don't use them unless I am adding fruit/wood chips or for long term bulk aging (i.e. high alcohol beer, mead & cider). Wits are meant to be hazy because of the high amount of wheat so trying to get them to clear is actually a flaw (if you are brewing to style). Personally, I let all of my beer in the fermenter, untouched, for 2 weeks. I then take a gravity reading and taste the beer. If I don't notice any signs of off flavors I let it sit for another week and then check the gravity again. If it hasn't changed I bottle and let it sit for another 2-3 weeks. I have been rewarded with a significant increase in the quality of my beer.

I have read a lot on here about long Primary vs. Secondary, I formerly secondaried (<-- Is that a word?) all my stuff, but am now among the converted.

I too see no reason whatsoever to do a secondary unless doing something special - secondary ferment/bugs, dry hopping, etc.

I personally now am making a 4-week primary the standard at my house, and the beer is great.

Answer 5: Wait to bottles based on density rather than time!

Once the gravity becomes terminal, it's time to bottle. This could be 6 days or it could be 3 weeks depending on how fermentation goes. The only way to know is to take a gravity reading.

You may want to let it rest a few days prior to bottling after terminal gravity is achieved to allow the yeast to "clean up" some byproducts they have produced during fermentation.

A secondary for clarification is often counter-productive as all the yeast & proteins that was about to settle out in the primary is now redistributed throughout the beer again. It seems like a good idea when you're doing it, as you see more settle out but it would also settle out if left in the primary (and faster).

You only want to secondary to dry hop, rack over fruit, or for bugs like brett, pedio, etc. Unless you're aging it for many many months in the primary, you will not have to worry about yeast autolysis.

for those of you who are not kegging:
would it be ok to bottle when you reach terminal gravity? then rather than leaving the beer in the fermenter to clean up the flavors it could happen in the bottle. seems to me it would happen quicker, because of the smaller volume, and it would be (potentially) protected from oxygen and contaminants.
I also read somewhere that the pressure in the bottle prevents autolysis. thoughts?

hardmike said:

for those of you who are not kegging:
would it be ok to bottle when you reach terminal gravity? then rather than leaving the beer in the fermenter to clean up the flavors it could happen in the bottle. seems to me it would happen quicker, because of the smaller volume, and it would be (potentially) protected from oxygen and contaminants.
I also read somewhere that the pressure in the bottle prevents autolysis. thoughts?

Click to expand...

I bottle. And I let most of my beers sit 3-4 weeks (usually closer to 3) in the primary bucket.

What you say makes sense to some extent. But there are plenty of other factors involved including the yeast cake playing a possible role in maturation and avaiable surface area in the bottle vresus the bucket. But probably most important is that you start a new "mini-fermentation" when you prime before bottling. So this will greatly affect maturation.

Don't get me wrong, I know there is debate about some of this. But this is my two cents...

Another thought:

Pressue does not prevent autolysis. Autolysis, if it occurs, is mainly worried about in the primary when the beer is on the large yeast cake and some suggest that increased pressure can CAUSE autolysis. Not the reverse.

With my wits using bottle harvested hoegarden yeast, I find that the krausens remain for at least 3 weeks anyway. Even if it's been at terminal grav for a week. Since the yeast is really low flocculating, it's not going to magically be a clear beer if you opt to long primary it. It's still going to be nicely hazy. It's just going to get the flavor benefits of letting the yeast clean up after itself.

so whos the crazy person who came up with the secondary? and what am i supposed to do now with my 5g carboy?
sand art anyone?

Use it as another primary. I know I do.

k now how about dry hopping. why not just throw the hops in the primary when its ready? and would that have to be after terminal gravity is reached?

btw no need to describe who came up with the secondary thing. i read it in the other secondary thread at the top of the forum right now.

I dont always dry hop. But when I do, I put them in a mesh bag and suspend them in the primary after reaching FG.

For dry hopping, I just dump my hops in and let them sit for about 3 days or so in the brew, then bottle. Get a nice hoppy flavor from them that way.

I brewed a stout about 2 weeks ago. It has definitely finished fermenting but needs some time to age. I'm racking to secondary tomorrow simply because I am brewing another batch and I need my primary!!

My carboy is for cider and aging on oak.
When I dry hop it is dump the pellets into the primary a week before bottling.

If a brew needs extended aging, I just do that in the bottle.