Would you rather primary for 7 days, then secondary for 2-3 weeks OR...?

Would you rather primary for 7 days, then secondary for 2-3 weeks OR primary for 2-3 weeks and secondary for 1-2 weeks? Why?

None of the above. If primary only were an option I'd pick that.

Neither.

I'd rather primary for 2-4 weeks for a standard gravity beer, 5-8 weeks for something higher in alcohol, and that's it.

I only secondary for fruit beers and sour beers.

Ditto. I'd rather primary and secondary simultaneously, in the same vessel for two weeks.

mjdonnelly68 said:

Ditto. I'd rather primary and secondary simultaneously, in the same vessel for two weeks.

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then keg

S_M

Primary for 2 weeks and straight to kegs for 99% of my beers.

I'm in the neither camp as well. The only things I secondary right now are lagers after at least a month, and my Mead. The only other times I'm currently doing a secondary is the rare time I do a Strong/Old/Barleywine/Imperial Stout. And that is also after about four weeks so it can condition on yeast with out a huge yeast cake of trub and settled junk.

I primary for 10-14 days and then keg. Finish in the keg. Works out well. Big beers just sit in the keg longer until they are ready. IPAs get carbed and consumed. The rest are somewhere in between. Secondary fermenters just add one more step to contaminate. There are some times where they are good or required but those are few and far between for me. I don't know where this notion comes from that you have to put every beer into a secondary. What a waste of time.

Primary only, 10-21 days, straight to keg.

I am also in the Primary only for most of my beers. I will move to a secondary only if I think I will have more than the usually yeast cake size.

Also in the primary only boat. I only secondary if adding fruit, dry-hopping, souring, or bulk aging. I will keep in primary anywhere from 2 weeks to a month.

Primary 2-3 weeks. Keg.


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Primary 21 days. Secondary only if dry-hopping. Then to keg.

My beer is in the primary a minimum of 2 weeks. Then it's racked to secondary for another 7 days so I can:
1) dry hop
2) wash the yeast in primary
3) use primary for my next batch

If none of these apply, I leave beer in primary for a total of 3 weeks then bottle.

gwapogorilla said:

My beer is in the primary a minimum of 2 weeks. Then it's racked to secondary for another 7 days so I can:
1) dry hop
2) wash the yeast in primary
3) use primary for my next batch

If none of these apply, I leave beer in primary for a total of 3 weeks then bottle.

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Short of this list(and dry hopping can be done in primary or even in keg) there's only one reason to use a secondary. Its for a secondary fermentation. If your recipe doesn't require adding fermentable sugars after primary fermentation is complete there's no real good reason to move it that extra step.



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I usually primary for a week and then secondary for a week or two to dry hop. This time around with my Citra SMaSH i'm going to dry hop right in the primary for the first time.

Neither.

I'd rather primary for 10-14 days and then package. In my experience, most ales are done in a little less than two weeks, and unless you are doing something like oak aging or fruit then a secondary isn't really needed. If I want to condition my beer then I will do it cold and in a keg. The length of time will vary depending on the style

Another vote for neither.

Primary 2-3 weeks, then bottle. I do any dry hopping in the primary and I typically cold crash for a couple days at the end. I end up with perfectly clear beer and don't risk unnecessary oxidation from an extra transfer.

Bunch of great responses here on a classic HBT debate. I Primary till its done, 10-14 days for me. I personally, like to carefully rack into a clarifying secondary usually for 1-3 days (sometimes dry hopping) before kegging. If I put something on oak chips or finish with a champagne yeast I might leave it in the secondary for another 1-3 weeks.

IL1kebeer said:

Neither.

I'd rather primary for 10-14 days and then package. In my experience, most ales are done in a little less than two weeks, and unless you are doing something like oak aging or fruit then a secondary isn't really needed. If I want to condition my beer then I will do it cold and in a keg. The length of time will vary depending on the style

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that's it for me 10 days or so cold crash and then into the keg

S_M

Yet another for "neither." I'm in the "primary only" camp for most beers.

The only common exception for me is my APA, which I dry hop. I add dry hops to the primary immediately after high krausen and then transfer the beer to a secondary three days later.

I am also primary only. I only ever rack over fruit beers.

Primary only here, even for dry hopped beers. I only used a secondary once, when I was brewing a lager.

Primary only for 2 - 3 weeks then right into the keg to carbonate. Little to no additional value in secondaries for the 90% of beers IMO.

I don't always secondary, but when I do it's 2-3 wks primary and 1-2 wks secondary.

I would also go with a "primary only" option. I have left beers in primary for up to 5 months with no ill effects. In my brewhouse, brite tanks are reserved only for additions, such as fruit, wood, etc., or lagering.

I have had good luck with 7 days in my primary and then 7 days in my secondary . I will let my beer stay in the secondary longer if I'm trying to pick up some flavors like oak or some kind of fruit.

Sir-Brews-Alot said:

In my brewhouse, brite tanks are reserved only for additions, such as fruit, wood, etc., or lagering.

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You do realize that a brite tank is used to carbonate beer?