How long in primary?

Ah!!!!!! no it's not a noob question! I know the recomended and the theory thankyou.

I was wondering how long YOU leave it.

every brew and brew is different.

Most of my brews get to with in a point or to of the target SG within 2 to 4 days. I've been leaving in primary for between 5 and 7 days. But I've noticed they start clearing within this time scale. I'm thinking of letting them sit in primary maybe 10 - 15 days until they have truly settled. The reason for this Is I'm thinking of upping my secondary time before kegging and I'm thinking the extended time in primary will give me less trub in Secondary and maybe help with clarity of the finished brew. I rack from Secondary directly to keg.

I'm a "when the krausen falls" racker. That can be 4-14+ days. Seems to be taking longer now that the temps are down a bit. Last two batches were in there 14 days.

EDIT - and then I always do a minimum of 14 in the secondary.

I usually leave it for at least a week. Then it's on to secondary. And if it's been a good little brew, maybe even a tertiary.

Hi Orfy,
For no other reason than the cyclical weekend schedule, I'll keep most all beers in the 1° for 6-8 days and in the secondary for 2-3 weeks. I once left in the primary for 14 days and I didn't notice any off-flavours from the trub, apoptosis, or other cell lysis. Due to scheduling, for me the 1°= one week, 2°= two weeks. Lagers are for 6 or 8 weeks..........I usually can't wait any longer.
Jeffrey

At least a week for me, sometimes two.

I have a clever little formula:

TP=Time in Primary
CSG=Constant Specific Gravity
DUF=Days Until I Get A Free Moment

TP = 7 days + DUF, if CSG=true.


Edit: BTW, Orfy, never EVER mention Ralph Nader and my crack in the same sentence again.

I'm with runhard: usually one week in primary, if for no other reasons than that I almost always brew on the weekend and that's also when I tend to find time for other brewing-related activities. More often than not active fermentation seems to be done by about day 5.

I've taken to using longer primary times. Sometimes I go to secondary, but mostly now I just keg straight away.

Evan! said:

I have a clever little formula:

TP=Time in Primary
CSG=Constant Specific Gravity
DUF=Days Until I Get A Free Moment

TP = 7 days + DUF, if CSG=true.


Edit: BTW, Orfy, never EVER mention Ralph Nader and my crack in the same sentence again.

Click to expand...

I have a formula too . . .
"Time to move it" / 'other things to get done" x "if I feel like moving it or not" = when I get around to it

Orfy, that's a flawed poll. I tend to leave in primary for two weeks, in part because I always seem to be busy the following weekend and I like giving it plenty of time to finish fermenting. But, I also use a secondary - and of course, that can be anywhere from two to four weeks before bottling, since bottling sucks donkey balls. I guess I'm more patient than most...

Due to time availability I will generally rack to the secondary one week after brewday.

However, Pumbaa's formula is more often used:

I go two weeks past the end of ferment, then into the keg.

I've heard the theory that one should rack as soon as the krausen falls (i.e., before fermentation really starts to subside) to prevent oxidation. If you are worried about oxidation in the secondary, this technique makes sense for two reasons: first, you want to rack early so that there is still lots of yeast activity and any dissolved oxygen will get consumed quickly, and two, so that CO2 production is still strong and any oxygen in the headspace of the carboy gets driven out quickly.

I have never really worried about oxidation, so I let my beer ferment for about a week before I rack to the secondary. But then again, I guess there is probably little downside to racking as soon as the krausen falls (especially if you aren't concerned with clarity issues). Any thoughts??

I always leave it in primary for at least a week, but my work schedule interferes with my brewing, so I sometimes go 10-14 days. I always use a secondary, too, from 10 days to three weeks, again, depending on my work schedule more than anything else.

Lorena

Regardless of how long you leave your beer in the primary, there will be some CO2 in the solution that will find its way to the surface (headspace) of a small carboy. I leave my beers in the primary for about 7-10 days depending on the schedule of the rest of my life, and then rack to secondary. If I see a difference in the position of the airlock from when I go to bed until I wake up the next night, then I know there's CO2 gas in the headspace and therefore I don't have to worry about oxidation.

So far, every brew I've done has followed this pattern.

I usually follow the 2, 4, 6 schedule. On brewday, I usually brew a batch, rack a batch, and keg a batch. And I leave every other weekend free for other hobbies and honey do's.

-a.

I never voted.
I leave mine in until done and then a day or so later, I'll rack to
secondary. It stays there for 2 weeks (ales) or a month minimum (lagers)
and then it is kegged or bottled.

The last few beers have been in my plastic bucket primary for 10 days to two weeks then racked direct to a keg to be chilled and aged on gas at 12 psi for at least 2 weeks before drinking. I'm extremely pleased with the results.

I always go about a week but some of the conversation around here has got me wondering if the secondary is all that necessary.

Its a bubble thing... I measure gravity while racking to secondary, so that ain't it...

Conical fermenter with temperature control baby!

I said FG, but it's really when it stops bubbling

I have been leaving them in the primary for 10 days and then a cooler secondary for 10 days. I try to be careful when racking so there is not a lot of trub in the secondary and my beers are OK.

Brewpastor said:

Conical fermenter with temperature control baby!

Click to expand...

That, I'd love to have, but as good as my wife is she would probably
give me a Saddam necktie were I ever to order one without her approval.
And I don't usually ask approval from her to do most anything!

boo boo said:

That, I'd love to have, but as good as my wife is she would probably
give me a Saddam necktie were I ever to order one without her approval.
And I don't usually ask approval from her to do most anything!

Click to expand...

Amen boo boo.