Secondary Fermenter question

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

lhommedieu

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
748
Reaction score
84
Looking for an extract beer recipe that benefits from secondary fermentation. Something a little darker for the winter, I guess. But it raises an issue:

If my extract batch makes 5 gallons of beer (according the directions), should I adjust the recipe to make a little more, if I want to rack it to a carboy for a secondary fermentation? Won't there be a slight loss of volume as I leave the sludge at the bottom behind, resulting in head space in the secondary? Is this a real concern?

Best,

Steve
 
Looking for an extract beer recipe that benefits from secondary fermentation. Something a little darker for the winter, I guess. But it raises an issue:

If my extract batch makes 5 gallons of beer (according the directions), should I adjust the recipe to make a little more, if I want to rack it to a carboy for a secondary fermentation? Won't there be a slight loss of volume as I leave the sludge at the bottom behind, resulting in head space in the secondary? Is this a real concern?

Best,

Steve

You'll generally lose about 1/2 a gallon to trub from primary through the end of secondary. You can always adjust your recipe to compensate, but I make 5 gallon recipes and get 48-50 12oz bottles out of them.
 
my first question is why are you intentionally looking to use a secondary? lots of people like to skip secondaries and opt for longer primaries. We claim to have clearer, cleaner tasting beers as a result. Not saying you should do extended primaries but some people don;t see the benefit of them.

secondly in order to get the total 5 gallons into a keg, secondary or bottles people will create their recipes to end up with something like 5.5 or 5.25 into the fermenter so they come out with 5 in the end. But if you formulate the recipe to be 5 gallons and then add more water to get full five gallons in the end your recipe will be a touch more watery than originally planned.

head space is more of a problem in secondary than in primary because there is very little CO2 created in secondary due to the bulk of fermentation done in primary. with that said you could purge the headspace with CO2 if you are that worried about it. depending on how long you are thinking about keeping it in secondary. a week or two wont be a huge problem. but a month or longer you might begin to see some off flavors produced.
 
Based upon the very little that I know about making beer I would say the secondary is used to clear beer from sediment and perhaps to intensify flavor. But I don't know much about making beer. I see and read about people using a secondary, and I think "OK - makes sense, rack before you bottle and you'll worry about less sediment," etc.

I'd be interested in learning more about extended time in the primary and no secondary.

As it is, my first beer will spend 3 weeks in the primary, 4 weeks in the bottle; If it tastes good I'm bringing it to a party. It's an Irish Red Ale, from Northern Brewers - so simple, easy beer...

Best,

Steve
 
Based upon the very little that I know about making beer I would say the secondary is used to clear beer from sediment and perhaps to intensify flavor. But I don't know much about making beer. I see and read about people using a secondary, and I think "OK - makes sense, rack before you bottle and you'll worry about less sediment," etc.

I'd be interested in learning more about extended time in the primary and no secondary.

As it is, my first beer will spend 3 weeks in the primary, 4 weeks in the bottle; If it tastes good I'm bringing it to a party. It's an Irish Red Ale, from Northern Brewers - so simple, easy beer...

Best,

Steve

Yes some people believe that secondary is used to clear the beer but I think that just as sediment would fall out of solution given the same amount of time. also with just one primary you jostle the Fermentation Vessel (FV) around one less time. So it seems using a extended primary would result a clearer beer, to me anyway.

I have never heard the "intensify flavors" before. I don't see how that would happen. I think you may mean letting the flavors mellow such as high alcohol beers. if you are going to let the whole batch bulk age then a carboy with little head space is a good plan as you would want the beer to get off the yeast if you will be aging for more than 2 months or so. Also dry hopping and adding other ingredients like fruit can be times when people will use a secondary fermenter.
 
OK - so longer in the primary fermentation leads to clearer, mellower beer. I'll put my next batch in a carboy and extend the aging time - see what happens.

Secondary for additions like adding dry hops, fruit, etc.

Thanks for your input.

Steve
 
Tinga is spot on here. The only thing I might add is that some people feel that getting the beer of the yeast cake when fermenteing for over a month reduces some of the yeasty and fruity flavors. However, that doesn't seem to apply here. I haven't used a secondary fermenter in years.
 
Plus, you can work towards clearer beer in a few different ways without disturbing the beer and risking exposure to bacteria: boil a while (i.e. 30 minutes) before staring the hour boil/hops addition, use irish moss, cold crash, etc. I could only see myself using a secondary for dry hopping down the road.
 
Thanks for your responses. My first beer isn't even in the bottles, and I'm already thinking about the second one...

Best,

Steve
 
Amen. I've only been through a few batches myself, but everything I've been reading on this forum and listening to on The Brewing Network makes me feel 100 times more confident about my future endeavors in home brewing.
 
Only thing I didn't see mentioned - standard buckets are generally not oxygen barriers, but better bottles and glass carboys are. If you plan on aging and fermented in a bucket, you probably should rack the brew into something that will prevent oxidation. If you already brewed in the carboy, you don't need to worry about it.

One other thought - don't try to bottle directly off your primary or carboy. I did that with a wheat beer (had a broken bottling spigot). Ended up with so much body on that beer that I need to go 1/2 and 1/2 with natty light ;).
 
A nice Espresso Stout would probably suit all your needs. I did one of these last year and loved it. Plus, you get to use your secondary to add your beans. Good times had by all.
 
Only thing I didn't see mentioned - standard buckets are generally not oxygen barriers, but better bottles and glass carboys are. If you plan on aging and fermented in a bucket, you probably should rack the brew into something that will prevent oxidation. If you already brewed in the carboy, you don't need to worry about it.

One other thought - don't try to bottle directly off your primary or carboy. I did that with a wheat beer (had a broken bottling spigot). Ended up with so much body on that beer that I need to go 1/2 and 1/2 with natty light ;).

Planning on doing my next primary in a glass carboy, than transfer to bucket with spigot for bottling.

Best.

Steve
 
A nice Espresso Stout would probably suit all your needs. I did one of these last year and loved it. Plus, you get to use your secondary to add your beans. Good times had by all.

Sounds great. Think I may do a smoked porter, though, as well, when my skills are more developed.

Best,

Steve
 
Quick question..


Has anyone on here ever done a side by side comparison? ie: two batches of the same exact recipe, one stays in primary while the other goes to secondary and bottled at the same time? I'm curious as to how this line of thinking came to fruition
 
Quick question..


Has anyone on here ever done a side by side comparison? ie: two batches of the same exact recipe, one stays in primary while the other goes to secondary and bottled at the same time? I'm curious as to how this line of thinking came to fruition

BYO did an experiment along the lines of Primary Only vs. Primary/Secondary here: http://***********/component/resource/article/1960-byo-and-basic-brewing-radio-experiment-does-delayed-racking-harm-your-beer

Basically they concluded that although there were some slight flavor differences between the two, the difference wasn't significant enough to say "Must or Must-Not" one way or another. So it basically comes down to personal preference. I personally like to rack my brews to secondary, but that is not to say it is better or worse than any other method (i.e. It's what I like in my beers).
 
thanks for the responses guys. there doesnt seem to be consensus on anything with this great hobby! lol
 
thanks for the responses guys. there doesnt seem to be consensus on anything with this great hobby! lol

There are a few absolutes like don't wash your feet in your chilled wort, but for the most part it comes down to the brewer's personal taste.
 
Thank you again for your help. I just kegged my first home brew. It stayed in the primary for 4 weeks. When I racked it into the keg, there was about 1/4 inch of sediment on the bottom of the bucket, but the beer seemed very clean. Someone told me that when I dispense the beer in a couple of weeks, there will be sediment in the first couple of glasses but after that it will be clear. Clear or not, I'm looking forward to tasting it.

Best,

Steve
 
Back
Top