Secondary fermentation

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dentdr

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How necessary is the second fermentation process? The true Brew kit I received as a gift did not come with a Secondary fermenter (carboy). I already have my first batch fermenting and should be ready to bottle some time over this weekend, my real question I guess, is should I run out and by a second fermenter(carboy)?
 
Many of us leave our beers in primary for a month then bottle. I find my beer is clearer and cleaner tasting and has consistantly scored higher in contest as compared to when I used a secondary.

I suggest you read THIS thread, it's become the "uber discussion" on this topic thread.

To Secondary or Not? John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff Weigh In .

Most everyone on this forum has ventured their opinions on the subject many many many many many many many many many many times, and most of them have ended up in the above thread. If you really do want opinions, and even some facts and citations, and articles, podcasts and other things on this topic, hit that thread, then make up your own mind.


You'll find that more and more recipes these days do not advocate moving to a secondary at all, but mention primary for a month, which is starting to reflect the shift in brewing culture that has occurred in the last 4 years, MOSTLY because of many of us on here, skipping secondary, opting for longer primaries, and writing about it. Recipes in BYO have begun stating that in their magazine. I remember the "scandal" it caused i the letters to the editor's section a month later, it was just like how it was here when we began discussing it, except a lot more civil than it was here. But after the Byo/Basic brewing experiment, they started reflecting it in their recipes.

Fermenting the beer is just a part of what the yeast do. If you leave the beer alone, they will go back and clean up the byproducts of fermentation that often lead to off flavors. That's why many brewers skip secondary and leave our beers alone in primary for a month. It leaves plenty of time for the yeast to ferment, clean up after themselves and then fall out, leaving our beers crystal clear, with a tight yeast cake.
 
secondary isn't really needed. many people don't use them at all. i personally prefer to use a secondary ONLY when adding post ferment ingredients; dry hops, spices, fruit, etc. do some searching on this subject here on HBT, it's a rather hot topic here.
it's all a matter of preference, really.

edit: damn man, you're quick!!
 
Secondary fermentation is not only not needed, but advised against by many pro brewers as well as expert home brewers.

By moving the beer from one vessel to another you are simply running the risk of introducing wild yeasts and oxygen.

Before I started using conicals, I wanted to bottom crop yeast and dry hop so I would rack the beer to a brite tank. Before doing so I would purge the awaiting vessel with C02 and start the siphon by hooking up the C02 to the carboy hood and pushing the beer with the gas. That way no O2 was introduced and any oxygen that may have been left in the solution would be purged out. The same should be done when bottling. Each bottle gets a blast of C02 prior to filling and the fermenter was hit with C02 as well. Now with the conical I can just pressurize the whole fermenter and move the beer through closed transfer.

I got this idea from Russian River as they hit all containers that the beer goes into 3 times with C02. Of course the easiest course of action is to just let the beer sit in primary until it is done and bottle using the method mentioned above.
 

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