Secondary ferm. question:

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Spearo

Spearo

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What's the real deal with secondary fermentations? If you wait until primary ferm. is complete....really complete, then is the secondary doing anything other than clarifying? If so, why do so many recipes call for a particular secondary ferm. temperature. Seems like room temp would work fine.
 
Yeah, I have never used a certain temp in my secondary. Now the only time I have watched it closely was when making my Razzbery Red Ale... the infusion of the fruit caused a pretty strong secondary ferment.

The Pol

Bottled: Fat Tire Clone
Primary: Oaty Choco Stout
 
My 2 cents. I never have and still don't use a secondary in all of the 3 years I've been brewing. I contemplated it when I started out but concluded that it's another potential source of contamination. Just leave the wort in the primary for 2-3 weeks then keg/bottle. Then let the beer carbonate and condition for 2 weeks to 2 months depending on the style. Sure there's a bit of sediment in the bottles/kegs but that can be minimized when racking be using a filter on the racking cane and keeping it off the bottom of the fermenter. Also, by not using a secondary I can freely use any and all of my 3 fermenters for primary fermenting, which is especially important since I have only 3 five gal. fermenters and brew anywhere between 4 and 12 gallons per batch.

But perhaps someday I'll start using a secondary, if and when I can find a cheap source of fermenters. (Current cost for a 5 gallon bucket with a lid is 5200 yen, which is about $42. What do they cost in the US?)
 
The only situation (I think), where you might secondary ferment at a certain temperature would be for a lager.

Normal secondary fermentation is just for clarification, and room temp works just fine.
 
Secondarys or what ever you want to call them seem to clear better if it is colder. If I can do it in the low 60s I'm pretty happy. I don't really worry about contamination but I think the benefits or a clearer beer are worth it.
Geologist ......you can get a bucket and lid here for less than 10.00. You can get 2 carboys for less than 40.00.
 
Spearo said:
What's the real deal with secondary fermentations? If you wait until primary ferm. is complete....really complete, then is the secondary doing anything other than clarifying? If so, why do so many recipes call for a particular secondary ferm. temperature. Seems like room temp would work fine.
Click to expand...
  1. Secondary "fermentation" is a bit of a misnomer. There's not much fermentation going on in there.
  2. It's not only for clarifying, but also for conditioning---allowing solids to fall out, volatiles to dissipate, and flavors to meld and mellow. In other words, it allows beer to go from green to mature.
  3. "Room temp" is, um, incredibly subjective. Take the wine world, for example. Common practice today, in many restaurants, is to serve red wine at "room temp". Unfortunately, this is a throwback to times when mechanical heating wasn't invented, and "room temp" was much cooler than it is today. As a result, many restaurants serve their red wine much too warm, and the wine suffers because of it. In this vein, it depends on what "room temp" is. Some people's "room temp" is 80f in the summer. That's not so good for secondary. I prefer to keep it below 70f, as close to 60f as I can, for normal ale conditioning.
  4. Many ales (especially high-gravity recipes) benefit greatly from extended cold-conditioning. Low temps, close to freezing, create a sort of lagering environment for the ales, and while this necessitates a longer conditioning period, it generally results in better beers. I recently bottled a cold-conditioned porter that had been in my lagerator for a couple months at about 36-40f. It's one of the best brews I've made. Very clean and layered, and vibrant, and delineated.
 
Hey Geologist. I used to live in Japan when I was in the military. There are several US military bases within two hours of Tokyo. Yokosuka, Zama, Yakota...just to name a few. There are all kinds of perks for servicemen stationed overseas; free mail to/from the states, department stores on the bases (stuff at US prices). If you managed to meet some of these guys, I'm sure you could strike a deal. Give up a little homebrew and get cheap supplies.
 
Secondaries are useful for barleywines, fruit beers, lagers, meads, etc. For most ales, you go from the fermenter to the bright tank for clarification.
 
Evan! said:
  1. Many ales (especially high-gravity recipes) benefit greatly from extended cold-conditioning. Low temps, close to freezing, create a sort of lagering environment for the ales, and while this necessitates a longer conditioning period, it generally results in better beers. I recently bottled a cold-conditioned porter that had been in my lagerator for a couple months at about 36-40f. It's one of the best brews I've made. Very clean and layered, and vibrant, and delineated.
Click to expand...

Does this include long term cold-conditioning after already having bottled them, or only in a secondary?
 
Blender: I've checked various websites and I know how cheaply supplies are in the US, and the selection is much better too.

Spearo: Unfortunately I don't live or hang out near any of the bases around Tokyo. I'm well aware of the perks that the military has. My sister is a doctor in the army but they keep sender her to the front lines. No action here in Japan so she won't be coming over here anytime soon. Sometimes I find military guys in the bars in roppongi area but they usually have only two things on their minds: get drunk and get laid. Not easy to talk about anything serious with them.
 
Yeah 'secondary' is a Papazian word that everyone just uses for some reason or another. As others have said, it is just for the yeast to clean up and gravity to clarify. True secondary fermentation happens in natural carbonating of the serving vessle (like when you add sugar for bottling).
 
I've heard other people say they were going to start a campain to change the term "secondary" to "clearing tank"

Why don't we all change our sigs to reflect that? Who knows this could be the start of a revolution?

.......I'll change mine now....
 
greenhornet said:
I've heard other people say they were going to start a campain to change the term "secondary" to "clearing tank"

Why don't we all change our sigs to reflect that? Who knows this could be the start of a revolution?

.......I'll change mine now....
Click to expand...

I think one revolution in this forum is enough.

Paid members will understand.:D
 

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