2 stage fermentation

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.

Mdessert

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 26, 2011
Messages
73
Reaction score
1
Location
Nyack
Does this mean I'm pitching a starter halfway through? Would say a 2 liter starter instead of 1 do the same? Or does this refer to a secondary fermentor? Sorry if this is a silly question I'm planning brewing NB's imperial stout kit and wondering if this means I have to buy a 5 gallon carboy.
 
Reading the instructions it says " rack into a secondary for 2-3 months. " can I not secondary? I'm not opposed to it I just haven't done it yet.
 
"rack into secondary for 2-3 months" doesn't involve pitching of yeast. You pitch the yeast right after cooling the wort, and that's it for messing around with yeast. You don't have to rack to secondary, necessarily, but if you are going to let it sit for several months you may want to either rack to a secondary fermenter to get it off the yeast cake/trub, or simply bottle it and age it in bottles.

Edit: In case you don't know, racking to secondary simply means transferring the beer to a new fermenter/carboy to get it off the yeast cake/trub.
 
I understand racking into a secondary I guess I was confused by the wording "2 stage fermentation " and I want to know how long I can leave a big beer on the yeast cake without any adverse effects.
 
I understand racking into a secondary I guess I was confused by the wording "2 stage fermentation " and I want to know how long I can leave a big beer on the yeast cake without any adverse effects.

No fermentation happens in the secondary unless you transfer too early. Best to wait until ferment is done. I would say a month on a big beer is sufficient before transferring, but best to take a hydrometer reading. If you get a consistent hydrometer reading over the course of 3-5 days then it is ready for secondary (if that is your plan).
 
Don't mean to be a pain but I understand primary fermentation. I'm really new to brewing I have done 4 and 1/2 extract kits. I've never done a " big beer " just trying to figure out if I need to buy a 5 gal carboy and do my first secondary to age this beer or if I would have the same results leaving it in the primary for 2ish months.
 
You can leave it in the primary. I routinely leave brews in the primary for extended periods such as 6-8 weeks.

The only downfall is that you tie up a fermenter for that long... Buy another fermenter and you are. goood.

Brew more...
 
If I feel comfortable with a 3-5 week fermentation then I will leave it in the primary for those 3-5 weeks then goto bottles. If it's going to be longer than that, I rack to a secondary. My secondary fermenters are glass (less oxygen permeable than plastic) + it's not a bad idea to be getting the beer off the yeast cake by that time...
 
If you don't want to purchase a carboy for aging bigger beers, I'd suggest bottling it instead of letting it sit on the yeast cake for months. I wouldn't have any issue letting it sit in primary for 3 weeks or so, even 4 weeks, but I can't see any benefit to allowing it to sit on the trub long than necessary. If you are going to age the beer, it could easily age in the bottles.
 
If you don't want to purchase a carboy for aging bigger beers, I'd suggest bottling it instead of letting it sit on the yeast cake for months. I wouldn't have any issue letting it sit in primary for 3 weeks or so, even 4 weeks, but I can't see any benefit to allowing it to sit on the trub long than necessary. If you are going to age the beer, it could easily age in the bottles.

Yooper, first, GO PACK. Now that that is out of the way. If you are aging in the bottle do you let it carb at room temp and then cold age, or just leave at room temp?
 
Don't mean to be a pain but I understand primary fermentation. I'm really new to brewing I have done 4 and 1/2 extract kits. I've never done a " big beer " just trying to figure out if I need to buy a 5 gal carboy and do my first secondary to age this beer or if I would have the same results leaving it in the primary for 2ish months.

"Two stage fermentation" is a bit misleading as there really isn't any fermentation happening in the secondary. The only time you would really want to transfer your beer to a secondary is if your intentions are to flavor your beer by racking your beer on top of fruit or something. Even then, the residual sugars are very quickly fermented out and probably won't change the alcohol content very much.

Personally, I rack my beers to secondary when I am TRYING to get a crystal clear beer. Why? I don't know, beergeeking, I guess. I wouldn't do it for anything really dark, like stouts. For the most part, it's really not necessary.
 
I asked a while ago about using 6 gallon Better bottles for secondary and the consensus was that the extra headspace would not be a problem. So I bought another 6 gallon and can use it as a primary or secondary and it is big enough that I could dry hop in it, although I haven't yet. So I will get 6 gallon BB's and forget about 5ers except for the one that I already have.
 
Yooper, first, GO PACK. Now that that is out of the way. If you are aging in the bottle do you let it carb at room temp and then cold age, or just leave at room temp?

I would carb it up, and let it condition at room temperature for however long I was planning to secondary- in this case, two months. Then cellar it.

Beer ages faster at warmer temperatures, and cellaring would keep the profile better.
 
Back
Top