Brewers Best Kit Secondary Instructions

I have a Brewers Best kit. It says in the instructions that you can rack to a secondary, but includes this warning: "When the fermentation slows (5-7 days), but before it completes, simply transfer the beer into the carboy and allow fermentation to finish in the ‘secondary’." The part about "before it completes" is bolded in the instructions. So my question is, why do they say to rack to a secondary "before it completes"? What would happen if I rack it to a secondary after it completes? Please don't tell me that I don't have to rack to a secondary -- I know that -- my question is simply why the warning?

I think if it has completely fermented, when transfered to another vessel, there wouldn't be yeast eating goodies to create a co2 cloud to help protect the beer.

I'm just guessing though!! Anyone else with more experience then I?

JDGator said:

I think if it has completely fermented, when transfered to another vessel, there wouldn't be yeast eating goodies to create a co2 cloud to help protect the beer.

I'm just guessing though!! Anyone else with more experience then I?

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I started on Brewer's Best kits as well and I think this is correct. If the beer is fully fermented and you oxidize it when racking the flavor is forever tainted.

Most of us brewers know that secondaries are NOT necessary unless you are trying to add fruit, oak or something else to impart flavor after fermentation. Racking to secondary is an unnecessary risk for infecting and oxidation. I haven't done a secondary since I started doing All Grain over a year ago.

Many people here don't even secondary at all, I am one of them. You may consider skipping that step and doing a longer primary.

I have done some Brewer best kits. I learned to bypass the secondary step and wait 3 weeks then bottle. So much easier not following the kit directions.

kapbrew13 said:

So much easier not following the kit directions.

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So true.

If you spend a bit of time reading around the forums, you'll see many examples of batch kit instructions that are just plain wrong. Time periods given (for fermenting and/or carb-condtioning) as well as pitching/fermenting temperature recommendations seem to be the most common. It's sad to see folks, who are just trying to obey the directions, end up with something not as enjoyable as what they could have had with a few minor adjustments.

I wonder sometimes if they wrote those several years ago and simply never bothered to update them as home brewing knowledge and techniques have evolved and improved.

My LHBS stocks the Brewer's Best kits as a feature, so I have brewed approximately 10 of them so far. Each one has been transferred to secondary for clearing. Most have been transferred near the 14 day point in time. There have been no issues (oxidation off-flavors or otherwise), and in fact; they all take top ratings in a periodic tasting group of beer enthusiasts.

Based on my experience, which is limited to just 16 brews, it appears that the fear of secondary clearing is a boogeyman in the closet.

IMO, a kit recommendation to transfer after only 5-7 days is insurance against oxidation possibilities. But so far for me, that is playing things on the unnecessarily safe side.

I am a believer that pitching rates (starters) will get you to a quicker tastes-great condition than the sit-back-and-wait for it to condition/clear in primary methods. And for those that have oxidation issues, the timing of transfer would not be the issue, at least for my standard methods that avoid splashing.

So, if you rack it to secondary for clearing, and you avoid splashing; then you will not have any oxidation issues. Caveat - no issues within a few months of consumption.

jethro55 said:

My LHBS stocks the Brewer's Best kits as a feature, so I have brewed approximately 10 of them so far. Each one has been transferred to secondary for clearing. Most have been transferred near the 14 day point in time. There have been no issues (oxidation off-flavors or otherwise), and in fact; they all take top ratings in a periodic tasting group of beer enthusiasts.

Based on my experience, which is limited to just 16 brews, it appears that the fear of secondary clearing is a boogeyman in the closet.

IMO, a kit recommendation to transfer after only 5-7 days is insurance against oxidation possibilities. But so far for me, that is playing things on the unnecessarily safe side.

I am a believer that pitching rates (starters) will get you to a quicker tastes-great condition than the sit-back-and-wait for it to condition/clear in primary methods. And for those that have oxidation issues, the timing of transfer would not be the issue, at least for my standard methods that avoid splashing.

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My lhbs stocks the brewers best kits and that's where I got the advice from. Secondary. I don't worry about oxidation. IMO just not needed as my lhbs advised.
Also. Made 2 amber kits. 1 primary 14 days the other 21 days. Guess which was smoother and better?

kapbrew13 said:

My lhbs stocks the brewers best kits and that's where I got the advice from. Secondary. I don't worry about oxidation. IMO just not needed as my lhbs advised.
Also. Made 2 amber kits. 1 primary 14 days the other 21 days. Guess which was smoother and better?

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I'll say that the ones with better pitching rates/fresher yeast are your winners. Not a 14 or 21 day aging factor. If pitching rates were strong, then 5-7 days is good for a clearing vessel transfer in order to reduce a time to clear bottles.

jethro55 said:

I'll say that the ones with better pitching rates/fresher yeast are your winners. Not a 14 or 21 day aging factor. If pitching rates were strong, then 5-7 days is good for a clearing vessel transfer in order to reduce a time to clear bottles.

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I agree but made both kits on the same day. Just to experiment. My obsession with brewing is the experimenting.

what if you have a Belgian Stout going and don't care a rats a$$ about clearing, can you just bottle when specific gravity is stable?

simple answer: there is zero reason to be concerned with primary fermentation completed prior to racking to secondary. In fact, if I were transferring my beer to secondary, I would not do it until I was confident that primary fermentation was completed.

kapbrew13 said:

I agree but made both kits on the same day. Just to experiment. My obsession with brewing is the experimenting.

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Oh, so if yeast state was identical (uncertain assumption), the next factor I would guess at would be details of temperatures. A lot of other things would need to be controlled / documented as well. All that being the same, the added 7 days gets my bet.

I'm super new to brewing. But I have done 2 brewers best kits. I have waited for the fermention to stop before doing the secondary. I secondary both of them. But I think the next one I do I'm just going to let it sit in the primary for 3wks.

Brew2 said:

I'm super new to brewing. But I have done 2 brewers best kits. I have waited for the fermention to stop before doing the secondary. I secondary both of them. But I think the next one I do I'm just going to let it sit in the primary for 3wks.

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Let us know how the 3 week primary with no secondary compares.

Thanks, all... This was very helpful. This is one of those batches where it seemed like everything went wrong. I had my syphon too far down into the wort and clogged it with trub when I was transferring to the primary; poured the rest, but a *lot* of trub went into the brew. I left the brew in the primary then unexpectedly had to go out of town, and by the time I got back it was probably "complete" by the instructions. It's been in the primary for just under 3 wks. I popped the top to take a hydrometer reading; the brew in the hydro tube looks really chunky (but tastes OK, if a little fruity). I just don't want to chew my beer.

sounds to me like you did everything just right! Pouring your wort into the fermenter is fine, many people do this every time just to get some aeration as oxygen is important to the early stage of fermentation. Leaving the brew alone for a few weeks is a great thing, especially for an inquisitive newbie who might be more prone to constantly checking non their beer than most of us that have done this a bunch of times. As far as chunky, my guess is that there was some krausen and/or yeast rafts, which are bits that float on the surface during fermentation. Perfectly normal and with a little more time they'll drop back down to the bottom and your beer will clear up. Don't be too quick to judge how it tastes at this point, it is extremely "green" and the flavor will develop as it moves further along in the process.

Black. Pouring Wort in is fine, but through a colander to strain out whats left over right? Or do you just pour straight in?

Bleedsblue said:

Black. Pouring Wort in is fine, but through a colander to strain out whats left over right? Or do you just pour straight in?

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Either is fine. I usually pour the whole thing in and it will settle out just fine, but some people strain. Its just a matter of personal preference, neither is necessarily the "right" way. There is an active thread on this right here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/strain-no-strain-402396/

jethro55 said:

Each one has been transferred to secondary for clearing. Most have been transferred near the 14 day point in time. There have been no issues (oxidation off-flavors or otherwise), and in fact; they all take top ratings in a periodic tasting group of beer enthusiasts.
Based on my experience, which is limited to just 16 brews, it appears that the fear of secondary clearing is a boogeyman in the closet.
So, if you rack it to secondary for clearing, and you avoid splashing; then you will not have any oxidation issues. Caveat - no issues within a few months of consumption.

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I can't agree more. I have tried both methods and find that I prefer mine after being in a secondary. Contrary to the advise I get from my LHBS, I have never had a beer get oxidized by transferring it. Of course I have, also, pumped a little CO2 into my secondary prior to racking it over and been very carefull about not splashing or otherwise aerating my beer. My beers have all gotten very good comments, even from the LHBS that swears I'll oxidize my beer. As long as you are sanitary and carefull, you shouldn't have to worry about it. Besides, most of mine are gone before any oxidation would affect the taste anyway.

Mouse