Advice needed for primary & secondary

[rgray58]

First off - I know a secondary is not needed but I want to have two brews going at once and my problem is my equipment. I have a fermenting refrigerator in an unheated garage (dual-temp Ranco-controlled) that is only big enough for one 6.5 gal bucket and one 5 gal Better Bottle (already owned) or two 5 gal Better Bottles. As I understand, 5 gal Better Bottles don't have enough head space to use as a primary. (If wrong, tell me.) I already have everything I need to rack from the primary bucket to secondary bottle and then back to the primary (bottling) bucket and just need to buy one more 5 gal Better Bottle with stopper and airlock. I figure this beats buying another refrigerator.

My question - how long should I keep in the primary before racking to the secondary? I plan to work around the need to have the primary bucket available as a bottling bucket.

 

[BeerBalls]

You're going to get a wide range of answers, but the one you'll probably hear most, and which is the most technically correct), is to take hydrometer readins until two readings are identical and the gravity bottoms out. That being said, I have never used that method because I'm too lazy to take regular gravity readings. My rule of thumb is to leave the beer in primary for two weeks, then rack to secondary (depending on the beer). This method has never failed me. You are likely able to rack out of primary earlier than that, in some cases as much as a week or more earlier, but I am never in such a rush that I want to risk an incomplete fermentation. If I ever had to get the beer out of primary fast for some reason, I'd probably use the hydrometer method I outlined above. Hope this helps.

 

[impur]

If you use a blowoff tube you should be fine using the 5gal BB.

As BeerBalls pointed out, the best way to tell if its ready is by taking gravity readings. If it doesn't change over 3 days, you should be good to go.

In the end, a 5gal bucket costs under $4 at walmart with a lid. Sounds like you could use a couple extras

 

[pkeeler]

You can rack to the secondary anytime from when bubbling slows down (1-2 per minute) until up to 3 weeks after pitching (or probably even longer).

[In the end, a 5gal bucket costs under $4 at walmart with a lid. Sounds like you could use a couple extra/QUOTE]

Are those buckets food grade?

 

[kpr121]

You can rack to the secondary anytime from when bubbling slows down (1-2 per minute) until up to 3 weeks after pitching (or probably even longer).

[In the end, a 5gal bucket costs under $4 at walmart with a lid. Sounds like you could use a couple extra/QUOTE]

Are those buckets food grade?

I'll try to beat Revvy to this post. Airlock activity is not a sign of fermentation. Wait until you see steady hydrometer readings to verify fermentation has come to a halt.

 

[Bizoune]

You don't have to ferment 5.5 gallon batch. If you want to use the smaller better bottles, go ahead and brew a 4 or 4.5 gallon batch. You'll just be brewing more often which is not a bad thing.
I strongly suggest getting yourself a dedicated bottling bucket however. There are quite a few threads on here that show how to build on. The Home Depot ones are food grade as far as I can tell. Look under the bottom of the bucket for the type of plastic that it is made out of.

 

[rgray58]

OK, little confused by some of the answers saying wait until the hydrometer settles out for consecutive readings, which one post says indicates fermentation has come to a halt. If fermentation has stopped, why move to a secondary fermenter? I thought that, even with a primary and secondary, fermentation was still going on and the hydrometer settling was a sign for when to bottle.

 

[jollytim]

Secondary fermentation is for the most part a misnomer. Unless you are adding more fermentables, the fermentation process should be complete.

The secondary fermentor is also called, and probably more correctly, a bright tank. It is used to 'brighten' or clear a beer. It used to be thought that holding a beer for a long time on the yeast would lead to autolysis. It will, but it will take MUCH longer than previously thought, like six months or more. So to prevent that, the beer was transferred off the yeast. It is really not necessary, as you can clear a beer in the primary.

 

[rgray58]

AHA! Thanks. So maybe with a second 5 gallon Better Bottles and two blow-off tubes, I can just ferment in the bottles and use the bucket strictly for bottling.

 

[akthor]

My vote is skip secondary do 4 weeks in primary. Do a search read the info on it, works awesome. I switched to it and I am making the best beer I ever made with less work.

Then you can use the those secondary fermenters as primaries and make more beer

 

[impur]

You can rack to the secondary anytime from when bubbling slows down (1-2 per minute) until up to 3 weeks after pitching (or probably even longer).

[In the end, a 5gal bucket costs under $4 at walmart with a lid. Sounds like you could use a couple extra/QUOTE]

Are those buckets food grade?

HDPE 2 FTW!!

 

[pkeeler]

I'll try to beat Revvy to this post. Airlock activity is not a sign of fermentation. Wait until you see steady hydrometer readings to verify fermentation has come to a halt.

So? If fermentation is not complete then it will complete in the secondary fermenter. Waiting until after all active fermentation is complete will not get you anything. Further, turning sugar to alcohol is only one process the yeast do, there is still activity after that is done. This is why bulk ageing for weeks after 'primary' fermentation makes better beer.

The Germans have made beer for centuries and it was standard practice to move the beer to the secondary as soon after the krausen peak as possible. This would even be before bubbling slowed. The fermentation goes on regardless of what container you move the beer to. The yeast don't have eyes; they have no idea where they are.

 

[pkeeler]

My vote is skip secondary do 4 weeks in primary. Do a search read the info on it, works awesome. I switched to it and I am making the best beer I ever made with less work.

Whenever someone posts about secondary fermentation, someone has to chime in that, "it is not needed, convert to my brewing dogma!" While it seems to be true that secondary fermenters are not needed unless you are adding something (fruit, dry hops, et al); the OP had a specific problem in that he needed his primary fermenter back. So, tying up his primary for four weeks was not an option. So, please read the OP before hijacking threads ;-)

 

[rgray58]

Thanks. I don't mind the various advice given. I'm as lazy as the next guy and if I can skip secondary, fine. But my refrig size limits me (1 bucket/1 5gal carboy or 2ea 5 gal carboys). I have put enough money into my setup that I don't want a new frig or two new 6 gal carboys leaving the 5 gal to waste. Because of my limitations I figure to primary in the bucket, rack to the 5gal when fermentation slows down and I don't risk blowing out, start another batch in the bucket, rack to the second 5 gal, and then have the bucket ready to bottle when the first 5gal ferment settles out based on hydrometer readings.

 

[Bob]

[T]urning sugar to alcohol is only one process the yeast do, there is still activity after that is done. This is why bulk ageing for weeks after 'primary' fermentation makes better beer.

True.

The Germans have made beer for centuries and it was standard practice to move the beer to the secondary as soon after the krausen peak as possible. This would even be before bubbling slowed. The fermentation goes on regardless of what container you move the beer to. The yeast don't have eyes; they have no idea where they are.

While true, it not only contradicts what you've said above (and what hundreds if not thousands of brewers have observed), it doesn't really mean anything. There's no evidence they did that because it meant better beer; for all you know, they did it because the brewmasters they apprenticed under beat them if they deviated from the One True Path as specified by the Guild.



You're trying to support the OP, granted. Good job. Unfortunately at the same time you're giving outdated, misleading and conflicting information.

RGRAY58, the important thing to note is Yes, you can primary in 5-gallon carboys/Better Bottles. You will need a large-ID blowoff tube, and you'll need to scale your batches back to 4 to 4.5 gallons. Another alternative is to simply reduce the batch size of your current recipes while keeping the ingredients the same. Then you dilute the beer to your desired volume at packaging time. This is a variant of high-gravity brewing, and it works very well indeed.

Cheers,

Bob