First homebrew- 3 stage fermentation?

[AlecMoody]

I'm doing the oatmeal stout recipe/kit from Midwest home brew supplies. So far everything has gone very well. However, I am a little confused as to why the instructions have me use a bucket as the primary fermentation vessel (1 week) then move to a carboy (1 week) and then add priming sugar/bottle (2 weeks). I skipped the bucket and went strait to the carboy. It seems to me that moving it to a new vessel would increase the chances of contamination.

 

[rdwj]

Most people here move from the primary to the secondary to get the beer off the trub. It will also give you a cleaner beer. You don't HAVE to do it, but it helps. You DON'T want to aerate when you transfer to a secondary.

 

[Ol' Grog]

I used to do what rdwj was describing, but since moving to kegs, I've skipped the secondary. I don't care if the brews clear or not. The only thing that means is that my brews may have a little more protein in it depending how long I let it sit. I go two weeks primary, then to keg. Let keg sit at room temperature for two weeks and then one week in the kegerator with CO2 to condition. The first glass may be cloudy, but after that....Surf's Up!!!!!

 

[fezzman]

How large is your carboy?

Don't most people who use a carboy as primary use a 6gal, not a 5gal?

 

[AlecMoody]

Its a 5 gallon better bottle.

 

[Bobby_M]

Yup, that's yer problem. Primary fermentation needs a lot more headspace for the foam (krausen). By the way, there is no 3rd stage. You transfer to your bottling bucket simply to mix in your priming sugar and dispense into the bottle. You leave it in the bottle for a 2-4 weeks before it becomes carbonated. The secondary is the vessel in which your beer will begin to clear as particulates fall to the bottom of the carboy. This takes about 2-3 weeks. It's also an aging period for better taste. You don't want to do this while it's sitting on the trub from primary fermentation.

 

[AlecMoody]

If I am not going to be clearing the beer in a secondary container should I still let it sit for another week or should I just prime/bottle when fermentation stops? (which I think has happened)

 

[Yooper]

I normally do the 1-2-3 method- one week in primary, two in secondary, three in bottles then drink.

In actuality though, my current batch has been in primary since 1-30-07, and I might move it tomorrow or Sunday. There really isn't any reason to rush it- it can sit a long time before off flavors would begin to develop.

If you're not using a secondary, you could leave it in primary for longer. This will ensure fermentation is finished, and allow some clearing. I wouldn't do primary in a 5 gallon carboy, though- not if you're hoping to make 5 gallon batches. Even if you use a blow off tube, you'd lose way too much beer that way. You need headspace for the krausen and a place for the co2 to go. That's why they recommend the bucket first, because during the secondary (clearing) stage, fermentation is over and you don't need all that headspace. Don't bottle until you are sure that fermentation has completely stopped- the best way to do that is to check the specific gravity.

 

[Brewpilot]

Your stout will want some time to age... I would not necessarily rush it into the bottle with the idea that you will be drinking it soon. You can, but you will have wasted your time, the bigger and darker the beer generally, the longer you want it to mellow. My stout is a week old and probably wont get into a bottle for at least 4-5 weeks.

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