Information on secondary

[hitman73]

I am a noob and have a question. For my first brew (which is bubbling away nicely now) i am bottling after primary. It has been recommended that to get clearer beer or if i want to add gelatin as a fining agent then i should go to secondary.
What is the best way to transfer beer to secondary?
Does the secondary need to be kept at a warm temp like primary?
How long does it stay in secondary?
In secondary does it still need an airlock?
Any help appreciated.
Deon

 

[Jaybird]

I am a noob and have a question. For my first brew (which is bubbling away nicely now) i am bottling after primary. It has been recommended that to get clearer beer or if i want to add gelatin as a fining agent then i should go to secondary.

Yes but remember you need some yeast in the bottling bucket to bottle condition for your first beer I would not do this. I would just go to a secondary and leave it at that

What is the best way to transfer beer to secondary?
Racking cane or what ever you use to transfer your beer.

Does the secondary need to be kept at a warm temp like primary?
you can leave it at ferment temps for sure. You can start to lower the temps if you like to get the yeast to drop as well.



How long does it stay in secondary?
You can leave it there for as long as you want (within reason) a lot of people will let it stay anywhere from a week to a month.

In secondary does it still need an airlock?
YES!
Any help appreciated.
Deon

 

[hitman73]

Cool, thanks.

 

[unionrdr]

I've gotten beers just as clear in primary by leaving it there for 3 weeks on average. It won't clear any faster in secondary,but you can rack it over of you like. But the beer should be at a stable FG first. Transfer too early & it could stall. And make sure the secondary & racking tube or autosiphon are clean & santized.

 

[kingogames]

In secondary does it still need an airlock?

Actually, from my experience, an airlock is optional and not really needed in primary, but required in secondary, because at FG in secondary, there is decreased fermentation so less CO2 production, which means greater chance of oxydation.

 

[hitman73]

So you are saying i dont really need an airlock in primary? I dont believe a word of it.

 

[hopmonster2189]

So you are saying i dont really need an airlock in primary? I dont believe a word of it.

My grandpa uses shower caps to cover his wine fermenting in buckets?