Many questions: Do I secondary ferment?, dry hop pellets, cask widge, and kegging

[mikewildt]

Hi guys,
I am fairly new to brewing, have probably about 6 brews under my belt, but many questions about my current brew and possible new techniques.

Past brews:
After the brew, I would
1.) cold crash my wort with the copper wort chiller right after putting minute zero hops in
2.) strain into my 6.5 gallon glass carboy for a 2 week primary (blow tube then airlock)
3.) auto-siphon transfer to another 6.5 gallon carboy with loose pellets in for my dry hop for 2 more weeks (with airlock)
4.) Auto-siphon transfer from secondary to keg, then force carbonate.

I have a Hop Screen on the end of my dip tube to help avoid clogging the keg with any additional sediment.
http://www.kegworks.com/homebrew-hops-screen-719-p174496?_s_icmp=nextopia

I know that not taking OG and FG is a total n00b move so on my current brew (brewed two weeks ago) I am doing it right. OG was taken and FG should be reached now so hoping to take the next step this weekend.

Now after much research over the past couple of days, I have seen a lot of techniques and am trying to figure out the best for me.

First off, I can't decide if what I was doing before by secondary fermenting was a good thing or not. If I am putting my already fermented beer (assuming FG was reached within two weeks on past beers) into another container, the leftover room would be filled with oxygen, not CO2, leaving my beer susceptible to infection. These steps were the way I was taught, in order to clear sediment, but am realizing it wasn't necessarily right.

I am dry hopping with about 3 oz of pellets. So one option for this brew would be not to go to a secondary, and put the pellets into the primary now to dry hop for the next week. After a week check to verify it reached FG, transfer it to my keg via auto-siphon, and rely on the hop screen on my dip tube to filter any additional sediment. I remember that after moving my beer from primary to secondary, when ready to move to the keg there was a lot of sediment on the bottom of the secondary ferm carboy. So I just fear without doing a secondary, the sediment will really pile up on the bottom of the keg, clogging the dip tube (even with the screen).

It seems like either way, I've found people recommend not using a hop bag with pellets, do you guys agree?

If my brew has already reached it's FG, should I just transfer straight into the keg and dry hop in there? I have heard of a lot of people doing that but worry about the sediment of 3oz of pellet hops.

I know this is a lot already, but I also want to ask about the cask widge. If I get that set up for my corny keg, I could dry hop with pellets and do a "secondary" directly in my corny keg and then after a week the hops would sink to the bottom and I would force carbonate and start pouring from that same keg. Since the widge pulls from the top I wouldn't have to worry about the sediment.

About the cask widge:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/05/review-the-cask-widge/

I know this is a lot of stuff, but while researching I have been finding that the way I was taught to brew is missing some important elements. Hope these questions are clear. I want to make sure I do this current brew the right way.

-Mike

 

[DocScott]

Mike-

I'll give some advice on some of these things. First, I'm glad you got a hydrometer. It is easy to use, and probably one of the more important tools after a thermometer. Next, your current process is fine, but as you found, may be more work than needed.

As far as risk of infection in your current set up, the more you touch your beer, the higher risk for infection. Good sanitation practices will minimize this. Whether or not to use a "secondary" is largely debatable and there really doesn't seem to be a right or wrong, just personal preference.

If you do use a secondary, the oxygen in the headspace won't infect your beer but may oxidize it if there is a lot of splashing.

When I dry hop, I usually just throw the hops in the primary once fg is reached. I do not use hop bags. I always use pellets (due to bulk orders and storage space) I usually dry hop for 2-5 days and then cold crash then transfer directly from the primary to the keg or bottling bucket. Cold crashing (and I use gelatin) drops my beers crystal clear and careful siphoning keeps the trub/dry hop behind.

I can't offer any help on the cask widget. I will say that if you give the yeast enough time to flocculate and siphon carefully, I have never had the need to look into something like it because I've never had a problem with too much sediment in my kegs - even on multi stage dry hopped beers with 5-6 oz added after primary. Worst case scenario is that the first pint has a bit of sediment in it that you can discard if you want.

This is my experience. Hope it helps!

 

[InLimbo]

Mike, a lot of us don't use different vessels for secondary fermentation anymore.I only use them for certain styles like fruit beers and lagers which specifically need a secondary vessel, but I don't rack pales or IPAs to secondary anymore. I personally dry-hop in the primary fermenter (after fermentation has finished, of course). Many others do the same with fantastic results.