Poll: Do you use a secondary?

[shoestealer17]

This is based from the post
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/poll-how-long-do-you-primary-215533/

I saw that most people use a secondary only to dry hop/ bulk age etc and not just for clarification like in the "traditional thinking" just wanted to see what people are doing, maybe ill change my technique

-And yes, I reaize I spelled Secondary wrong in the poll title, typo.

 

[D_Struct]

Just depends if my carboy is in use at the moment.

90% of the time, I just forego the secondary. I've found that I get quality beer (and clear) if I just give it adequate time in the primary.

Then again, I like hefeweizens and Belgians, so they don't need clearing.

For the most part, the only reason I'll need a secondary is if I plan to dry hop or use fruit.

 

[CrookedTail]

I do it all the time. The clarity of my beers is noticeably better when I use the secondary.

 

[shoestealer17]

All the responses ive read about this have been very interesting, some say plenty of clarity from the long primary, others say clairty comes much better from a secondary.

Also if you only use a primary, do you use a carboy and not a plastic bucket?

 

[JasonInBTR]

Currently only secondary because of carboy supply. Have a 6.5 and a 5. Once I get a few more ferms I'll only secondary to dryhop or fruit.

 

[buzzkill]

my kegs are my secondarys.

 

[D_Struct]

Also if you only use a primary, do you use a carboy and not a plastic bucket?

Plastic bucket, as my carboy is only a 5 gallon, and I don't find that to be sufficient for a primary.

 

[FAJ]

I use a secondary to dry-hop or add fruit. Or when I want to free up a primary. I don't use one in the normal beer procedure or on any schedule otherwise. A long primary works just fine.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I chose Bulk age, but really, I just secondary if I don't have a keg open and I want to re-use the yeast.

 

[Hellfish76]

For the most part I only use a secondary when dry hopping or oaking (I've yet to add fruit, but it is on my list of things to do this year). I occasionally use it to age a beer or if there is something in the primary that can mess with clarity (I transferred my pumpkin ale to secondary to get more clarity).

If I'm just doing a normal beer, I'll let it stay in the primary.

 

[sjlammer]

Welll this is a complete hijack...

I honestly don't see the difference between the first, third and fourth choice.

For me, I hardly ever use a secondary except to bulk age (usually with oak), or add fruit.

 

[shoestealer17]

I honestly don't see the difference between the first, third and fourth choice.

Yeah, they are pretty similar, from what I can see with those three most people dont use a secondary just for clearing

Im just trying to decide how im going to go about brewing my beer, the way ive been thinking has changed 20 times in the past 2 days so im just trying to get the most information possible. And I could say you hijacked my origional post.. but theyre all referenced and its all good information, im learning alot

 

[sjlammer]

You are correct... i was just busting.

I set up my poll to refute the guy who said that he thinks that people who long primary are a vocal minority.... as you can see, we are the majority... over 65% of us use a long primary. I wish i had set it up to exclude new brewers... I would like to see what the breakdown would be for experienced brewers... i bet the number goes up.

 

[Bottenbrew]

I secondary because I have found the multiple racking process gives me a clearer final product. Mainly because racking to the secondary gets rid of 95% of the trub/yeast cake, and then going from secondary to keg or bottles gets rid of 95% of what is left. So my answer is kind of a hybrid, I don't secondary for taste purposes, I do it as a sort of filtration.

 

[SwampassJ]

I'm only using it as a bright tank for a week of cold crashing before bottling.

 

[shoestealer17]

I set up my poll to refute the guy who said that he thinks that people who long primary are a vocal minority.... as you can see, we are the majority... over 65% of us use a long primary.

This result is pretty interesting, It will most likley change the way I brew

 

[JonK331]

If you read the most up to date info on this subject, you will find that using a secondary is not necessary most of the time.

 

[shoestealer17]

If you read the most up to date info on this subject, you will find that using a secondary is not necessary most of the time.

What is the most up to date info and where can I find it? I would love to read it

 

[shoestealer17]

If I'm just doing a normal beer, I'll let it stay in the primary.

And is the primary a plastic bucket or glass carboy?
^Thats for anyone to answer, ive read things about oxygen being able to permiate plastic over time

 

[steinsato]

Didn't actually vote, I secondary to bulk age and to dry hop only.
I'll dry hop in plastic or glass but will only bulk age in glass.

 

[shoestealer17]

Didn't actually vote, I secondary to bulk age and to dry hop only.
I'll dry hop in plastic or glass but will only bulk age in glass.

The voting is still open i think

 

[steinsato]

The voting is still open i think

I didn't vote because I can't choose both bulk and dryhop

 

[remilard]

You are correct... i was just busting.

I set up my poll to refute the guy who said that he thinks that people who long primary are a vocal minority.... as you can see, we are the majority... over 65% of us use a long primary. I wish i had set it up to exclude new brewers... I would like to see what the breakdown would be for experienced brewers... i bet the number goes up.

You are refuting a guy who claims the existence of a vocal minority with a...


self selected internet poll?

 

[shoestealer17]

I didn't vote because I can't choose both bulk and dryhop

I think ageing is included in dry hopping/oaking, no?

 

[dvdanny]

I only secondary now for extended aging or oaking. Fruit and Dry hops go right into primary, with fruit being added a week after pitching (or whenever fermentation settles) and dry hop being added 1 week before bottling. My beers are much clearer now that I don't secondary (could also be because I am bottle conditioning much longer).

 

[steinsato]

I think ageing is included in dry hopping/oaking, no?

It's not but I voted that way anyhow.

 

[Walker]

I'm very interesting in seeing how this pans out. There are a couple of people on this forum who repeatedly declare, "Most of us no longer use a secondary", but the numbers aren't really backing that claim up.

I always use a secondary.

 

[Bulls Beers]

Never...

 

[Walker]

If you read the most up to date info on this subject, you will find that using a secondary is not necessary most of the time.

Yeah.. the problem with "up to date info" in the homebrewing community is that the **** will be completely different in a year.

 

[Lodovico]

I only use a secondary for bulk aging or something on oak or fruit. As far as "latest" research everyone is talking about, I analyze it based on the quality of my beer.
I've won a good number of medals, my beer is crystal clear, and I really enjoy what I brew. If you want a more "experienced" opinion, go listen to the fermentation podcasts on the Brew Network.

Jamil is regarded as the best home brewer on the planet and he doesn't use a secondary. What else do you need to know?
Will it hurt to use one? Obviously not. But I feel in most classic styles, it's a waste of time. Just one opinion.

 

[ArcaneXor]

I rarely secondary "on purpose", but essentially my kegs fulfill the same purpose - bulk-aging. I also oak and dry-hop in the kegs.

 

[Walker]

as you can see, we are the majority... over 65% of us use a long primary.

Devil's advocate, but watch out how you interpret the numbers.

Nowhere in the options was it specified that it was a "long" primary. There are a lot of people, especially beginners, who probably just ferment for 2 weeks and bottle the stuff. No secondary, and no long primary. I would count that as a third group completely.

And regardless... why does it even matter? Do you need to be on the "right" side here?

Can't we all just make beer and be happy about it? I've never quite understood the evangelist types that feel it's necessary to make others do it the same way that they do.

 

[JonK331]

So right now, assuming that answers 1,3 and 4 are pretty much the same, the score is 58 don't "usually" secondary and 21 "always" secondary. That is 73.4% who don't.

 

[electrichead]

I secondary all of my batches. I started this because of the "traditional thinking" I learned by and am not big on change. I am however planning on giving the longer primary a try on one or two batches this year just to see if the results vary from the previous secondary fermented versions.

 

[cheier]

I do secondary as a factor of both convenience and pipelining. I have 3 carboys but one primary bucket. The bucket is huge, and 23L only fills it about half way. Any krausen that has formed thus far hasn't blown any tops and I'm not interested in blow off tubes or anything like that. After about a week or so in the bucket, I'll send it to the carboy to finish settling out and aging. After a couple weeks if I so choose, I might throw in some gelatin and crash cool it for a few days to finish clearing it up.

Once I get the beer in a carboy, I get another one going in the bucket after cleaning it up. Generally I use secondary to try and let more yeast flocculate and settle so I don't have to filter, and the gelatin takes it that extra step further. When I keg, I have very minimal sediment left over at the bottom, which is generally what I'm aiming for.

So ya, I secondary. Initially because that was simply the way it was, but now because I prefer it when I have such a big bucket. I've tried to primary in a carboy, but I didn't like having to have a blowoff tube. Since at the time, I was fermenting in my kitchen pantry, my wife didn't like having a small bucket of water in there collecting krausen.

 

[Golddiggie]

For my first two brews I used primary and secondary. While brew #3 was still in primary, I started reading the threads about just going for a long primary. I'm giving that a shot with one brew right now (plus one I started last weekend, so batches 4 and 5). I racked #3 to secondary to age on top of a split, scraped and soaked (in bourbon) vanilla bean. I'm letting that go at least a week before testing it. I'll see how it is during week #2, and decide if I need more bean or if it's good.

Brew #4 is almost 3 weeks in primary. Planning on testing it in another day or two to see where it's at. Plan on taking readings every day or two until I get at least two consecutive readings that are identical.

I'm considering racking to another bucket as an interim step, for just a few hours (or a day) to let anything that got picked up when transferring it out of primary to settle to the bottom. Although since I'm doing better with racking now, I might just go direct into the bottling bucket.

I am thinking about getting some additional primaries so that it's less of an issue for me. I really hate using the bucket primary, since you cannot tell what's going on inside and getting samples is far more trouble than with a carboy.

So to the point of the poll, I've used them so far, but might not in the future, except when aging over flavor elements (wood, vanilla, etc.)...

 

[Lodovico]

Devil's advocate, but watch out how you interpret the numbers.

Nowhere in the options was it specified that it was a "long" primary. There are a lot of people, especially beginners, who probably just ferment for 2 weeks and bottle the stuff. No secondary, and no long primary. I would count that as a third group completely.

And regardless... why does it even matter? Do you need to be on the "right" side here?

Can't we all just make beer and be happy about it? I've never quite understood the evangelist types that feel it's necessary to make others do it the same way that they do.

I would also argue the fact that "beginners" ferment for 2 weeks and then package. The vast majority of ales under 1.060 are ready to be bottled or kegged after 14 days. Also in the Jamil podcast on fermentation, he claims that the majority of his beers were bottled with no longer than 2 weeks in primary.

I know several great brewers that allow fermentation to finish out after a week and then give it a week to clean up and they brew excellent, award winning beer.

There are obviously styles where this isn't the case. I'm not brewing an Old Ale or a Tripel and bottling after 14 days but anything under 1.060, absolutely.

 

[sjlammer]

I would say that yes it is your choice whether you want to long primary, or not.

All i can say is, give it a chance. my guess is that you make beer that is at least as good you make with a secondary.... then i would do a little pro/con analysis.... if the beer is essentially the same (no worse) a long primary means less work.

If you find that for some reason you have autolysis, then by all means, go back.

Also, make sure you pitch the proper amount of yeast

 

[davesrose]

So right now, assuming that answers 1,3 and 4 are pretty much the same, the score is 58 don't "usually" secondary and 21 "always" secondary. That is 73.4% who don't.

Well then you also have people like me who would say 2, 3, and 4 are pretty much the same because that's the styles I brew: I'm usually brewing a pale ale (that I dry hop and crash cool in the secondary), and then a strong stout (I'm brewing up an imperial coffee oatmeal stout at the moment, and will be adding coffee in the secondary). I've found most my <1.060 beers seem cleaned up in less then 2 weeks in primary. If I need to dry hop, I'll rack to secondary then. If I'm not, I might wait a few days before adding to secondary to crash cool in the fridge. This imperial coffee oatmeal stout is going to be one of the only beers that I've leaved in the primary for over 3 weeks (it's 11.5 ABV). I also don't think there's a "set" time that should be prescribed about how long to primary. As my techniques have improved, I've found my attenuation has both improved and gotten faster...it's also rare for me to get off flavors now. I feel safer going by my refractometer readings and tasting the beer to decide when to rack a particular beer.

 

[ceannt]

I still use the plastic buckets I picked up back in the mid 80's..... I primary for around 5 or 6 weeks, rousing the yeast every week or so (after the first 2 weeks).