Primary only....Good Results?

[postman]

Greetings Brewers,

I started this thread a while back and I wanted to revisit it. Since this thread began, I have acquired two carboys, a BB 6 gal and 5 gal glass carboy. I've since become a fan of the carboy/secondary. Life is nuts with 2 kids under 2, and a glass secondary gives me time to let the beer be safe. I have no worries while the beer is in the carboys, no stress other than filling the airlock occasionally. My oldest daughter is scared of the bubbles.

If the beer stays in the BB 6 gal primary for 3 weeks, who cares. Same with the 5 gal glass carboy secondary. This allows me to be more flexible with my bottling schedule.

In summary, I get peace of mind! In my life that is huge. Better tasting, clearer, who knows? As long as I'm sanitary and in a carboy, I'm stress free! So I can Sit Back, Relax and Enjoy my Home Brew.

 

[Beerthoven]

I'm glad you brought this back up.

A while ago I was in a "no secondary" phase. I did 8 batches in a row where I skipped the secondary. They all turned out well, except for an IPA that had a lot of dry-hop residue in the bottles. My last 4 batches have all gone into the secondary because I have been lazy about bottling on time. I think they'll all turn out great too.

So I don't have a "no secondary" policy anymore. In fact, I might start using a secondary most of the time again just to enforce some discipline with respect to aging my beer longer.

I do think its important to leave the beer in PRIMARY for a MINIMUM of 2 weeks, 3 or even 4 is better. Then transfer to secondary for longer aging or more clearing if necessary.

 

[shoebag22]

I'm glad you brought this back up.



I do think its important to leave the beer in PRIMARY for a MINIMUM of 2 weeks, 3 or even 4 is better. Then transfer to secondary for longer aging or more clearing if necessary.

what about hefs? shouldn't they be bottled in 7-10 days?

 

[Beerthoven]

I don't make hefe's.

 

[Danek]

I've looked for JZ's article/webcast on his no secondary useage, but have been unable to find anything. Can someone link me?

There was this from the Jamil Show podcast on APAs. I think he's arguing that the harm arises from taking beer out of primary too quickly, rather than from using a secondary at all.

 

[Melana]

what about hefs? shouldn't they be bottled in 7-10 days?

I have been running hefe's about 14-20 days then straight to the bottle. I might be different than most but i like about a month of age on my wheat beers. mmmm good.

 

[Franzi]

Do you rack to secondary on hefs, trying to avoid the yeast and get a kristal type hefe? I'm interested in trying that, but am afraid the taste would be less than par, since I'm assuming a lot of flavor comes from the yeast.

 

[Philip1993]

I'm in the middle of my first no-secondary ferment (irish ale). 3 weeks in the pri, 1.008 FG, into the fridge for 1wk crash cool before kegging.

My first note is that the wort is still pretty cloudy pre-crash (wyeast 1056). Normally with a 1-2-3 ferment, it's pretty clear by the end of 2 weeks in the secondary. Even after 3 days in the refer (36*), it's looks about like a wheat. In previous 1-2-3 ferments, I would be able to see my hand behind the carbuoy by now.

 

[reshp1]

The only ale I've found I've really needed a secondary was my chocolate stout. The cocoa powder that settles out is VERY easily re-roused and even being as careful as I can, it takes the extra iteration of settling in a secondary to prevent too much of it from making it into the keg.

Other than that, if I do use a secondary, it's probably because it's more fun than not using a secondary.

 

[NWernBrewer]

When I started I would rack all my beer to a secondary - only because I didn't want to bottle right off the yeast trub (I would rack to secondary and let sit for a week or so then rack back to bottling bucket). Now I have a little experience and will only secondary if I am bulk-aging or dry-hopping.

 

[postman]

I'm glad you brought this back up.

A while ago I was in a "no secondary" phase. I did 8 batches in a row where I skipped the secondary. They all turned out well, except for an IPA that had a lot of dry-hop residue in the bottles. My last 4 batches have all gone into the secondary because I have been lazy about bottling on time. I think they'll all turn out great too.

So I don't have a "no secondary" policy anymore. In fact, I might start using a secondary most of the time again just to enforce some discipline with respect to aging my beer longer.

I do think its important to leave the beer in PRIMARY for a MINIMUM of 2 weeks, 3 or even 4 is better. Then transfer to secondary for longer aging or more clearing if necessary.

Beerthoven,

So you have left your beer in the primary for up to 4 weeks? I'm probably going to do a 5 gal extract brew - IPA very soon. I have always wanted to split the batch and compare 2 yeasts. To do so, will require both my carboys, a 5 gal and a 6 gal to be used as primaries, as I lack 3 gal carboys. Just to confirm, your experience with long primaries has been positive?

Thanks for your input here. I'm trying to gather as much info before trying small quantities of beer in larger equipment.

If needed, I could primary in buckets and secondary in the larger carboys, but....am worried about the oxygen issue.

What would you recommend?

 

[debaniel]

i put a batch of apfelwein into primary, then a dubbel into primary...

then i had surgery for a hernia...

so no lifting of the carboys for quite a while... so no transferring or bottling of any kind...

i was a little concerned about leaving the dubbel in primary for 5 weeks... but it has turned out to be, hands down, the best batch of beer i've ever made... the belgian yeast really enjoyed the extra aging on the yeast cake, i suppose...

it cleared up beautifully, and it has absolutely zero off-flavors... turned out really well...

so, now i'm a complete believer... there are some cases where secondary might be good, but everything else is just gonna stay on that yeast cake for a few more weeks.

5 weeks was no problemo.

 

[Beerthoven]

Beerthoven,

So you have left your beer in the primary for up to 4 weeks? I'm probably going to do a 5 gal extract brew - IPA very soon. I have always wanted to split the batch and compare 2 yeasts. To do so, will require both my carboys, a 5 gal and a 6 gal to be used as primaries, as I lack 3 gal carboys. Just to confirm, your experience with long primaries has been positive?

Thanks for your input here. I'm trying to gather as much info before trying small quantities of beer in larger equipment.

If needed, I could primary in buckets and secondary in the larger carboys, but....am worried about the oxygen issue.

What would you recommend?

The longest I've left any beer in a primary was 34 days. That was the IPA I mentioned. Mostly I shoot for 2 weeks for beers under 1.045 and 3 to 4 weeks for bigger beers. These cut points are arbitrary. In general, my experience with longer primaries has been a positive one.

 

[tranceamerica]

I only use a secondary if I don't have time to bottle, and it's been in the primary for 3 weeks already. Or, I want to age the beer past 3 weeks before bottling.

I figure it can age in the bottle too.

I use a carboy as a bottling bucket - so I guess all my beers make it into the secondary. It might live there for only 1/2 hour though. :rockin:

 

[BierMuncher]

... In general, my experience with longer primaries has been a positive one.

Same here. Although I am a recent convert to the no-secondary movement.

 

[EdWort]

Same here. Although I am a recent convert to the no-secondary movement.

Well BM, I always figured you for a single movement kind of guy.