Primary only....Good Results?

[postman]

Just wondering if there are many brewers out there who are simply primary brewers? If you are one, how's your beer? Is it worth buying a carboy?

 

[FlyGuy]

That's a tough question to answer because some beers need a secondary and some don't. For example, all of my high gravity and/or dark beers (e.g., I2PA's, porters, stouts) benefit from from bulk conditioning/aging in a secondary. Alternatively, some beers should really not go in a secondary (e.g., witbier, hefeweizen). Everything in between is personal preference. However, some very high profile brewers, like John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff, no longer recommend a secondary for most beers.

Sorry, not a definitive response. But there are many brewers who firmly believe they are a necessity for nearly every beer, and I would tend to disagree with them. I think they have their place, but it is fairly limited to specific brews.

 

[Bobby_M]

I wouldn't try using a bucket primary for fermentation and aging. It's too oxygen permiable for when CO2 pressure subsides. Yes, you can leave a beer in a carboy (primary) for long enough to clear and condition.

 

[Brewer3401]

First beer I did was a True-Brew kit (Red ale) and followed the instructions (was I nuts or what ?)

Did the instructions, let it sit for 2 weeks, bottled, let it sit 2 weeks............and it was GREAT beer.

Note: I was not a beer drinker. Didn't like BMC (Bud-Miller-Coors), but the red ale was really good.

I think if you keep brewing, you'll either stay where you are now, or start in a new direction.

Either way, if you like what you brew, continue to do so. That's the bottom line with homebrewing.

 

[Catfish]

Using a secondary is over rated in my experience. I mostly use buckets and let my beer ferment and rest in primary for about 3 weeks. My beer has not suffered from clarity or yeast autolysis issues.

 

[Orpheus]

I used to do secondary, but I got lazy and stopped doing it. I notice no difference in the taste or clarity of my beer. I do, however, leave my beer in primary for 3 weeks.

 

[Mutilated1]

I've tried just leaving the beer in the primary for an extra week instead of using a secondary and it came out just as good I think. I don't really have any strong feelings about it one way or the other, for me if I have a carboy that I'm not planning on using for another week or so then I'm fine with putting the beer in the secondary for a while if I want to use the fermenter for something else. Otherwise I'm just as content to leave the beer in the primary for a while longer.

 

[david_42]

I brew in buckets & leave them for 3-4 weeks before kegging. All of my buckets have spigots & I very rarely have problems with sediment in the keg. Never had a problem with oxidation, either.

 

[HBDrinker008]

I just brewed an american wheat, last night after a week in the primary, i siphoned it into a secondary because i was bored out of my mind and wanted something to do relating to brewing, should i leave it in there for another week or so, or just bottle it as soon as I can. I didnt really realize wheats need less time in a primary and no secondary at all.

 

[yeqmaster]

Personally I am a fan of using a secondary just for the clarity. I find that the taste is not too different.

 

[Bobby_M]

Personally I am a fan of using a secondary just for the clarity. I find that the taste is not too different.

There really shouldn't be much of a difference in clarity between the two methods as long as time is equal. You just have to be really careful not to disturb the trub when you rack into your keg/bottling bucket.

 

[jezter6]

I do it for 2 reasons:

1 - Habit. I've done it every other time, why change what works?
2 - It's fun. I try to primary in a bucket where I can't see my beer, so moving it to a secondary means I can see it age, and I like that.

I should primary in a carboy, but they're a ***** to clean with krausen rings, so I'd rather leave that to my bucket where I can reach in and clean it really good.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

The yeast cake is thicker in primary. As a result, you will suck up more yeast into the bottling bucket if you skip primary.

In my experience, the yeast cake on the bottom of the bottle is noticeably thicker when you go straight to primary. The beer can be equally clear, it can be equally good, but it will require a more careful pour if you intend to retain the clarity.

Other than that, I don't notice much difference. I generally use a secondary if I think I need to age a beer more than a month. It's mostly to avoid tying up bottles that long, but it does make a slight clarity improvement due to their being less yeast.

 

[Jaybird]

I have always gone to secondary for a couple of reasons but the most important is so..... I CAN SAMPLE
JJ

 

[cclloyd]

I rack to a secondary for at least a week with everything except wheat beers - it helps clear / keep the trub out of the bottling bucket and it frees up my primary for another batch.

 

[mward]

You guys must not be very careful. I almost never suck trub/yeast out of the primary when racking to a keg unless I'm not paying attention. I use some gelatin 3 days before racking and have VERY clear beer. Using a secondary does very little, if anything, for most ales clarity-wise and is just a chance to contaminate and oxidize it.

 

[mrk305]

This could save a step! You have to use a secondary, otherwise why would I have a secondary? I could make more beer, but I can't drink any faster. Maybe I should buy more bottles. This could throw off my whole routine on brew night.... I am still a noob.

 

[RickWG]

I secondary if it needs to be aged a bit longer or if dry hopping. I've taken to leaving it in the primary for 3-4 weeks and then just bottling. Less chance of infection and less work to do. Not lazy just I see it as an optional step sometimes.

 

[American]

I know about using gelatin with wine, I've wondered about it myself for beer because I HATE sediment in my beer. Have you seen any adverse effects with this? Does it take longer to age?

 

[JavaBeans]

The secondary is worth it just because you can have more than one beer going at a time.

I know have a Wheat conditioning in bottles/kegs, a Dunkle in secondary, an Apfelwein in a secondery(primary actually, no boil), and an Irish Red in primary. The red will move to secondary this weekend when I bottle/keg this weekend and I will start a porter on Sunday.

So as of Sunday, I will have 20 gallons of alcohol not yet ready to drink, but its going to be a very happy fall...

 

[ScubaSteve]

I just ferment in the primary 7-14 days, then crash cool and keg it. Works well for me. You can even dry hop in the keg, so you don't really need to worry about a secondary unless it's something huge you plan to age for a year, like a barleywine. But even then, you can do that in the keg

 

[mward]

I know about using gelatin with wine, I've wondered about it myself for beer because I HATE sediment in my beer. Have you seen any adverse effects with this? Does it take longer to age?

No, not any longer than without, the beer is just a lot clearer. I use 1/2 tsp in 300ml of water, dump it in, and rack 3 days later. I do it to everything, even the stouts.

 

[DeathBrewer]

The secondary is worth it just because you can have more than one beer going at a time.

why don't you just stock up on primaries?

 

[Philip1993]

why don't you just stock up on primaries?

No need. I've found that if I carefully peel the "Secondary" label off, they work about the same as Primaries.

 

[American]

No, not any longer than without, the beer is just a lot clearer. I use 1/2 tsp in 300ml of water, dump it in, and rack 3 days later. I do it to everything, even the stouts.

one more question. Are you force carbonating? Just want to make sure there is still yeast enough left to bottle prime after you add gelatin.

 

[EdWort]

I brew in buckets & leave them for 3-4 weeks before kegging. All of my buckets have spigots & I very rarely have problems with sediment in the keg. Never had a problem with oxidation, either.

Me too! I crash cool for a few days to a week before sanitizing the spigot, connecting a hose, and racking to a keg. I only use my Better Bottles for Apfelwein and I don't secondary those either.

 

[libs]

Sometimes I use a secondary just because I have an empty carboy and playing with beer is fun.

 

[efreem01]

why don't you just stock up on primaries?

I think unknowingly, that's exactly what i did. What can i say, i like to brew! Although, it's not really plausible to use one 5 gallon carboy with 3 6.5 primaries. I may just end up skipping secondary for everything, unless i try my 10.5% Double IPA agian. Then i can try cold crashing it and storing it for a few months in my lagering fridge.

 

[JnJ]

Me too! I crash cool for a few days to a week before sanitizing the spigot, connecting a hose, and racking to a keg. I only use my Better Bottles for Apfelwein and I don't secondary those either.

What exactly do you mean by crash cooling? What temp and how long? What is the desired benefit?

Thks

 

[EdWort]

What exactly do you mean by crash cooling? What temp and how long? What is the desired benefit?

I ferment in a chest freezer with a temp controller, so after a week or so at fermentation temps, I'll turn it down to 39 degrees for a few days.

This helps drop the yeast out of suspenstion which leads to clearer beer. It also helps pack the yeast cake so when I move it from the freezer to my counter for racking, it does not get roused up very easily. It also stays packed on the bottom when I open the spigot to rack to the keg.

Here's what crash cooling does. This was leftover when I racked my Oktoberfest last week.

 

[JnJ]

I ferment in a chest freezer with a temp controller, so after a week or so at fermentation temps, I'll turn it down to 39 degrees for a few days.

This helps drop the yeast out of suspenstion which leads to clearer beer. It also helps pack the yeast cake so when I move it from the freezer to my counter for racking, it does not get roused up very easily. It also stays packed on the bottom when I open the spigot to rack to the keg.

Here's what crash cooling does. This was leftover when I racked my Oktoberfest last week.

Cool, I just picked up an old chest freezer to use as a fermenter. Just need to pick up a temp controller. I like to bottle some of mine, do you think this will affect bottle carbonation?

 

[mward]

one more question. Are you force carbonating? Just want to make sure there is still yeast enough left to bottle prime after you add gelatin.

I am force carbonating, but judging from the amount of yeast in the bottom of my kegs, you should still be able to carbonate after using gelatin. Everyone I know that uses it has no problems with carbonation.

 

[Bobby_M]

The real question is, do you think crash cooling removes enough yeast to stunt or stop the conditioning process that should follow the primary? I really think I've been rushing things lately and missing out on the fully conditioned flavor that I could have if I just left the yeast to work.

 

[postman]

Well fellas, I just finished my first batch using primary only fermentation. Results...Amazing! My beer tastes so good. I bought the American Pale Ale recipe from Northern Brewer. Anyway, this thread really helped me during the brewing process. Thanks a ton. Up next...IPA and Celebration Ale.

 

[postman]

Just finished an IPA - primary only - crystal clear!

 

[PseudoChef]

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

 

[Beerthoven]

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

I think he talks about it in the Ordinary Bitter episode, or the Mild episode. Not sure which. They are both worth listening to. I know for sure its the Mild episode where he talks about why he doesn't pitch onto yeast cakes. So, its probably the Ordinary Bitter episode. Hope that helps. http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/jamil.php

 

[Bobby_M]

Yeah, he doesn't have the podcasts broken into process topics. They're done by beer style and he injects nuggets of wisdon in between recipe advice.

 

[PseudoChef]

Cool, thanks guys. Just discovered the podcasts last week. Boy do my work days go by quicker now! I'll check those two out tomorrow, a style I want to brew for my dad soon anyway!

 

[Brewno]

Would dry hopping be the same for a primary only fermentation? (beginner question )


Part (2) how long can it sit on the trub? What if your schedule is crazy and the day you wanted to rack ended up having to change to the following week?