Racking beers to 3rd?

[brewNdrink]

I know that secondary cleans up my lagers and lighter ales quite well. But, has anyone gone another step in racking to a 3rd carboy to get the beer as clear as typical lager comercial beers? I'm presuming that there would be hardly any yeast for bottle conditioning left, and that kegging would be required?

Personally I like my lagers a little more "heavy" than store lagers, but just wondering if someone has tried this and had crystal clear beer?

Cheers.
Tony.

 

[Parker36]

I'm guessing that most people who would go this far use some combination of clarifying agents or crash cooling instead.

 

[brett]

Go straight from primary to a keg. Let it sit in the fridge carbed for about a month, then bottle. Presto!

 

[BigKahuna]

I like gelatin, Policlear, and crash cooling.

 

[Revvy]

I have a friend who racks to tertiary if he adds anything to secondary, such as fruit...

 

[GearBeer]

I don't think such a step is necessary with our modern clarifying agents. However, this would probably be a good route if you were trying to brew according to Rheinheitsgebot.

 

[Yooper]

I use whirlfloc in the kettle, otherwise I use no finings at all. My beers tend to be crystal clear, especially given some time. Some clear right away, some take a while (like 3-4 weeks if at room temperature). I think that sometimes some flavor is stripped away with finings or filtering, so I'd prefer not to do that.

That said, though, if I was concerned about clarity, I'd buy a filtering set up before I'd rack again and use finings. If you're kegging, you can ferment in primary, then filter on the way to keg and have less chance of oxidation and/or infection.

 

[scinerd3000]

personally i always considered my bottling bucket my tertiary. I only use a true tertiarty fermentation vessel when i rack onto fruit. Professional brewers filter and im pretty sure your not going to get the same clarity as their breweries

 

[brewt00l]

With a flocculant yeast and the right amount of conditioning time, my beers have a similar amount of sediment to most bottle conditioned commercial beers.

 

[TexLaw]

I have a friend who racks to tertiary if he adds anything to secondary, such as fruit...

That's the only time I've ever even thought about it.


TL

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I think if you are looking for more clarity than a secondary can offer you are in the realm of filtration. I use a tertiary for beers that I add fruit to in the secondary.