Secondary fermentation and bottle??????

[chefrand15]

I currently only have one car boy and bottling bucket. Would it be better to rack into bottling bucket and thoroughly clean and sanitize my carboy and rack back into it for a secondary fermentation and then bottle after the secondary? Or should it let the primary ferment last longer and then bottle and condition in the bottle for a longer period of time? Anyone had success with a single carboy and secondary fermentation?

Primary: Abby Cadabby-Belgian style abbey

 

[bleme]

What are you making?

 

[bleme]

I would skip the secondary and let it ride. If the recipe calls for a total of 4 weeks, take a gravity at 3 weeks and again 3 days later. If the readings are the same and close to expected FG, cold crash 2 days before bottling.

 

[flars]

Leave your beer in the primary until fermentation is complete. Multiple hydrometer readings to find when FG has been reached. Leave it in the primary for another week or two for the yeast to clean up and sediment to settle.
You could age in the primary four weeks if you wish without any problems.

 

[Trox]

The only time you should rack to a secondary fermentation is if you have a beer with a really high OG (1.080+ I would think) that needs to sit in the fermentors for 3+ months prior to bottling, or you have to free up your primary.

Other than that there is no reason that you have to rack over to a secondary, and plenty of reasons not to.

 

[tacks]

Agree with all the other posters - no need to rack it unless it's a big beer or is sitting on the world's largest yeast cake. Grav readings should be the same a couple days apart, then it's time to bottle.