Secondary Fermentation

[ElliotFekete]

Hi All,

Looking to brew my first all grain beer using fruit. As part of the recipe I need add fruit to the beer in secondary fermentation.

What's the benefit of transferring to a separate secondary fermenter vs. just adding in the fruit into the primary once primary fermentation is complete? Just tossing up about whether I should actually buy a second fermenter.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JohnSand]

I haven't used a secondary, many others don't either. I have added sugar, hops etc to the primary.

 

[Vlad_Drunkula]

Do you want to reuse the yeast from primary? If so, transfer it to secondary. Otherwise just toss it into primary.

 

[millerd66]

I see many recipes that call for a second fermentation. Are we really fermenting in the second one or is more of a "racking". Maybe to let the beer mellow off the yeast for a bit? I did a quad where that might have been helpful to get it off a lot of the excess sludge

 

[DBhomebrew]

For most brewers, the 'secondary'  is more of a bright tank than secondary fermenting vessel. When you add fruit to a near finished ferment, that is a true secondary fermentation. Whether that occurs in the primary vessel or another, that's the maker's choice.

Adding fruit or bulk aging a big alcoholic beverage for an extended time are the main exceptions to the "don't bother with a secondary" adage.

That's not to say you have to use a secondary vessel in those cases.

In my own use, I'd put the fruit right into the primary. I primary my meads in a 2G bucket then rack to a 1G jug for conditioning. The 2G bucket has plenty of room for any fruit additions and I end up with a full 1G in the jug.

 

[ElliotFekete]

Thanks all!