secondary fermenter

[dhugh330]

Hello HBT! Brand new to home brewing, on my second batch. Proud to be a part of the community, I have been having a blast brewing and learning. Many of my questions I Google search and they always lead me to HBT Forums. So I figured I would join and cut out the middle man.

Well, my first batch was less than delicious. Much less. After much research I came to the conclusion that my temp during primary and secondary fermenting may have been the cause for the horrible taste. It was supposed to be a pale ale, ended up tasting like a hef that you drink out of a sweaty gym shoe. (Also probably an issue with poor sanitation, which I corrected on my second brew. I sanitized the s*** out of my equipment)

After doing my research and determining it was the temp (pretty steady at 78* F), I decided invest in a fermentation chamber. Then I saw how much those cost, and how much space that would take up in my tiny condo and began looking for alternate options. I live in Phoenix AZ, so some kind of temp control is necessary.

My Amazon search brought me to a Cool Brewing bag type thing that my 6.5 gallon carboy with airlock fits in with plenty of room left for several frozen 2 liter bottles. for $30 I figured I would give it a shot.

I brewed an Oktoberfest this time about 2 weeks ago and used the Cool Brewing Bag which pretty consistently kept the primary between 49* and 52* F. I was transferring to my secondary today and wanted to sample the product. Much to my surprise, it was really good! Especially given my first batch.

So, my question is: How long is it necessary for me to keep it in the secondary? is leaving it in there going to make it better, or possibly leave it susceptible to infection and end up tasting worse?

Thanks ahead of time!

Dean

 

[patthebrewer]

Welcome to our little all encompassing addiction, that we call Home Brewing

As to you question the answer is a solid...depends!

You stated that your Beer was an Oktoberfest, is it a traditional Marzen Lager? If so then you need to raise the temp to 65-68 for two days (diacetyl rest), then slowly over the course of a day drop the temp back down to 39-35 (Lagering) and keep it that way for four months or so before drinking.

If it's an Oktoberfest using ale yeast, that just carb it up and drink!

Also no real need to transfer it to secondary, exposing your beer to air and light during the transfer, IMHO increases the chance of some nasties getting in your beer. I leave mine safe under its comfy
CO2 blanket for the entire time.

I start my Marzens in ...well....march......and they are ready to drink in September. I also have a Digital temp controlled ferm chamber. Might be a bit of a pain though if you had to keep adding Ice though.
Any way cheers and good luck

 

[dhugh330]

Thanks for the Reply Patthebrewer.

I wish I would have kept the yeast package I used, figured the beer kit instructions would have it in the materials list. All it states is "1 Yeast Sachet."

It also says its a "lager yeast that will also perform well if fermented at ale temperatures." From much of my readings online, it seems like a general consensus that the included instructions are at best not accurate.

Thanks