What if I dont keep it in the secondary for as long as the recipe calls for?

[Griffsta]

I dont feel like keeping my Amarillo IPA int he secondary for 5 WEEKS!!! Im like an impaitent little kid.... I wanna keg that sucker after 1 week in the secondary (with some dry hop of amarillo). I dont mind taking a hit on the dry hop, as I am over 70 IBUs anyway. What do I risk by tossing it in the keg earlier than the recipe calls for?

BTW, it was a random recipe I got off the net... so it was probably made up by some brewery that got lazy with his brew and liked the end product, rather than a calculated intentional prolonged secondary....

 

[irunxcjm]

Well, nothing will happen, per se, but it might be pretty green if you didn't give it a long primary. It might not be as clear as you might like it as well. But, since you are kegging it, if you don't like the way it tastes after trying it, just let it sit longer and it will get better!

 

[bdaddy]

I dont feel like keeping my Amarillo IPA int he secondary for 5 WEEKS!!! Im like an impaitent little kid....

I'm no expert...but I believe those guys will unanimously tell you to let it sit...you're taste buds will thank you. Sure you can drink it sooner. You can drink the wort if you want. If you want a "good" beer, you've got to let it age/condition properly.

This isn't a very good hobby for impatient people. It's a terrific hobby for us procrastinators

 

[david_42]

What do I risk by tossing it in the keg earlier than the recipe calls for?

Lots of trub in the keg.

If you also start drinking it, you will finish it long before it is ready. When you drink that last pint you will be kicking yourself for not waiting, because it will be so much better than all the green beer you drank.

 

[homebrewer_99]

A recipe is only a guideline that should include notes of the makers ingredients and actions.

There are no steadfast rules that say you have to follow them to the letter. With that said, I also caution you with if you do not follow many of the steps or use the same ingredients then your brew will differ from the recipe.

As for a secondary, it is used to allow additional time for the yeast to fall out of suspension.

The more yeast that falls out of suspension the cleaner the brew going into the bottles and the clearer the brew going into the glass.

If you are impatient then the brew suffers and you'll end up making excuses to your friends about how much better the brew could have been had you done something different.

 

[Revvy]

You can do whatever the he!! you want, it's your beer after all, you can even just stick a straw in your primary and suck away to your little heart's content.....

I mean those instructions don't really mean anything anyway.

We ALL know they're just they're just put there by experienced brewers to torture new and impatient brewers, that it has nothing to do with making the best tasting beer possible.

Perhaps if this beer making doesn't happen fast enough for you, you might consider switching to making this instead....I hear it doesn't take as long.

[/sarcasm]

 

[beerkrump]

You can do whatever the he!! you want, it's your beer after all, you can even just stick a straw in your primary and suck away to your little heart's content.....

I mean those instructions don't really mean anything anyway.

We ALL know they're just they're just put there by experienced brewers to torture new and impatient brewers, that it has nothing to do with making the best tasting beer possible.

Perhaps if this beer making doesn't happen fast enough for you, you might consider switching to making this instead....I hear it doesn't take as long.

Wow... That's all. Just, wow...

 

[CiscoKid]

BTW, it was a random recipe I got off the net... so it was probably made up by some brewery that got lazy with his brew and liked the end product, rather than a calculated intentional prolonged secondary....

Actually, it was probably made up by someone who tasted it along the way and figured out that after 5 weeks or so, it tasted so much better than it did after week 1. You have to let that sucker clear and let the yeast clean up some of those byproducts that you don't want in your finished beer. Start brewing another batch... forget about this one for a while.

EDIT: Wow Revvy, how long have you been waiting to throw that image in somewhere? Brings a tear to my eye.

 

[Griffsta]

Wow... you got me there... It will be hard to keep typing with my head hung so low.

The note on the original recipe state, "it was only supposed to be in there for a week or two, but my deck project took too much time, so 35 days it was." Therefore, he liked the product after 5 weeks, but that wasnt the original intent. Now that Im circulating 5 kegs, it takes a couple months for me to kick one anyway.

This leads me into my next quesiton. Will a beer age the same way in a keg as it will in a secondary? I mean, Im not too worried about it being clear. It was very clear going into the secondary and hardly anything has settled to the bottom. I understand that it might still be green, but as you guys said, I would just let it sit till it tasted good. I just wasnt sure if it changes the way it ages in a keg vs. a secondary.

 

[homebrewer_99]

There's not much difference between a secondary and a keg...really...it's still bulk aging/conditioning...

 

[bob1852]

Wow... you got me there... It will be hard to keep typing with my head hung so low.

If you really want to get Revvy going, ask him if you can secondary ferment in a bright tank. Or better yet - ask if you should dump your beer

sorry rev - haven't seen anyone pick on you in awhile.

 

[CiscoKid]

The note on the original recipe state, "it was only supposed to be in there for a week or two, but my deck project took too much time, so 35 days it was." Therefore, he liked the product after 5 weeks, but that wasnt the original intent. Now that Im circulating 5 kegs, it takes a couple months for me to kick one anyway.

Oh sure, NOW you tell me that part of the story.

It will bulk age in the keg. If you're curious, keg it and try it every couple of weeks and find out when you like it. :rockin:

 

[KPatrick]

I'm doing a Dark Ale Extract kit from Coopers. I was thinking to let it secondary for a week, but there's not time in the instructions. Should I go more?

 

[tomheff]

It is not necessary to do more. In fact a secondary is not needed at all. All the sediment should drop to the bottom of the fermenter after the initial 7 days of fermentation. You can age in the bottle or a keg.