Why secondary fermentation in a different container?

[idiot]

fermenting 6 days. Small specs floating on the top, yet the yeast had sank to the bottom a while back. is this some kind of stubborn yeast?

The second question I have is why do you have to do secondary in a different bucket, or secondary at all. It's in a conical now and there is that catcher thing on the bottom. I guess if i drain it into a bucket some of the crap can be left in the conical.

Is the reason for secondary to leave some crap in the primary fermentation vessel?



I used to avoid all long fermentation times due to unsanitary conditions and risk of contamination. But in my new conical it feels safe.
The conical is transparent and stored in the dark closet, also the beer itself is pretty dark. What are the odds of it skunking?

 

[Weezy]

In homebrewing, it's been a tradition to move the yeast off the cake in order to prevent the negative effects of dieing yeast from impacting our beer. Autolysis has since been shown to not be a concern until well after we typically leave beer on yeast cakes (>month). The problem is that transferring the beer invites oxidation, which will harm your beer right quick.

Now, the only suitable reason to secondary (which harkens back to the true meaning of the word "secondary fermentation") is when you might need a bigger vessel for adding fruit or are going to add mixed cultures to the beer, etc....

So don't do it. You're only really (and needlessly) risking oxidation

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

You don't have to do secondary at all. A lot of folks gave up on it, due to risk of infection, aeration...

Personally, unless I am adding fruit, adding oak chips, coffee... I do it all in primary.

 

[Lefou]

What are the odds of it skunking?

Little to none, as long as you keep it from direct sunlight and away from UV lights. My first couple of brews were done in my kitchen. Lots of light and in a clear glass carboy, but the carboy was placed into a heavy cardboard box covered with a towel. Only the airlock was uncovered.
Cheap and low-rent compared to a nice upright conical but none of my beers have ever skunked. If they did skunk, they'd be down the drain or compost for the plants.

 

[brewswithshoes]

Sounds like you have the same plastic conicals I use. I very rarely secondary unless I don't have the headspace for additions/etc. I do as a general rule dump the settled yeast/trub out the bottom valve shortly after the 14 day mark for extended ferments. That is what I consider my secondary time (post dump)

Quick tip if you do this, remove the airlock/blow off tube while dumping. I once sucked back a considerable amount of sanitizer when dumping a bunch of settlement. [emoji15]

 

[idiot]

7 days of fermentation there are specs of crap floating on top. I want to cold crush it now but I think I will need to transfer it to a bucket to fit in the fridge. Also how do you drain a conical, through the bottom seems like the least painful way. I could just leave it where it is and do the cold crushing in the keg but right now the fridge is empty might be perfect for cold crushing. When I come back from my mamas I might have groceries.
ipe:

 

[z-bob]

When I started homebrewing 20-something years ago, they told us you had to transfer the beer to a secondary to get it off the dead yeast. Winemakers usually need to do that because they ferment and bulk age the wine for so long. That's not really a problem for beer. After a few years I lost interest in brewing because I got obsessed with something else.

Started brewing again a couple of years ago, and everything has changed. Keep the beer in the primary until it's ready to bottle, use table sugar for priming (no, it won't make the beer taste "cidery"), and BIAB (brew in a bag) is a thing now. So I fermented in carboys, never transferred until bottling time, and that works pretty well.

I'm experimenting now with using 2 fermenters again. Ferment for a week in a bucket so I can harvest yeast off the top, then transfer to a carboy to get rid of *some* of the trub and so it can finish fermenting in a clear airtight fermenter where I can see it. I'm really liking this.

With a conical fermenter (which one did you get?) you can leave it in there until bottling time, and probably bottle directly from the conical. The beer is not going to skunk unless exposed to sunlight, or long-exposed to florescent lights. It should be fine in a dark closet. If you're still worried about it cover it up with an old tee-shirt or a sheet.

 

[MSK_Chess]

would you ferment for two weeks and then lager on the same yeast cake for an additional four to six weeks?

 

[corkybstewart]

Because it's always been done that way! Ever heard of the 7-7-14 RULE?

That's what I was taught 26 years ago when I started brewing. The problem was my job, a lot of times I'd throw the beer in primary and then not come home for 2 or 3 weeks. So I quit using the secondary and went straight from primary to bottles and later kegs. As stated by other, long term aging(ciders, meads, sours) require a second vessel, and adding fruit can require a second vessel.

 

[headfullahops]

would you ferment for two weeks and then lager on the same yeast cake for an additional four to six weeks?

Absolutely. And gelatin a day or two after reaching lager temp. Cheers!