Beer Kit Question Regarding Secondary Fermenter

[Oakkin]

I just finished bottling my first home brew beer in a bag type kit. Everything seemed to go pretty well.

For the next kit i try do i have to use a secondary fermenter (i did with this first kit)? I read a lot of people saying it is not necessary but the kit's instructions say to switch to a secondary after 4-6 days of fermenting in primary. Is this something required for beer in a bag type kits?

I'd like to make things easier and just leave it all in a carboy and bottle straight from there.

 

[auburntsts]

Simple answer is no. There are exceptions of course, but generally IMO there's no benefit from using a secondary so you can go straight to bottling from the primary. At this point in my BIAB process, that's what I do.

 

[jcav]

The use of secondaries was how it was done back in the early days. Unless you have a good reason like wanting to move it to a carboy with fruit in it, the use of secondaries is not very popular anymore. It also exposes the beer to oxygen un-necessarily. I never use a secondary when I used carboys. Now I have a conical and dump the yeast. For some reason a lot of kits (even extract kits) still have the use of secondaries in the instructions. You should be good to go in a single fermentation vessel on most of your beers.

John

 

[kh54s10]

Like they said. In directions it must be a holdover from the olden days.

Unless adding something that for some reason you don't want in your primary - don't.

The only things I can think of where you would want to do in secondary are massive amounts of dry hops or bulk aging - for months or more.

 

[JKenshi]

I see a lot of this too, so let me put in my two cents in favor of secondary (though I'm not married to it)... I just bottled a beer where I didn't use a secondary. when I transferred to my bottling bucket I sucked up a bunch of trub from the bottom because the amount of it was higher than the top of my autosiphon sucky thing. Transferring to secondary reduces the amount of trub on the bottom and you can probably drop the autosiphon right on it without sucking up any crap. When I use a secondary I can get almost everything out of the carboy without picking up trub.

Of course the other side to that is opening up the possibility of oxidation. But, you get to see how much is dropping out of suspension and maybe getting a better idea of how clear things are.

I'm on the fence about it... I have a beer in fermentation right now and I'm not sure which way I'll go.

 

[kh54s10]

I bag my hops and rarely is the depth of the trub higher than the cap on my autosiphon. I start high and lower it slowly, then stop as soon as I see debris at the top of the racking cane part of the autosiphon. I usually leave less than a quart of trub in my fermenters. Most of what little debris that gets into my bottling buckets settles during the bottle filling time.

So secondary is of little benefit to me for keeping trub out of the equation.

 

[Oakkin]

Ok, ty for responses. I was curious if there is a reason that these types of kits would need a secondary but it sounds like it isnt for sure needed.

My next batch i will test without secondary and see how it goes.

Thanks!

 

[auburntsts]

I see a lot of this too, so let me put in my two cents in favor of secondary (though I'm not married to it)... I just bottled a beer where I didn't use a secondary. when I transferred to my bottling bucket I sucked up a bunch of trub from the bottom because the amount of it was higher than the top of my autosiphon sucky thing. Transferring to secondary reduces the amount of trub on the bottom and you can probably drop the autosiphon right on it without sucking up any crap. When I use a secondary I can get almost everything out of the carboy without picking up trub.

Of course the other side to that is opening up the possibility of oxidation. But, you get to see how much is dropping out of suspension and maybe getting a better idea of how clear things are.

I'm on the fence about it... I have a beer in fermentation right now and I'm not sure which way I'll go.

If you simply clip or hold on to the autosiphon instead of letting it drop all the way to the bottom you can avoid sucking up trub/yeast. It's not that difficult even when by yourself -- I do it all the time solo. It's real easy if you have a helper who can either work the siphon or bottle filler while you handle the other.

 

[ancientmariner52]

The people who make the auto-siphons also make clever little clips to hold them up out of the trub.

 

[JKenshi]

The people who make the auto-siphons also make clever little clips to hold them up out of the trub.

Yeah, but then you can't angle the siphon and gently tip the carboy to get the last bits out. I hate leaving anything behind.

 

[ancientmariner52]

Yeah, but then you can't angle the siphon and gently tip the carboy to get the last bits out. I hate leaving anything behind.

Sure you can! Just watch until you almost lose suction, then take manual control. These days I have spigots on all my fermenters, but I did it as above for many batches.

 

[Yooper]

I still rack to a bottling bucket if I'm bottling. Bottling right out of the carboy is such a pain for me. I lose siphon sometimes, and have to add the priming sugar right to the bottles (and I have difference sized bottles, like 12 ounce, 16 ounce, 22 ounce). But I rarely use a secondary, since I often go from the fermenter to bottles or keg.