Best style to brew w/o secondary

[Dextersmom]

So the other day I purchased a brewers startup kit.....today i found that my grandfather said i could have his equipment as well. I'm pretty sure (but not positive) that he's only done beer with a primary stage and no secondary. If thats the case i can either buy another carboy for secondary, or i could just do a primary batch.

I was kind of wondering what beginner style would be better brewed with just a primary...or if i should just forget this idea and go purchase another carboy.

any suggestions?


thx in advance!

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Anything but a Lager or big beer over 1.060 will be fine
Especially if you are using a highly flocculant strain of yeast.

 

[The Pol]

Heffe would be perfect... you never want to secondary them, and you want to drink them young! PERFECT for a primary ferment only.

 

[cd2448]

i've done a wheat which worked very well and the orfy old speckled hen which also worked fine (and cleared nicely) w/o secondary. i had it three weeks in primary, and the wheat was 2.5 weeks in primary.

wheat is a great choice for your first batch as it's ready quick (probably two weeks is good) and it's good if you drink it quite young. i.e. you get some drinkable pints in short order while you get your 2nd and 3rd batches rolling!

 

[Soulive]

Heffe would be perfect... you never want to secondary them, and you want to drink them young! PERFECT for a primary ferment only.

Never say never, especially when homebrewer_99 is around

 

[RICLARK]

+ 1 on the hefe.

Never say never, especially when homebrewer_99 is around

How fast can Chewey actually throw the heat? looks like he has a good drive off the plate!

 

[Soulive]

How fast can Chewey actually throw the heat? looks like he has a good drive off the plate!

If his hamstring's healthy he can hit around 103mph. He's being groomed for the starting rotation by the all-star break...

 

[RICLARK]

If his hamstring's healthy he can hit around 103mph. He's being groomed for the starting rotation by the all-star break...

Lmao I wonder how much break he has on his 12-6 curve I bet he could put it right through the ground!

 

[Soulive]

Lmao I wonder how much break he has on his 12-6 curve I bet he could put it right through the ground!

Like a bag of bricks baby :rockin:

 

[Dextersmom]

thanks for all the suggestions.....chewy picture is outstanding! lol

 

[Melana]

+1 for going with a Hefe...

 

[Dextersmom]

any particularly recomended Hefe recipes?

 

[CBBaron]

Anything beer that won't be in the fermenter for more than a month. I just picked up the new book by John Palmer and Jamil Z and they no longer recommend a secondary for most styles. This comes from two expert and very successful home brewers.
As I don't lager, so the only beers I secondary are my really big beers that sit in the fermenter for 2 months or my IPAs that I dry hop. Everything else spends 2-5 weeks in the primary then straight to the bottling bucket.

Craig

 

[DeathBrewer]

simple and delicious hefe recipe:

6 lbs of Wheat DME (or 7 lbs Wheat LME)
1 oz of tettnanger (or hallertau, or saaz) hops for 60 minute boil
WLP300 yeast

i also like to steep some munich when i make extract weisse-biers.

 

[Soulive]

simple and delicious hefe recipe:

6 lbs of Wheat DME (or 7 lbs Wheat LME)
1 oz of tettnanger (or hallertau, or saaz) hops for 60 minute boil
WLP300 yeast

i also like to steep some munich when i make extract weisse-biers.

+1...doesn't get any easier for something so tasty

 

[Dextersmom]

simple and delicious hefe recipe:

6 lbs of Wheat DME (or 7 lbs Wheat LME)
1 oz of tettnanger (or hallertau, or saaz) hops for 60 minute boil
WLP300 yeast

i also like to steep some munich when i make extract weisse-biers.

thanks ^^

heard some good things about wheat beers and i'm not sure that i've ever had one....

one question though... what is munich? last i heard it was a place not a steeping grain.

 

[Yooper]

Munich malt is a malty tasting grain used in brewing. I use it in several different recipes.

 

[PseudoChef]

I don't use secondary for anything unless I dry hop or add an oak addition or something. So brew to your heart's content.

 

[Rhoobarb]

And if you don't like Hefe's (I do, but some folks don't) consider a stout (assuming you like stouts). They're probably the easist beer for a beginner to brew, they hide flaws and you don't need to clarify them, so a secondary isnt really necessary.

 

[BierMuncher]

any particularly recomended Hefe recipes?

Careful…have you had a hefe?

If not sure, take Deatbrewers recipe and substitute in a simple Safale-05 dry yeast. THis will give you an americanized wheat beer. (THink Boulevard Brewing Company)

People can be surprised by the strong banana/clove flavor of a hefe.

My first hefe I thought I was headed down the path of a basic unfiltered wheat beer. Boy was I surprised when my brewshop smelled like a spice pie 24 hours later.

Course….now I be more edufucated than befour.

 

[Yooper]

Careful…have you had a hefe?

If not sure, take Deatbrewers recipe and substitute in a simple Safale-05 dry yeast. THis will give you an americanized wheat beer. (THink Boulevard Brewing Company)

People can be surprised by the strong banana/clove flavor of a hefe.

My first hefe I thought I was headed down the path of a basic unfiltered wheat beer. Boy was I surprised when my brewshop smelled like a spice pie 24 hours later.

Course….now I be more edufucated than befour.

Well, the people that like hefes really like them, but I can NOT stand them. I'm not much into any wheat beers, but a hefe to me tastes horrible and not like beer at all. So, I agree with Biermuncher- if you've never had one, maybe try one before you make 5 gallons. If you like them- then have at it!

 

[rabidgerbil]

Anything beer that won't be in the fermenter for more than a month. I just picked up the new book by John Palmer and Jamil Z and they no longer recommend a secondary for most styles. This comes from two expert and very successful home brewers.
As I don't lager, so the only beers I secondary are my really big beers that sit in the fermenter for 2 months or my IPAs that I dry hop. Everything else spends 2-5 weeks in the primary then straight to the bottling bucket.

Craig

+1 on this...
unless it is a big beer, or a lager, that both need major time in the carboy, you don't need, and usually benefit from not using, a secondary. That being said, I can think of one other reason that you would use a secondary, so that you can free up a primary.

I have 6.5 gallon primaries, and also 5 gallon secondaries. Once the primary fermentation is done, and I don't need to worry about aggressive blow off, I will sometimes rack everything, yeast and all, to a secondary so that it can continue to age and clear, and free up the primary for another batch. This way, I get the same effect as if I just left it in the primary, and as long as my sanitation is good, there are no problems.

 

[rescue brew]

+1 on this...
unless it is a big beer, or a lager, that both need major time in the carboy, you don't need, and usually benefit from not using, a secondary.

What do you mean by BIG BEER? I have seen this terminology all over the forums, but I'm not sure what is considered a big or larger beer.

 

[BierMuncher]

What do you mean by BIG BEER? I have seen this terminology all over the forums, but I'm not sure what is considered a big or larger beer.

Big beer is any beer that is going to end up with a high ABV%. Big, as in high gravity, big grain bill, potential knock-you-on-your-ass beer.

 

[rescue brew]

Thanks, So I guess my 1.052 stout in primary right now would be a BIG BEER.

sweet

 

[RICLARK]

thanks ^^

heard some good things about wheat beers and i'm not sure that i've ever had one....

one question though... what is munich? last i heard it was a place not a steeping grain.

Well lets see here, Have you had Bell's Oberon?? there is Munich in that, and if you like Oberon I have a Extract + Steeping grains Recipe that is mighty tastey.

 

[rabidgerbil]

Thanks, So I guess my 1.052 stout in primary right now would be a BIG BEER.

sweet

Not really. When you start getting up in the 1.090 range, that is a big beer.
Edwort's haus pale starts at 1.051 and finishes up around 1.010, which gives you just over 5% ABV... that is a standard commercial beer. Think more of like a 10% IIPA or barleywine, those are big beers.

 

[acesb422]

If I like lets say a Boulavard Wheat beer would i like the posted hefe recipe???

 

[The Pol]

I have a Heffe on here called Hugh Heffe, it is awesome, it is AG, Id try it...

Pol