Brewed an India Black Ale last weekend and now have questions.

[n00b]

So should I transfer to a secondary or not. I was going to make a wine tonight in my glass carboy. I do have a bucket though that I can secondary in

From the videos I watched and from all the feedback, I think a secondary is only needed if you are adding hops, spices or fruits into the beer and even then, it is not necessarily needed, the same can be done in the primary fermenter as long as you ensure the yeast has settled out.

 

[rodwha]

I don't know if it is necessary or not, but the thought is that it's a good idea when dry hopping. If you'll be doing so I'd say do it as it certainly won't hurt. Or you can try it without and report your findings to us!

 

[rodwha]

Dry hopping seems to be the one time (along with adding fruits and whatnot) that nobody seems to say it's not worth the effort.

 

[BGBC]

So should I transfer to a secondary or not. I was going to make a wine tonight in my glass carboy. I do have a bucket though that I can secondary in

Why not make the wine in the bucket and let the beer continue sitting in the carboy?

 

[Effingbeer]

Do NOT secondary in a bucket! They do not seal well. Your beer is now more sensitive to oxygen than ever. I promise if you put it in a bucket for a couple weeks you will have carbonated Band-aid flavored beer. Or cardboard.
Buckets are great primaries for both beer and wine. This is because the massive amounts of CO2 released protects it. Always transfer to something air tight with the smallest volume of air left over in the top that you possibly can. (No "headspace")

 

[Rys06Tbss]

I'll just make the wine in the bucket then. I wasn't sure if there was a reason to secondary in glass or now. I do have an extra better bottle. But I kinda wanted to reserve that for another batch of beer

 

[rodwha]

"Do NOT secondary in a bucket! They do not seal well."

Is it possible they seal well enough?

I've only dry hopped a couple of times, in a bucket with several inches of head space, and I haven't noticed anything terrible. Not to say it couldn't have been better...

 

[Effingbeer]

Yes. It is possible to get a good seal. But buckets can be inconsistent this way. A good example is the popular HBT quote: "air lock activity is not a sign of fermentation" often because gas escapes from the lid and not forced through the lock.
One of the great things about beer is that it CAN be a very forgiving process. But why take the risk? I don't want to dismiss individual experience, but there are many easy and FREE "best practices" that can make the difference between a good beer and a great beer.

 

[abrix]

Seals aside, plastic is permeable to oxygen, so there is some risk of beer hanging out in a bucket to slowly oxidize, even if the lid seal is great.

 

[rodwha]

"But buckets can be inconsistent this way. A good example is the popular HBT quote: "air lock activity is not a sign of fermentation" often because gas escapes from the lid and not forced through the lock."

I have one that won't bubble the airlock. After several days I pulled the bung and looked. It was certainly fermenting despite never having bubbled. I won't be buying another of their buckets...(I like the bubbling!)

 

[Rys06Tbss]

I ended up using my extra primary for the wine last night. I'll just transfer to to he secondary for dry hopping.

 

[Rys06Tbss]

So I'm going to have to wait a little longer. It's at 1.020 right now nd needs to get to 1.016 to .014. Maybe next weekend. It is tasty though. I let my wife sample and she said that's NASTY! It must be good then!

 

[Effingbeer]

Not to throw you a curve, but sometimes I like to dry hop in the primary. Pros: you can take this opportunity to rouse the yeast. Drop the hops in, cap it,give the thing some careful yet vigorous swirling action and it can help with your last few gravity points. The yeast cake will drop back down quick enough. And with a black beer, clarity isn't necessarily your goal anyway. Plus, one less transfer! Cons: the dry hop effect might be a little lower. You can adjust up by an oz or so.

 

[C-Rider]

I still say dry hop in the primary. Never had a problem. Never used a secondary as I don't add fruity stuffs to my beer. Why risk contamination just to dry hop. I just pop the bung, and pour the pellets in then replace the bung.

 

[Rys06Tbss]

I dry hopped in the primary. Is it normal for the hops to stay up top? Or are they going to fall out? Its only been 3 days.

 

[rodwha]

I have a little polished stone I'll sanitize and use in the hop bag, but I'll try to attach the strings to something so it's suspended. I've yet to try this out yet...

 

[Effingbeer]

I dry hopped in the primary. Is it normal for the hops to stay up top? Or are they going to fall out? Its only been 3 days.

Yes it is normal. Most of them will fall out, but you will still have floaters. Don't be alarmed when it looks oily on top sometimes even with weird looking soapy/oily bubbles. When I rack to a bottling bucket or keg, I wrap a hop bag around the out-end of the hose to keep any big bits out.

 

[user 98891]

I used to put glass marbles in my hop sock when dry hopping to keep the hops submerged. I'm not really sure it makes a difference.

 

[the_trout]

I dry hopped in the primary. Is it normal for the hops to stay up top? Or are they going to fall out? Its only been 3 days.

Definitley normal and nothing to worry about. As noted some people put them into a weighted bag and try and suspend them in the brew and some also rack thru a strainer during transfer to bottling bucket/keg to help keep the finished beer clear. You can also cold crash your brew for a few days before bottleing. It will help in dropping more matter out of the solution.

 

[Rys06Tbss]

I just took another reading. Im only at 1.017. which is fairly close to the finished final. Im going to bottle on sunday. The hops are still hanging out up top for the most part. Ill use a bag next time. Im still a rookie. Right now what I have is a hoppy dark beer. I really like it. Tell me about this cold crashing. I just put the carboy in the fridge? Also If I strain the siphon to prevent debris, wont that aerate the beer? Is that a bad thing when bottling and transfering

 

[Effingbeer]

Cold crashing takes a few days on the fridge and is really good for dropping out yeast and some protein and starch haze. I don't think you want to drop out too much yeast if you are doing natural carbonation In the bottle. I haven't had a problem with straining the hop bits out using a bag, but in early years I tried a funnel with a screen in it and it clogged up to quick. The bag you can move around a bit to an area that's not plugged up and keep going. In the bottle, the yeast will use up any small amount of o2. And you can cold crash in the bottle before drinking. Plus an IPA is typically consumed fresh before the hop flavor begins to drop off, so long term oxidation really doesn't factor in as much.