Carboys: when to rack to secondary?

[tadkays]

Let's see how well Siri performs on the verbal message.
I use my phone, have the app, but the functionality is very limited. Therefore I must use the browser which also has its perks. My word was quirks. ok, Better on your second attempt Siri.

Good evening,
I Have racked my 11 batches of beer since January for my whole career in primary and secondary carboys. I would like to know when the optimal time to rack from primary to secondary is and I know it probably differs per brew style And fermentation.

Typically for me is a few days After I know I have reached my final gravity or pretty close. I now have a 10.2% ABV Scotch ale in primary at 14 days and a munich alt stye- ish with 1007 yeasts in primary at 3 days now.

I would like to move them both now to secondary to free up space in my limited carboy collection, which is 2@6g and 2@5g.

Scottish ale went 26 to 6.5 Brix.
Alt Smash Munich 15 Brix, just removed messy blowoff tube!

I think I can move both in 2 days, agree? It would free me up space for other batch!

Cheers,
Tad

 

[stpug]

I think you should be fine to move both to secondary carboys if you'd like to free up fermenters. If you didn't need the space then I'd say wait a bit longer on the 5 day beer, however it should be nearly full attenuation at this point. More importantly, siri leaves a little to be desired

 

[tadkays]

Thanks buddy, maybe the scotch ale, then brew, then the other. Confirmation to RDWHAHB! lol

 

[RM-MN]

My first thought on when to move to secondary would be never. Your beers don't need it, you do. I'd suggest you buy a couple more fermenters. Bucket fermenters are pretty cheap and work well. The store easily one inside the other, are easy to clean with that wide mouth, have nice handles for moving, and don't shatter if dropped. Needing an extra fermenter is never a good reason to move beer.

 

[jrhammonds]

The debate on to secondary or not will ensue indefinitely. It's all about preference. I rarely do and it seems the trend is the risk of oxygen and bacteria aren't worth the minimal effects of a secondary. That said, when to remove your beer from the primary yeast cake seems to be the bigger issue. While there isn't a magic number of days, keep 2 things in mind: gravity and yeast clean up. If you've hit your predicted final gravity, then you're part way there. The yeasts do a fantastic job of cleaning up after themselves post fermentation as well. Racking the beer off the yeast cake before they've had the opportunity to do so could leave unwanted fusel alcohols, acetylaldehyde and diacetyl in your beer. Chances are the yeast left in the solution will eventually clean these things up, but it will take considerably longer. The shortest amount of time I've kept my beer on my primary yeast cake is 7 days with the average time 2-3 weeks. Hope this helps.

 

[Wynne-R]

I wouldn’t wait too long to go secondary, if you’re going to do it. My concern is with oxygen. Obviously it’s a trade-off.

What does it taste like? I don’t think that question gets asked often enough.

I like using a secondary for my pales. It helps with the clarity, and I think they’re a little cleaner.

 

[Paps]

I was going to make a thread corncerning this issue but somebody beat me to it,but more concerning of the `clean up` of acetylaldehyde and diacetyl. I know some people use the 1-2-3 method ( 1-week primary,2-weeks secondary,3-weeks bottle conditioning) but have also heard some say they get a MUCH better beer with 2-1-3 method. I personally have started kegging so bottling isn't much of a concern to me anymore and i for my stouts have also skipped the 2ndary alltogether and left beer in the primary ale pail for a month+. Generally for any beer as long as you're not on the yeast cake for over 5 months you've nothing to worry about.

What `my` question is,is `what is the generally accepted avg primary time for complete acetylaldehyde and diacetyl clean up in beers`...not just for "a drinkable" beer but for "good/great beer"....i homebrew to make/drink great beer,if i just wanted swill i'd go and buy BMC.(well,not really,i drink guinnes/michelob amber bock instead of BMC)

2ndary can help with clearing your beers no doubt but aren't allways needed.If i bother doing a 2ndary i'll put in some "super-kleer k.c." (kieselsol/chitosan) and it works really,really well for clearing the beer.

To answer Tadkays original question/post i would have to say "no, don't rack them both yet." The munich style needs more time in primary for sure,the scotch ale though probably is fine to rack.

 

[tadkays]

i have a fluid system now: bottle, rack, clean, brew again! 4 carboys, assembly line in production! have to plan big brews accordingly! all good. rahahb.