Did I mess up?

[MissStBrewDawg]

I am about to transfer my first brew ever from my primary into my secondary and I am going over my notes I took during the actual creation of the wort.

When I moved my completed wort into my primary bucket (prior to cooling down to acceptable temp) I used a sterilized strainer to strain out all the hops and as much sediment as possible. After straining and bringing to temp, I pitched my yeast.

Should I not have strained out all of the hops and other particulate? A lot of videos I am watching on youtube all have the hops still suspended in the primary bucket.

Any input would be great! Thanks!

 

[kombat]

Nah, you're fine.

 

[Rockn_M]

I don't even do what you did. Everything goes into the fermentation bucket.

One thing to think about is not moving to a secondary. In my opinion it really isn't needed, it only increases your risk of infection and oxidation.

If you can cold crash go ahead and cold crash for a few days and you'll be very suprised how clear your beer will come out.

Good Luck!

 

[hunter_le five]

Nah, you're fine.

This.

It's a matter of preference, really. Some people think there's a benefit to throwing the trub into the fermenter with the wort; some people think there's a benefit to straining it all out.

In my own personal, anecdotal, completely unscientific opinion/experience, I don't believe it really makes much of a difference one way or the other.

 

[microbusbrewery]

One thing to think about is not moving to a secondary. In my opinion it really isn't needed, it only increases your risk of infection and oxidation.

+1, unless you're racking onto fruit, or bulk aging, or something along those lines, there really isn't a need to rack to secondary. It's kind of an antiquated practice and as Rockn_M pointed out, it increases the chances of oxidation and infection.

 

[MissStBrewDawg]

I don't even do what you did. Everything goes into the fermentation bucket.

One thing to think about is not moving to a secondary. In my opinion it really isn't needed, it only increases your risk of infection and oxidation.

If you can cold crash go ahead and cold crash for a few days and you'll be very suprised how clear your beer will come out.

Good Luck!

The book I got with my first kit says secondary fermentation is used to produce a clearer beer. But I have never heard of cold crashing before, so I will look that up if it also produces the same result.

I have planned on moving from primary into secondary and then when ready for bottling moving secondary into a bottling bucket and adding priming sugar and then of course bottling. But it seems like all of that back and forth could definitely increase the infection risk.

 

[microbusbrewery]

The book I got with my first kit says secondary fermentation is used to produce a clearer beer.

Yeah that's the old school of thought. Clear beer isn't absolutely necessary but it usually is more appealing. I'd skip secondary and instead cold crash it. Or even better, cold crash it with gelatin.

 

[BrewHound]

+1, unless you're racking onto fruit, or bulk aging, or something along those lines, there really isn't a need to rack to secondary. It's kind of an antiquated practice and as Rockn_M pointed out, it increases the chances of oxidation and infection.

Glad someone said this! There's plenty of use for a secondary but it depends on what you're making. Have fun!

 

[MissStBrewDawg]

Yeah that's the old school of thought. Clear beer isn't absolutely necessary but it usually is more appealing. I'd skip secondary and instead cold crash it. Or even better, cold crash it with gelatin.

Wow, once I started searching I didn't realize how many different options and ways to clarify beer there are. Thanks a lot for the advice.

Awesome, Thanks for the information everyone!

 

[kev211]

Read this...

Click Me!!

Good write up-spark notes version; potential better flavor by not filtering trub when transferring to fermentation vessel, but no scientific evidence proving this to be true.

And just to drive the point home that others are saying, secondary is not really needed.

Where are you fermenting your beer? Are you using a fermentation chamber? What size batch did you do? Basically cold crashing is the process of cooling the fermentation vessel and beer down to near freezing (around 35 is where I usually set it) for a couple of days causing all the yeast and hop particles in suspension to fall to the bottom of the fermenter. This is usually done in a fermentation chamber (modified refrigerator, freezer or chest freezer with temperature controls which also allow for perfect fermenting temps)

 

[hunter_le five]

Click Me!!

Oh no, I'm not falling for THAT one again.

Fool me once, shame on you; but fool me twice....

 

[kev211]

Oh no, I'm not falling for THAT one again.

Fool me once, shame on you; but fool me twice....

That would imply Ive already fooled you before

Just hover the mouse over the link and you can see where its gonna send you. But for any of the skeptics out there, heres the full URL...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/impact-kettle-trub-part-2-xbmt-results-521396/

 

[Gavin C]

That's why this website is so incredible. So much available info, so many knowledgeable folks.

John Palmer is a real expert on homebrewing. An oracle if you will. He says there is no need to transfer to a secondary vessel in the vast majority of instances.

Regarding your question on the trub. Don't worry about that. Many dump everything into the FV. many go to great lengths to avoid transferring the trub. Brulosopher (a member of HBT) does great experiments and looked at this very question. It is often cited in these discussions. A great read on a great blog here.

Having fun brewing but also in the research and planning is what makes this hobby such fun for me. Hope these links are helpful.

Edit: I'm slow, folks are way ahead of me.

 

[MissStBrewDawg]

That's why this website is so incredible. So much available info, so many knowledgeable folks.

John Palmer is a real expert on homebrewing. An oracle if you will. He says there is no need to transfer to a secondary vessel in the vast majority of instances.

Regarding your question on the trub. Don't worry about that. Many dump everything into the FV. many go to great lengths to avoid transferring the trub. Brulosopher (a member of HBT) does great experiments and looked at this very question. It is often cited in these discussions. A great read on a great blog here.

Having fun brewing but also in the research and planning is what makes this hobby such fun for me. Hope these links are helpful.

Edit: I'm slow, folks are way ahead of me.

I am amazed at those links and how much science goes behind brewing and how much has gone into finding answers to some of the major questions.

What I'm most excited about is exactly what you said Gavin_C; the planning and research is what I have enjoyed. Not only that but I am looking forward to brewing many more batches and using different methods to see what I enjoy the most.