Double Container Change before Kegging?

[stevenryals]

Ok.. quick questions..

I do the Primary & Secondary method... and was wondering before kegging if I should move from secondary to a bottling bucket, or another satinized bucket, and let it sit? and after it clears a bit more, move it one more time to get it away from any excess sediment?

What the best practice here? just wondering... never kegged before, adn doing my first next weekend..

 

[IrregularPulse]

Lots of us move straight from primary to keg. others use secondaries. Secondaries is definitely enough. You could always cold crash the secondary to clear it further. Every time you transfer is a risk for infection.

 

[stevenryals]

gotcha... So I'll go straight from the secondary..

could you give me a bit more info on 'cold crashing' ??

 

[bulletproof4age]

I move my primary to a counter before I begin cleaning my keg. By the time I'm done, anything I had disturbed is settled out again.

If I think about it, sometimes I'll move my primary to the counter early in the day.

 

[ajwillys]

Definitely go secondary to keg at the absolute most. Cold crashing is dropping the temp below forty for a couple days to clear the beer and drop everything out of suspension.

 

[Evan!]

The other thing to know is that every time you transfer, you introduce more oxygen into the beer. The less transfers the better. As long as your sanitation practices are up to snuff, you should not have to worry about infection.

 

[stevenryals]

ok, I can understand that.. are there any other benifits of cold crashing besides simply clearing?

 

[Evan!]

ok, I can understand that.. are there any other benifits of cold crashing besides simply clearing?

Definitely benefits beyond aesthetics. Cleaner beers, overall.

 

[stevenryals]

so, just throw the carboy in the fridge for a couple days before kegging then...

 

[Evan!]

depending on the beer and the yeast, a couple days may or may not be enough. The White Labs Belgian Golden Ale strain, for example, takes a month or more to clear up. Also depends on if you have any wheat, and what your protein makeup looks like. But I'd say a week minimum is probably a safe bet for most ales. But don't put it in there too early or you'll stunt the yeasts' cleanup efforts. Even though fermentation looks finished and you're not getting airlock activity anymore, they're still doing their thing for a few days afterward. I like to give 2 weeks at fermenting temps...actually, you can ramp up your temps towards the end of fermentation and then leave it there (70-74f for ales) for a few days once it's stopped actively fermenting.

 

[stevenryals]

ok great.. i'm using a brittish ale years (nottingham i think) and no wheat..
I'll let it sit in the secondary for a couple weeks, then cool her down a bit.. then keg it...

 

[ombre42]

Most sediment that ever comes out of the keg comes out the first pull if you leave it undisturbed. Some people here that go straight from primary to keg, cut their dip tubes a little shorter to avoid drawing any sediment or getting a clogged tube.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Primary to keg works fine here. You can extend the primary time, chill the primary if you wish, and go straight to the keg w/ nice results. IMO secondaries are not required for "average" brews.

 

[jds]

I often go straight to keg from fermenter. In fact, I'm using a keg for bulk conditioning of an IPA with dry hops and oak right now. In a few more days, I'll chill and carbonate it. Usually, the first few pints have some sediment, and after that, it's clear beering.

 

[ajwillys]

My routine is 3 weeks in primary, 3-5 days cold crash, and 3 weeks in keg. I will never go back to secondary unless I'm dry-hopping or something. One reason not mentioned here yet is that the amount of time you spend on non-brewing activities (racking, kegging/bottling, checking gravity, etc.) is significantly reduced. I usually keg one during the mash of another.