Educate me on Secondary...

[oldstyle244]

So the local place I have been buying kits from lately has pretty much the same instructions, ferment up to 7 days, secondary 1-2 weeks. I have been pretty much following that (the 1 week secondary) and then kegging and the beer has been great. I recently bought a Belgium kit (up to 10.5%) and as I was about to leave the guys says he would leave that one in secondary for a minimum of a month if not longer, he says he usually goes 6 months.

So what is actually happening in the secondary? Isn't the beer technically good to go after fermentation is done? Is everything else just quality/taste?

 

[JimRausch]

First off, the term 'secondary fermentation' should be retired as there generally is not much fermentation going unless you add more fermentables, or transferred way too early. I prefer 'cold conditioning' or 'bright tank'.
However things are happening , especially with a high gravity brew such as you are thinking about. The yeast are finishing up after their initial fermentation, chewing on the more difficult-to-ferment sugars,and changing some of their waste products to more preferable(to humans) compounds.(think the digestion of diacetyl). There are also chemical reactions happening independent of the yeast. The book "Yeast" has a real good section. It's definitely a good read.
But think about it- the changes that happen in the presence of yeast, happen better with more yeast, so transferring prematurely would hurt there. The changes that happen without yeast will happen anywhere- primary or conditioning vessel, or even bottle.
So, a 10.5 % Belgian Quad, I would leave it alone for a good 3 weeks, and then IF THE SG IS STABLE, leave it alone another 3 weeks before bottling. Bottle condition them for 3 weeks, then put them somewhere cold for 2-3 months. Or, if you have good temp. control, transfer it and keep it at a low temp, kind of like lagering, for 3 months before bottling. Alcohol bite fades/changes with a couple months time.

 

[WildTim]

To sum up"

Yes, everything else is just quality and taste but especially with the bigger beers there is a whole lot of quality and taste you need to wait for or the beer is going to taste pretty bad.

 

[RM-MN]

So the local place I have been buying kits from lately has pretty much the same instructions, ferment up to 7 days, secondary 1-2 weeks. I have been pretty much following that (the 1 week secondary) and then kegging and the beer has been great. I recently bought a Belgium kit (up to 10.5%) and as I was about to leave the guys says he would leave that one in secondary for a minimum of a month if not longer, he says he usually goes 6 months.

So what is actually happening in the secondary? Isn't the beer technically good to go after fermentation is done? Is everything else just quality/taste?

Back in the dark ages of home brewing when the yeast was not so good and info on brewing harder to find, the 1-2-3 method of brewing was invented. One week on the yeast to get the beer near FG, then get it off the yeast before it autolysed and ruined the batch. 2 weeks in the bright tank to get it to mostly clear, then 3 weeks to bottle condition.

Now, yeast is much more healthy, info is at your fingertips, and brewing vessels are better. Your yeast won't autolyse in a week or in a month or even 6 months so you don't have to hurry to get your beer off it. In fact, you make better beer by leaving it on the yeast longer. That extra time also lets the yeast drop out to clear your beer so you don't need a "bright tank" and with longer time in the fermenter, the beer will mature there and you don't need as much time in the bottle for the beer to "bottle condition". Just a few days to carbonate and you are ready to drink it.

 

[AnOldUR]

First off, the term 'secondary fermentation' should be retired as there generally is not much fermentation going unless you add more fermentables, or transferred way too early. I prefer 'cold conditioning' or 'bright tank'.

Cold conditioning is one way of clearing ales, but not all secondary vessels are cold conditioned, so the term is not synonymous. Bright tanks are where a beer goes to get carbonated and clear, so again, not the correct term.

 

[ericbw]

I think the key is time, regardless of what it's in. A week in primary and 2 in secondary, or 3 in primary... seems to be the same.

I just feel like it's another step and chance for error. So I leave it alone 4 weeks.

 

[RM-MN]

I think the key is time, regardless of what it's in. A week in primary and 2 in secondary, or 3 in primary... seems to be the same.

I just feel like it's another step and chance for error. So I leave it alone 4 weeks.

It's pretty rare for a brewer to get an infection in secondary but it does happen. Infections in primary are even more rare. People who have tried both say that beer clears as well or better with primary alone.

 

[ericbw]

It's pretty rare for a brewer to get an infection in secondary but it does happen. Infections in primary are even more rare. People who have tried both say that beer clears as well or better with primary alone.

I've had an infection when I sanitized well, and I've forgotten to sanitize and had a great batch. So it's a crapshoot.

I think bottle infections are more likely (and worse because you could have a good bottle and a bad bottle from the same batch).

 

[j1n]

If you keg then you can use it as a secondary. its much better too since its light proof and you can manually purge out the o2

 

[kh54s10]

I didn't read through the responses but directions that say ferment for X days and secondary for X days are not giving you the best options.

You should not transfer to secondary (if at all) until you have reached final gravity.

You should not really secondary all your beers at the same schedule either. Leave it until very clear.

You can bulk age heavier beers (to allow the many flavors to blend and mellow) in your primary or secondary, or you can bottle after it is at FG and clear and age the beer in the bottles. I made a winter ale a few years ago that was not very good for over 6 months after that to 2 years old it improved I still have a few left that are almost 3 years old. The flavor peaked a while ago but they are still good.

 

[patthebrewer]

back in the dark ages of home brewing when the yeast was not so good and info on brewing harder to find, the 1-2-3 method of brewing was invented. One week on the yeast to get the beer near fg, then get it off the yeast before it autolysed and ruined the batch. 2 weeks in the bright tank to get it to mostly clear, then 3 weeks to bottle condition.

Now, yeast is much more healthy, info is at your fingertips, and brewing vessels are better. Your yeast won't autolyse in a week or in a month or even 6 months so you don't have to hurry to get your beer off it. In fact, you make better beer by leaving it on the yeast longer. That extra time also lets the yeast drop out to clear your beer so you don't need a "bright tank" and with longer time in the fermenter, the beer will mature there and you don't need as much time in the bottle for the beer to "bottle condition". Just a few days to carbonate and you are ready to drink it.

+1

 

[mattmmille]

This is a subject that I read a lot about when I first started brewing, last Fall. I'm still a newbie, but my brews have come a long way. I'm doing all grain now, using the BIAB method. As you can see, opinions will vary on this one and will be arduously defended. I will agree with the folks recommending that you not use set times as the deciding factor on when to rack, but to track conditions and SG. The airlock can even be deceptive. If you don't like losing hydrometer sample amounts multiple times and opening your beer to possible infection, then you should just give it of plenty of time in primary.

I think that this "opportunity for infection" fear has led many to the "no secondary" camp. I'm a freak about sanitizing stuff and I haven't had any infections...maybe a couple of individual bottles, but certainly not a whole batch. I know that secondary is not generally for more fermentation, so I just say "primary", "secondary", "tertiary" and drop the word "fermentation". I assume people in these circles know what I'm talking about.

I, personally, am one of those who does not like to leave the beer on the trub longer than I have to and when I rack, that's one less layer of crap for me to have to worry about disturbing and getting into my bottles. (I don't keg...maybe less of an issue for keggers?) I also like adding adjuncts to secondary for flavoring, like cocoa nibs or dry hops. And with ciders, I have found that I may rack them several times to get them nice and crystal clear.

So, I'm a proponent of secondary...and racking, in general, if you do your best to sanitize that crap out of everything!

 

[oldstyle244]

Thanks for the responses, makes a lot of sense, sounds like I need to practice a little more patience and pay more attention to the beer and less to the instructions