Fermentation question?

[nickel23]

Does a basic IPA and brown ale need primary and secondary fermentation?

 

[Poobah58]

They don't NEED to be racked. If your dry hopping then yes. If not it's a matter for personal preference. Nothing wrong with keeping it in primary until done...

 

[goodgodilovebeer]

Personally, I've never transferred to a secondary vessel. When I'm dry hopping, I add them to the fermenter when it's about 80-90% finished (about the time I do a diacetyl rest).

 

[nickel23]

Thank you. I am using extract kits, so i wont worry about it. When I graduate to dry hopping I will remember the advice to rack it.

 

[unionrdr]

You don't NEED to rack to secondary to dry hop,but you can if you prefer to.
I don't. I wait till the beer is at Fg & settled out clear or slightly misty. Then dry hop one week. Works so well you can smell it as soon as you pop the cap.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

You dont "need" to rack to a secondary, but u may need to if you need to. My first four beers, all extract LME/DME kits, had significant acetaldehyde "green apple" flavors. By the fourth batch, i learned if I racked to asecondary and let it sit in the closet, it cleaned up. It took a month, but I finally had drinkable beer. Having said that, I now know my fermentation temps were too high and that is what was causing the green apple. My first three batches never cleaned up in the bottles. I drank alot of it, had several headaches and threw some out. NowI do all grain and will never go back.

 

[unionrdr]

too much sugar in the batch &/or high ferment temps cause that.

 

[Calder]

My first four beers, all extract LME/DME kits, had significant acetaldehyde "green apple" flavors. By the fourth batch, i learned if I racked to asecondary and let it sit in the closet, it cleaned up. It took a month, but I finally had drinkable beer.

Actually, leaving it on the yeast will clean up that flavor quicker. The acetaldehyde is an intermediate flavor the yeast create while converting the sugars. Once fermentation is complete, the yeast then start to work on the intermediate esters and clean them up. Racking to secondary takes the beer away from a lot of this working yeast, so it takes the little yeast left longer to do the job.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Im sure high temps caused the problem. I wanted to leave it in the primary, but im concerned about it sittin on the trob more than three weeks. Is that a valid concern?

 

[mjdonnelly68]

You don't need to secondary and you don't need to wait 30 minutes after eating to go swimming.