Fermentation time before secondary

[CaptZav]

Hey guys, I made this recipe https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/easy-chimay-blue-clone-73965/ and it says to rack to the secondary after 5 days. Well, the yeast was still quite bubbly on the top of the wert even today (9 days). Should I wait for activity to stop, or just put it in the secondary.

Also, I am using my bottling bucket as my secondary, does this make a difference? ( can't afford a glass carboy, but soon hopefully D


Thanks

 

[TipsyDragon]

first wait till fermentation is actually done before racking it anywhere. the yeast are still working and will clean up after themselves. second i would recommend using glass for a secondary. plastic is not an oxygen barrier and with no CO2 to push out the oxygen you are risking oxidation. also bucket lids are notorious for not sealing air tight.

 

[CaptZav]

I know a carboy is optimal, but when I was talking to the guys in my brewshop, they said I could get away with using a secondary, thats why I went ahead and tried the recipe. Like I said, money is tight, and I would like to get a carboy, but I can't until my next paycheck. Thanks for the response though, I'll wait a few more days.

 

[dcp27]

you could probably just skip the secondary step altogether. Unless your adding something or aging for a long time (months), it's not really necessary.

 

[maida7]

I would recommend skipping the secondary. Just leave it alone in the primary until it's fully fermented, you have reached the proper final gravity and/or the yeast has flocculated. They go straight to the bottles. Lager it in the bottles for at least a month before drinking.

 

[PT Ray]

I'd just leave it in the primary for about 3 weeks. You can use the bottling bucket but how are you going to bottle? You can prime each bottle and go straight from your secondary. Or transfer back to your primary and siphon into the bottles.

I wouldn't lose any sleep skipping the secondary.

 

[brewagentjay]

Rack To Secondary Once Bubble have stopped or close to it in airlock they'll still be kicking in the primary a bit, as it will continue to ferment in secondary. Just my two cents from how I do it. I do 14 to 21 days in primary and 7 to 14 in secondary.

 

[CaptZav]

What the beer guys at my homebrew store told me to do: Since it is a trappist, it must be triple fermented, I will have to add yeast 3 times. He said, brew and add the yeast the first time, wait a week and rack it over to the bottling bucket and add the next batch of yeast, then wait 2-3 weeks, and add a third batch of yeast. Wait 3 days and bottle. Is this completely off? or should I continue with this plan?

 

[PT Ray]

No it doesn't need to be triple fermented. In fact, I've never heard of such a thing. I have heard of adding fresh yeast at bottling time for high gravity beer, but not at 1.068.

 

[dcp27]

some Belgian brewers do ferment with one yeast and then bottle condition with another, but it doesn't mean u need to. I'd just go with what Ray said and leave it in the primary for 3 weeks then bottle.

 

[maida7]

No it doesn't need to be triple fermented. In fact, I've never heard of such a thing. I have heard of adding fresh yeast at bottling time for high gravity beer, but not at 1.068.

+1 sounds like they just wanted to sell you some extra yeast. No way do you need to "triple" ferment this beer.

 

[loxnar]

I know a carboy is optimal, but when I was talking to the guys in my brewshop, they said I could get away with using a secondary, thats why I went ahead and tried the recipe. Like I said, money is tight, and I would like to get a carboy, but I can't until my next paycheck. Thanks for the response though, I'll wait a few more days.

great solution to expensive glass carboys....and you can drop them full of beer off the roof and they wont break

http://morebeer.com/view_product/6531/103701/Better_Bottle_-_6_Gallon_Carboy

 

[CaptZav]

So do I need to add in another batch of yeast before bottling? or at all?

 

[CaptZav]

I asked around, and found out a friend of a friend has a carboy I can borrow, can anyone help me with the secondary step, or should I still skip it. And just to make sure, I do not need to add more yeast at all correct?

 

[maida7]

I would skip the secondary and the extra yeast.

The only reason you would need to add more yeast is if the initial yeast runs into a problem.

 

[HBHoss]

I've never used a secondary. I would skip it and go straight to bottling. Wait at least 2 weeks in fermenter.

 

[PT Ray]

I forget some brewers will dump the hot break, trub and spent hops in the primary. If this is the case I'd probably take advantage of the carboy.

A secondary seems to help my beer drop clear faster but most of the time let it do so in the primary.

 

[CaptZav]

So when would it be a good idea to use a secondary? and why or why not for this recipe?

 

[Grimm]

I have the same question. I'm 2 weeks in primary on a stout, it looks like carbonation bubbles are the only thing on the top, i was going to rack to a secondary glass carboy and let it sit there a week or 2 more. is it too late to go to secondary?

 

[maida7]

I have the same question. I'm 2 weeks in primary on a stout, it looks like carbonation bubbles are the only thing on the top, i was going to rack to a secondary glass carboy and let it sit there a week or 2 more. is it too late to go to secondary?

There is no need for a secondary with most beers. Sometimes a secondary is needed for fruit beers, and sours. Normal beers are better left in the primary and then straight to the bottle.

Check the gravity. If you have reached your target finishing gravity and the yeast has fully flocculated, it's time to bottle.

 

[loxnar]

So when would it be a good idea to use a secondary? and why or why not for this recipe?

there are a few reasons people use secondary....some people wanna add flavors during fermentation but choose to do so after the initial fermentation is over and generally when they do this they plan to age the beer in the secondary for some time. For example i have a porter in the primary at the moment...plan is day 14 to rack it to a secondary fermenting tank on top of some vanilla beans i have soaking in vodka. I will let that sit for about a month to two months and all those flavors should condition together real nice.

Id say you can leave just about any beer in the primary and on top of your trub (bottom sediment with dead yeast cells etc etc) for about four weeks...anything after that and you run into possible (not always) off flavors. So as HBHoss said if you really dont need to you can just bottle it after two weeks, assuming your SG readings have indicated over a few days that the yeast is in fact done with fermentation.

 

[btprice2001]

I am planning on brewing a Belgian dubbel or tripel and then a strong Scotch ale for later in the year, so I have been trying to read up on these too. Another reason I have seen made your using a secondary is for bulk conditioning as opposed to conditioning in bottles. My understanding is that bigger beers should be conditioned longer and some people believe that bulk conditioning is better than conditioning in bottles. Therefore, if you're going to bulk condition longer, you would need to use a secondary. I'm not clear why bulk conditioning would be better though. Would the beer end up better or would it condition faster?

Anyway, for both the Belgian and Scotch, I currently plan on primary only for 4 - 6 weeks and then bottle conditioning for several months. Like the using a secondary vs. primary only debate, I'm sure the benefits of bulk conditioning are debatable. I always try to keep things simple.

 

[maida7]

I am planning on brewing a Belgian dubbel or tripel and then a strong Scotch ale for later in the year, so I have been trying to read up on these too. Another reason I have seen made your using a secondary is for bulk conditioning as opposed to conditioning in bottles. My understanding is that bigger beers should be conditioned longer and some people believe that bulk conditioning is better than conditioning in bottles. Therefore, if you're going to bulk condition longer, you would need to use a secondary. I'm not clear why bulk conditioning would be better though. Would the beer end up better or would it condition faster?

Anyway, for both the Belgian and Scotch, I currently plan on primary only for 4 - 6 weeks and then bottle conditioning for several months. Like the using a secondary vs. primary only debate, I'm sure the benefits of bulk conditioning are debatable. I always try to keep things simple.

I'm sure others will disagree as there is not a lot of real studies of this stuff. It's all personal experiences.

I've brewed all 3 of those styles in the past year. The scotch ale and the dubble took about 2 weeks in the primary and then I kegged them. The trippel took 3 weeks in the primary and then straight to the keg. Once fermentation is done, you have reached your target final gravity and the yeast has flocculated, there is no reason to keep it in the fermenter.

I'm not convinced that bulk aging does anything. I do age my beers in the keg before drinking them. These stronger styles I will age for 3-6 months. I guess aging in a keg is considered bulk aging but I don't know that it's really gonna make a difference if it's aged in bulk or in bottles. I would think other factors like temperature and oxygen would make MUCH more of an impact.