Forgoing Secondary.

[Orfy]

Following my 3 batch brew day the 3 brews have been in primary for 2 weeks.
On Monday I was going to transfer to Secondary.

I'm using all 3 of my fermenters so I'd have to transfer the first to a pail, then clean and sterilise the fermenter to transfer the second beer into and repeat for all three.

I'm seriously considering just letting all three sit in Primary for 4 weeks before racking to my corny kegs.

What do you think?


Don't tell me to by more fermenters!
It's not an option for multiple reasons.

 

[Yooper]

I always use a secondary- but I don't keg. If it was me, I'd just do exactly what you're suggesting, maybe leaving them in primary for 3 weeks before kegging, though. No way would I go through the hassle of racking, cleaning and sanitizing and then re-racking. It's not worth it and a better chance of oxidation and sanitation issues.

I'm still in awe of your 3 brew day. I barely manage one and I'm beat. I hate the clean up, though, so I guess you only have to do that once when you do the multiple batch. Still, you're my brew hero!

 

[EdWort]

I'd crash cool it, then rack to a keg. It's what I am doing these days. I just picked up my 4th bucket so I can have 10 gallons fermenting while 10 gallons are cooling in preparation to keg. My beers turn out very clear after a couple days sitting in the keggerator. I can't see going through the effort to rack into a secondary for my mainstay beers anymore.

 

[jdoiv]

I've do like EdWort does. I move the beer into a keg after primary ferment is done and let it condition there. Secondarys are just for clearing anyway and 5 gallons is 5 gallons. Let it set and clear in the keg and just toss the first pint if it is cloudy.

 

[Brew-boy]

I let primary good for two weeks then rack to a keg. There is no advantage of secondary in my opinion unless dry hopping. Just let it clear/condition in the keg.
One less chance for a problem to develope.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I've let HWs in the primary for 30 days without any problems. Just be a bit more careful when racking to the bottling bucket. You already know to try not to disturb the sediment.

 

[RichBrewer]

I'd go for it if I were you. Not doing a secondary on 3 beers will be a huge time saver.
Now you've got me thinking about my next batch...

 

[Trappist Artist]

If you are going into a keg, could you push it through a filter? At least you'd have bright beer.

 

[Orfy]

If you are going into a keg, could you push it through a filter? At least you'd have bright beer.

Thanks Trappist but I believe in less is more. KISS. I don't want more work and equipment.

 

[Catfish]

**** the secondary; it is over rated. Just leave it in the primary as long or cut 2.5cm (1inch) off your dip tube and keg it.

 

[Orfy]

I ain't cutting no dip tube, it sounds painful.

(Well I might)

 

[Zymurgrafi]

Another vote for leave it. In a similar situation I believe HB 99 (and others) inspired me to leave mine for about a month. It was an oatmeal stout and it turned out quite nicely, in fact that was the one I won 3rd place with at my local homebrew competetion. Definately made a believer out of me as to longer primary times.

What are are the brews in question btw?

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

After a few days with th ekeg in the fridge, most of teh yeasr will drop out anyway. Just pull a pint or so and the yeast will come with it. I'd leave it in cold storage for a week or more though. (10 days to 3 weeks).

 

[david_42]

I keg from the fermenter, generally 2-3 weeks after the ferment stops. Sediment isn't much of a problem at that point. In the winter, I'll crash cool first, but until the new kegger is done, I can't do that in the summer.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Another vote for leave it. In a similar situation I believe HB 99 (and others) inspired me to leave mine for about a month. It was an oatmeal stout and it turned out quite nicely, in fact that was the one I won 3rd place with at my local homebrew competetion. Definately made a believer out of me as to longer primary times.

What are are the brews in question btw?

Glad to help.

 

[saul]

Following my 3 batch brew day the 3 brews have been in primary for 2 weeks.
On Monday I was going to transfer to Secondary.

I'm using all 3 of my fermenters so I'd have to transfer the first to a pail, then clean and sterilise the fermenter to transfer the second beer into and repeat for all three.

I'm seriously considering just letting all three sit in Primary for 4 weeks before racking to my corny kegs.

What do you think?

Try racking directly to kegs for half the batches, then let the other half sit. Consider it an experiment.

IMHO, anything non yeast that WILL fall clear has probably already done so.

 

[yodar]

Following my 3 batch brew day the 3 brews have been in primary for 2 weeks.
On Monday I was going to transfer to Secondary.

I'm using all 3 of my fermenters so I'd have to transfer the first to a pail, then clean and sterilise the fermenter to transfer the second beer into and repeat for all three.

I'm seriously considering just letting all three sit in Primary for 4 weeks before racking to my corny kegs.

What do you think?


Don't tell me to by more fermenters!
It's not an option for multiple reasons.

-----------
There's a respected commentrator and author and brewer on the brewing network, whose podcasts are released each sunday. His name is Jamil. He and I agree in that most beers should be left on the yeast bed long enough for the yeast to clean up the brew, finish consuming all the metabolic intermediaries by completing all it's metaboloc processes, before racking.

He doesnt use secondarys on almost all of his beers. Non of my beers are very complex, and they clear in 4-7 days in the bottle. I am an ale man without facilities or room for lagering chillers.

The closest thing I got to a chiller is JUST able to lower my fermentation temps to 65 degress, using a peltier cooler in an insulated box for my carboy.

It would take several chillers, my guess, to get a carboy down into the 50's.

I suspect were I brewing lagers, a secondary might be helpful. But my ales are happy and quickly consumed.

yodar

 

[brewhead]

I'd crash cool it, then rack to a keg.

i wouldn't go as far as to say that the secondary is over rated - but cold crashing and kegging is a tried and true technique.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Yeah, I'm switching back to ales for now. Damn lagering takes so long. I don't really have a good setup for lagering for long periods.

Clean ale yeasts with lager recipes for the summer brews for now. Planning on using a chest freezer for a lagering fridge eventually..when I move.. whenever that is. (I've had my moving date postponed 3 bloody times now).

 

[Orfy]

Well that settles it.

A. you lot convinced me.
B. I've done my back in and spent most of the weekend in bed!

 

[FlyingHorse]

B. I've done my back in and spent most of the weekend in bed!

Ouch! Get well soon, and I hope you can at least reach a brew from there....

 

[mward]

I don't know if it was Jamil I hearing on the podcast but someone was saying that he has tasted a lot of beers in competition that suffered from aeration during racking to the secondary and that the risk of messing up your beer in that manner wasn't worth the tiny gain in clarity. There was a big hairy discussion about this over on NB (I think, might have been B3) with lots of crotchety grumpyness, but the consensus among the more forward thinking members was skip the secondary on things that don't require lagering. I just add gelatin to the primary and let it settle out for a week after fermenation is complete and rack off of that to my keg. Yummy beer. Hope you feel better soon, my back does that from time to time and it sucks!