Holiday Ale Secondary Question

[Matt_W]

I have read the discussions on extended primary vs secondary. What I haven't seen, or missed, is the timing considerations. There seems to be a strong following for an extended primary with no secondary given modern yeast strains etc. I'm too green to have an opinion.

In particular, I have a Festivus Miracle Ale from Northern Brewer in the primary right now. It has been about 4 weeks. I meant to transfer to the secondary but life got nuts and so now I have a quandary.

The recommendations from the kit were 2 in the primary 2-4 in the secondary and then 1-2 in bottle.

Do I transfer to secondary for 2 weeks, leave in the primary for another 2 weeks, or go ahead with bottling?

Thanks.

Matt

 

[p_p]

I brew ales at OG under 1.060 and do only primary for 2-3 weeks before botltling. My thinking is that for this kind of beer, transferring will inevitably introduce oxigen, increase the risk of infection and leave another vessel to clean. Opinions are divided, i don't think the benefis of bulk conditioning outweight the risk of introducing extra oxigen.

I may reconsider the day I brew a big beer, but then again am not crazy like you Americans downing those imperial beers that would get me drunk from just popping the cap from the bottle

 

[Yooper]

Bottle it. It's been in the fermenter for over a month? It's done, and it's as clear as it's going to get in the fermenter so it's time to bottle.

 

[Matt_W]

Thanks everyone. I've got it in the bottles.