Howdy - Newby here. Secondary fermentation, good or bad?

[EasyD]

Howdy friends. I've just started my first brew (a Belgian Tripel from a Brewer's Best kit), and primary fermentation seems to going well (one week in). I've made quite a bit of wine before, but this'll be my first beer. Fermentation is slowing down (in my 6.5 gallon glass carboy), and I'd like to know whether it's advisable to run a secondary fermentation, to bring the alcohol up another point or so (from the projected 8.5-9%), and maybe give it a bit more time off the primary's lees/sediment before bottling. Whenever I made wine, I would add a bit of sugar in the secondary, and all went well - it would also help push any oxygen out that may have incurred from the racking process. Any advice? Thanks,
David

 

[lumpher]

Nope to secondary ferm. It does very little except risk oxidation. If it's not finished, just leave it in the fermenter longer. Something that strength I leave in the fermenter for about a month before kegging, and have never done a secondary except for wine.

 

[pvpeacock]

It is completely unnecessary.

 

[Bassman2003]

Yes, skip the secondary. Any negatives from the yeast will take months to appear. Not that you want the yeast involved months down the road... Since you are bottling, just make sure the primary fermentation is complete by taking gravity readings. Then proceed with bottling.

 

[mac_1103]

Yeah, what they said. Brewer's Best kits are a great way to get started, but I really wish they would update their instructions to leave out the secondary. Having said that, the kit you're brewing is the same one that I brewed my first beer with and I did a secondary because it said to and I didn't know any better. It turned out fine anyway.

Couple of other things -

1) If your carboy doesn't have a spigot then it might be better not to open it up to take gravity samples too often.
2) There's a good chance that it will finish with a slightly higher FG than the instructions indicate; this is because they tell you to expect 80% attenuation or more even though the malt extracts are only about 75% fermentable sugars; it doesn't mean that your fermentation is stuck or that you did anything wrong.

 

[AZ Maverick]

I haven't done what's called 'secondary' in many many years it's just not necessary.
I leave my beer in its primary vessel for however long it takes, up to two or three months if necessary.
Anything that requires longer than three months gets transferred to my kegs at that point and then conditions in the keg.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Howdy friends. I've just started my first brew (a Belgian Tripel from a Brewer's Best kit), and primary fermentation seems to going well (one week in). I've made quite a bit of wine before, but this'll be my first beer. Fermentation is slowing down (in my 6.5 gallon glass carboy), and I'd like to know whether it's advisable to run a secondary fermentation, to bring the alcohol up another point or so (from the projected 8.5-9%), and maybe give it a bit more time off the primary's lees/sediment before bottling. Whenever I made wine, I would add a bit of sugar in the secondary, and all went well - it would also help push any oxygen out that may have incurred from the racking process. Any advice? Thanks,
David

First off welcome!

I agree with everyone else on employing secondary fermentation, not needed

The only time it could be done is if you add fruit additions before packaging your beer. I do that sometimes but normally fruit is added at key time then transferred to another keg for serving.

 

[Kickass]

In addition to what’s been said, you can always add more fermentables to the primary vessel. I just did this with a wheat beer which got 5 pounds of berries as primary fermentation slowed.

 

[EasyD]

Thanks all. I did end up running a secondary (before I had gotten back to this page and seen all of this advice to the contrary), added 1 lb. of sugar dissolved in water, both to bring the alcohol up a smidge, and to help push out any O2 and keep it carbon saturated. That was on the 17th. Bottled a couple days ago. I'll let y'all know how she turns out. Being a Belgian Trippel, how long would y'all recommend bottle conditioning before cracking her open? Thanks,
David

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Thanks all. I did end up running a secondary (before I had gotten back to this page and seen all of this advice to the contrary), added 1 lb. of sugar dissolved in water, both to bring the alcohol up a smidge, and to help push out any O2 and keep it carbon saturated. That was on the 17th. Bottled a couple days ago. I'll let y'all know how she turns out. Being a Belgian Trippel, how long would y'all recommend bottle conditioning before cracking her open? Thanks,
David

It's not the end of the world using a secondary.

Let your beer condition for weeks even months for a triple is fine. Letting it sit that long is the hardest part.

My thought is most high alcohol and/or dark grain beers should age for a longer period. They will change in flavor.

 

[lumpher]

how long would y'all recommend bottle conditioning before cracking her open?

How long can you stand staring at that liquid goodness before you cave in? The longer the better. At least several months is good; up to 2 years is even better.