Is it even necessary?

[Tactical-Brewer]

So I have absolutely no plans to rack to a secondary unless for whatever reason I decide to bulk age a beer for many months to avoid ... to avoid... Dang it the yeast off flavors from sitting on a yeast cake for too long (I never can remember the name of that. Something lyse I think).

However, I do plan on adding different things once primary fermentation is complete. Be it vanilla beans, cocoa nibs, coffee grounds, etc.

Question is, A, is it absolutely necessary to rack into a secondary if you want to and stuff and B, why is it necessary? Why does that make a difference if only to have less trub? Do you have to let it set on the flavor/aroma enhancers too long and could get that yeast "lyse" problem going on?

Just curious,
Tac

 

[Auger]

Autolysis.

I've always racked to secondary when adding flavor stuff just so it doesn't get buried in trub. With cacao nibs or vanilla beans, you really want maximum exposure to the beer for flavor extraction, and you'll lose some of that if they fall to the bottom and are sitting in a half inch of sludge.

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

Gotchya, and thanks a mill for the word!

So, I could potentially put them in a larger mesh nylon sack with a draw string and put them in where they'd set in the middle of the fermentor, snap the lid back on and be good to go?

 

[PatrickGoss]

Gotchya, and thanks a mill for the word!

So, I could potentially put them in a larger mesh nylon sack with a draw string and put them in where they'd set in the middle of the fermentor, snap the lid back on and be good to go?

That works just fine. Be sure to give the bag and string (dental floss works great) a starssan soak!

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

Perfect, thanks guys!

 

[m00ps]

Well to throw a wrench into your gears...

Every time ive added cacao nibs, vanilla, cinnamon, coffee beans, etc (+10times), I just dumped them into the primary without a bag. I like to boil them in a bit of water to both sanitize and quickly extract flavor. Seems to work fine, the pieces are too large to get sucked up by the siphon

The only times ive used a secondary is for several pounds of fruit

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

Did you have good results flavor/aroma wise m00ps?

How long did you let it sit on the additions?

 

[m00ps]

Yeah, I had great results in terms of flavor since the heat from sanitizing it in a boil extracts a lot fo flavor that youd normally have to have it sit in vodka or something for a week or more to get. I add the whole mixture into my fermentor because I figure theres still flavor left in the material itself.

I usually do this anywhere 4-7 days before packaging, like you would a dry hop

Only word of caution, if you are using whole coffee beans, it definitely makes a difference how long they sit in there. I would use a bag and taste every 2 days or so to prevent it from becoming too strong for your tastes. You cna remove them if needed

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

Awesome info! I just plan on using coffee grounds of my favorite coffee.

Plans to make a chocolate mocha milk stout at some point because hey why not haha.

Thanks for the info guys!

 

[BarrelAgedForrest]

Awesome info! I just plan on using coffee grounds of my favorite coffee.

Plans to make a chocolate mocha milk stout at some point because hey why not haha.

Thanks for the info guys!

Or at preboil you could steep some kiln coffee malt. It added great flavor to the wort I did last week. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

Awesome! Keep us posted on how well it Barrel!

 

[Ungoliant]

You can always use vodka (or bourbon if you want a "bourbon barrel" character), and soak whatever the adjunct is in it for about two weeks (cacao, coffee, etc). This makes a tincture you can add directly to the secondary.

The idea with racking to age it is to both get it off the trub and also reduce the headspace to prevent oxidation.

You want to rack in to a smaller vessel as well (I.e. 6.5g primary, 5g secondary).