Move to second vessel during secondary?

[Ludesbrews]

Hey all. We are brewing a 5 gallon batch of Witbier (extract kit) and have a question about secondary.

There has been much discussion about moving from one vessel to another during secondary. My buddy said he read something that said if you leave it in the primary fermenter for too long without moving it to a different one, something can happen and make the beer taste like crap.

I’ve heard no such thing- I am just wondering if anyone else has?

I have brewed 5 gallons before and have used both techniques with success. I usually move from primary fermenter to secondary if I am planning on dry-hopping.

What you guys thing?

Thanks
Ludes Brews

 

[Abrayton]

I don’t think moving beer to a secondary vessel is very common these days. Maybe for bulk aging for an extended period of time. Not sure what others do but I dry hop in primary vessel.

 

[z-bob]

There has been much discussion about moving from one vessel to another during secondary. My buddy said he read something that said if you leave it in the primary fermenter for too long without moving it to a different one, something can happen and make the beer taste like crap.

Yes, but it takes many months for that to happen. It's more of an issue with wine and mead than beer.

Most people here seem to just use one fermenter, and they transfer the beer to a bottling bucket when they're ready to package it. I have gone back to using 2 fermenters, but I bottle directly from the secondary fermenter.

I have only done dry-hops once, but I liked how it turned out and will do it again. I put the hops in a fine mesh bag and stuffed the bag into the carboy. After a week I fished it out.

 

[Ludesbrews]

[emoji1303]thanks for the help guys

 

[GHBWNY]

The older school of thought (Palmer, Papazian, etc.) was to get the beer off the trub so that the taste wasn't adversely affected by the dead yeast, spent hops, etc. (some even recommend skimming the kraussen off the top of the wort before it has a chance to drop). However, time and hundreds of thousands of home brewers' batches have shown such things to not be super-critical to the successful outcome of a batch of beer.

For me, "to secondary or not to secondary?", comes down to personal preference. While I understand and appreciate the prohibitions against doing a secondary (contamination, infection, oxidation, etc.), when I want super-clarity, or need to bulk-age a big beer, or infuse a post-ferm beer with fruit, I wait 10-14 days and then rack to a second vessel and have never had a problem. From my experience, the cautious and sanitary pursuit of brewing enjoyment supersedes the risk of contamination every time.

 

[MT's AZ Ale Haus]

I don’t think moving beer to a secondary vessel is very common these days. Maybe for bulk aging for an extended period of time. Not sure what others do but I dry hop in primary vessel.

When you secondary dry hop in the same vessel, do break down the Krausen and stir the pot?

 

[Abrayton]

When you secondary dry hop in the same vessel, do break down the Krausen and stir the pot?

No to both. I wait until krausen falls and just dump the hops in, wait a few days, cold crash and keg.

 

[RM-MN]

There has been much discussion about moving from one vessel to another during secondary. My buddy said he read something that said if you leave it in the primary fermenter for too long without moving it to a different one, something can happen and make the beer taste like crap.

A little background on his information and where it comes from. Yes, yeast can autolyse in the fermenter and cause a rotting meat taste but it takes special circumstances for that to happen. Much of what we have been led to believe about brewing comes from commercial brewers, the ones with the big conical fermenters that hold thousands of gallons of beer. With these conicals, yeast collects in the bottom of the conical in large quantities and there is where the problem starts. That big mass of yeast heats up which then kills a bunch of the yeast. The dead yeast cause the bad taste.

Being a home brewer,. you will never get enough yeast in one place to cause the heating so the problem doesn't exist. You can leave your beer in the primary fermenter for months if you want. I don't see any reason to do so but you can. I usually decide to bottle somewhere between 10 and 30 days and the 30 days tries my patience.

 

[jfolks]

No, never secondary! (Unless you’re bulk aging a beer - like a imperial stout or a sour - even then I wouldn’t do it). You risk picking up oxygen and contaminants- you have nothing to gain. Secondary is an old wives tale - we’ve moved on!

 

[gestyr]

I usually just use 1 fermenter. I have never had an issue with it spoiling and at times I have had to go up to a month before bottling due to work, family, etc. For dry hopping I use a Depth Charge ( a stainless steel infuser)

 

[RM-MN]

Secondary is an old wives tale -

It isn't an old wives tale, it just pertains to brewing at a much different scale than home brewers.

I've left a beer in the primary fermenter for 2 1/2 months and it came out really good.

 

[GHBWNY]

Maybe this is a good time to talk about what a "secondary" really is. To my understanding, a "secondary" is the process of transferring the beer to a second vessel strictly for the purpose of creating a second fermentation, as in the case of a fruit addition where the sugar in the fruit reacts to the yeast and creates a "secondary" fermentation. Most of my so-called "secondaries" do not involve a second fermentation, so they are technically a "second-vessel transfer" done merely for settling and clearing the beer, which, along with gelatin and cold-crashing, give me SUPER-clear beers.

 

[ABI Brewery]

In my eyes the "secondary" was a second vessel to move the beer just to get it off of the "yeast cake" and hop matter, but in my experience if you dont move your primary you will be fine, just syphene your beer just above the cake on the bottom and your good

 

[McKnuckle]

Breweries call it a settling tank, clarifying tank, or maturation tank (I like that last term).

There may be minimal yeast metabolism activities occurring in this vessel, but the primary goal is to age the beer a bit more before it is deep chilled, optionally filtered, and stabilized for packaging.

In homebrewing you can achieve this very same process either in the primary fermenter, or in the package itself - especially if it's a keg. Hence an intermediary step is usually not needed. A brewery is different because it's an assembly line. Need to move the beer out of primary tanks to get the next batch in.