Necessary Secondary?

[jpcoote]

I've heard a lot of people here and elsewhere saying that secondary is an unnecessary step. I heard that it's based on techniques used 30 years ago, when the variety and quality of available yeast were both pretty low. At that time yeast autolysis was a problem, but with today's dramatic increase in yeast variety and quality it almost never happens, not matter how long you leave the beer on the yeast.

Thoughts? I am particularly curious as to the opinions regarding lagers, as their long storage times make this issue especially relevant to them.

 

[TopherM]

This is definitely true for the majority of ale styles. I don't secondary for most beers, but still secondary for all lagers, any beer I intend to do post-fermentation additions to (typically fresh fruit additions), anything that requires extended aging, and beers I intend to dry hop.

Anything else, primary straight to the keg! Autolysis is definitely not a concern at the homebrewing scale.

 

[Chadwick]

I don't secondary any of my beers. To me the use of a secondary is only another point in the process where you risk infection. The small fermentation vessels we use in home brewing are typically small in comparison with the giant tanks used in the commercial industry. As such, the pressure the yeast is under at the bottom of the vessel is much smaller and less likely to destroy the yeast. I suspect the practice of using a secondary is something that is a carry-over from the commercial industry.

 

[KeninMN]

As the Bard once wrote, "To secondary or not to secondary; that is the question." (Incidentally, this has been widely misquoted as, "To be or not to be; that is the question." My sources say it was some teatotaling, Victorian-era, party-pooping puritan who changed it.) It's the classic, "Tastes great! Less Filling!" argument. (Although I'm guessing many home brewers would say that because Miller Lite tastes crappy, it therefore must be less filling, because you can't get filled up on something you won't drink, so the correct answer is "Neither".) There are many good reasons pro and con. I'm of the opinion that, if your process and sanitation practices are sound, and you have a need or desire to do it, than do it. I personally secondary, because I have limited space, one primary fermentor, and an every-other weekend brewing schedule, so I need an empty primary sooner than the conditioning requirements of what I like to brew would render...

 

[johngaltsmotor]

Secondary can normally be omitted in homebrewing due to scale. When you have a 30ft tall commercial fermenter the pressure at the bottom is about 13lb/sqin. This actually crushes the yeast that collect and blows their cells walls apart which yields off-flavors. The max 2ft height of your fermenter means the yeast at the bottom are under much less pressure.
Lagering benefits from secondary because even though homebrewers have a low pressure, eventually the dead yeast will begin to biodegrade and produce off flavors as well. How much yeast culturing has eliminated this need could be debated, there are likely folks on here who have done lagering tests both ways to compare.

 

[jpcoote]

Thanks for the responses! I hadn't even thought of hydrostatic pressure as a reason for autolysis, which is embarrassing because I'm a chemical engineer :smack:

One of the main reasons I ask (besides the sheer joy of knowledge aquisition) is that I'm doing one gallon lager batches, and at that scale I want to save ever drop I can by just lagering in the primary fermenter if possible. From the responses, it sounds like under the circumstances there's no reason I can't lager for a month or so on the yeast, especially with such a small batch?

 

[Roundhouse]

The only beer style I secondary with is an IPA. I don't even send lagers to a secondary. I do cold condition them though. I keg everything so in effect I kind of use a secondary. With lagers, I do a small sample forced ferment to find out where my fg will end up. I periodically check the gravity in the fermenter. When it gets to within 10% of hitting fg, I move the beer to the keg and seal it up. I hold it at fermentation temperature for one more week and then crash it down to 34°. With ales I'll let the krausen fall back into the beer and will then wait one more week. I'll take a gravity reading just to verify it's basically done. After that week I'll move the beer into a keg and then cold crash it to 34° for a week. That's the only time I move the beer off of the yeast.

 

[Homercidal]

For 1 gallon lagers I wouldn't bother. Lagering temps are so low that the yeast is fairly well protected.

Now I would recommend a 5 gallon secondary because you would lose only a little out of a large batch.