Pale Ale into secondary?

[ameliabrew]

Making a sierra pale ale clone per kit. It's been in the primary fermenter for 1 week now. Recipe calls to add 1oz of cascade hops at the end of 1 week & then let sit an additional week before bottling for 2 weeks. It doesn't call for me to move it to a secondary carboy. I am thinking of doing what the instructions call for and then move to a second carboy for an additional week before 2 weeks in the bottle? Any advice, recommendations?

 

[BryceL]

If you want to move your beer to secondary for a third week, I would suggest waiting until then to do your dry hop. The aromas fade with time, so I would want that dry hop as fresh as possible. Personally, I would do two weeks in primary then dump my hops in my secondary vessel and rack my beer on top for another week.

 

[BryceL]

Second option, which is my standard is to do 3 weeks total in primary. I just add my hops to primary after 2 weeks. It's up for argument, but secondary usually isn't needed unless you are adding something like fruit or oak. If you want to secondary I would go with the suggestion above. My 2 cents.

 

[ameliabrew]

So what benefit would the secondary give me in this case, maybe some beer clarity? Otherwise are you saying I could start a new brew in my secondary ?

 

[BryceL]

Yeah a lot of people do it to let the beer clear more. But you will get the same results if you just let your beer sit in primary longer to let the yeast settle and if you are careful not to disturb the yeast when bottling. A lot of people say that it's good to primary for about 3 weeks to let the yeast fully finish its thing and let the flavors meld. Too short and you don't get the full affect, too long and you can get off flavors. Again there is debate about all of that with plenty of threads on this forum about it if you do a search. For a Pale Ale, I like 3 weeks. By all means get the second fermenter going with another brew!!

 

[marcycaulkins]

i'd say the only reason to move the beer to secondary is if you need to free up the primary for your next batch. Even better would be to get a couple more buckets (they're cheap, easy to lift/move, easy to clean) so you have more primaries, and forget about the secondary entirely unless you plan on adding fruit to anything, or need to bulk age.

I usually primary for 4-6 weeks (mostly because I'm lazy about bottling - i consider 3 weeks the minimum), and dry hop in the primary 5-7 days before bottling.

 

[unionrdr]

I wait till FG is reached & the beer has settled out to a slight haze in primary to dry hop for a week. The hop oils cling to the settling yeast & settle out if you don't wait. I also get good results with a 10min steep at flame out.

 

[Yooper]

You will want to dryhop immediately before bottling- so if you want to use a secondary that's fine but make sure you dryhop either at the end, or only do it for a week. The hops aroma and flavor imparted by dryhopping will fade if the beer isn't packaged soon.

I like to dryhop 3-7 days before packaging the beer. If I keep it in primary, I'll simply add the dryhops on Tuesday if I'm planning on packaging the beer on the next weekend. If I use a secondary, I'll rack onto the dryhops for that time.

 

[ameliabrew]

Do you need to go to a secondary for an Indian Pale Ale? Or do same rules apply?

 

[Yooper]

Do you need to go to a secondary for an Indian Pale Ale? Or do same rules apply?

I make a lot of India Pale Ales (IPAs) and always dryhop for 3-10 days (preferring about 5) right before bottling to preserve the fresh hops aroma and flavor.

 

[ameliabrew]

Yooper, do you go to secondary fermenter & then dry hop or if I do an IPA can I stay in the original fermenter and then add in the dryhops?

 

[norsk]

I have a Double Jack immitation IIPA in secondary now with a huge bag of hops going on 10 days...bottling tomorrow. Don't usually use a secondary but I do for the IIPA's with a big dry hop. Primaried for 3 weeks then 10 days of dry hopping in secondary.

Dry hop in primary or dry hop in secondary...I've done it both ways...made great beer either way. Good luck.

 

[Yooper]

Yooper, do you go to secondary fermenter & then dry hop or if I do an IPA can I stay in the original fermenter and then add in the dryhops?

As Norsk said, either way. I usually like to use a very flocculant yeast so that the beer is crystal clear in 10 days or so, and then dryhop for 5-7 days and then keg or bottle. If I'm using a less flocculant yeast, I may leave it in primary for 2 weeks before dryhopping, or maybe racking but not usually. I only rack to a bright tank ("secondary") if I feel it will do the beer some good (like for oaking) so I rarely do it but I have on occasion when I used a less flocculant yeast and wanted to encourage it to clear.

 

[norsk]

My main consideration whether I secondary or not is the yeast. I like to use the same yeast for bottling as I did for the beer.... so if I don't have enough to pitch at bottling for the big IIPA's or the Belgians then I rack to secondary and wash the yeast.

The number of times I have forgot to save some yeast for bottling and pitched the entire starter is legion.