Primary/Secondary Question

[brewnovice]

Hi everybody,

I know this has often been dealt with in the FAQ section and other places, but I wanted to ask specific to the type of beer I have fermenting right now.

I'm on my third batch. The first two I transferred to secondary after about a week and then left them in the secondary for about 2 weeks before bottling. Right now, I have an English Pale Ale from a kit going in the primary and was wondering about just leaving it in there the whole time after reading some of the commentary on here. So, my questions:

1) Is that a bad idea for a pale ale?
2) Does it make a difference if the container is plastic (5 gallon plastic bucket) rather than glass?
3) How long should I wait before bottling? I didn't take an initial hydrometer reading. I didn't for my first two batches either, because it seemed like with three weeks (1 in primary and 2 in secondary), it wouldn't be an issue. But I don't know if it will be more important if I only use the primary.

Thanks for any help!

 

[BendBrewer]

1) It's not a bad idea. I end up with a clearer Ale if I do rack it to 'secondary' but I do 2 weeks in Primary then rack and let it sit another week.

2)It doesn't matter. Most people go from plastic to glass as the buckets are larger and most people have 5 gallon carboys. You don't want a lot of empty head space in your 'secondary' if you can avoid it.

3) Pale Ales are better when fresh IMO. As I mentioned, I do 2 weeks, 1 week then keg/bottle. If only doing Primary, do 3 weeks then bottle but I think you'll find that you'll end up with clearer beer if you use a second container.

 

[FensterBos]

Hi everybody,

I know this has often been dealt with in the FAQ section and other places, but I wanted to ask specific to the type of beer I have fermenting right now.

I'm on my third batch. The first two I transferred to secondary after about a week and then left them in the secondary for about 2 weeks before bottling. Right now, I have an English Pale Ale from a kit going in the primary and was wondering about just leaving it in there the whole time after reading some of the commentary on here. So, my questions:

1) Is that a bad idea for a pale ale?
2) Does it make a difference if the container is plastic (5 gallon plastic bucket) rather than glass?
3) How long should I wait before bottling? I didn't take an initial hydrometer reading. I didn't for my first two batches either, because it seemed like with three weeks (1 in primary and 2 in secondary), it wouldn't be an issue. But I don't know if it will be more important if I only use the primary.

Thanks for any help!

I don't think secondary is necessary unless you are dry hopping or adding fruit, no matter what kind of beer you are making. I think two weeks in the primary should be fine; some people even go as far as three weeks.
But I would recommend taking an OG before pitching so you have a guideline as to what your ABV will be and, if you like this recipe, making sure that you match the OG the next time you brew the pale ale.