Primary > Secondary

[Revvy]

I plan on trying not bothering with the secondary. My only concern would be that I would want to reuse the yeast cake cause I don't feel like spending 7 bucks for new yeast. And I'm too lazy to clean the yeast myself and then make a starter. I currently have a Belgian going in the primary so would it be ok to throw my next Belgian wort onto that cake, trub and all. I would guess that I could get away with it one time but the trub would eventually start building on itself and just get to thick.
What if you dry hopped your primary? Could you reuse the yeast cake then if you were making a similiar beer the next time?

Well despite your lazyness it would be better for your yeast if you washed it and made a starter....it would help "De-stress" the yeast after doing your bidding dilligantly. Having said that, I have, once or twice pitched onto a month in primary cake with no problems...I did my belgian on top of my Saison cake (which for the saison I had maintained an 80+ degree fermentation for the first 72 hours) and the wit after turned out to be one of my best tasting beers ever.

 

[payton34]

i leave my beer in the primary only for 3 weeks and it comes out clear. even a pumpkin ale came out clear.

 

[homebrewed505]

That sounds good to me too. I got two bottles of gelatin from two different sources. One suggested ½ teaspoon for every gallon of beer (2.5 for a five gallon batch) and the other just said one teaspoon for a five gallon batch.

I just settled on two teaspoons for my beer. I think the gelatin will accomplish the same thing, just at different rates, depending on the amount used.


You’ll also be surprised how non-homebrew drinkers are much more open to trying your beer when you pour them a crystal clear draft.

For me, a major upside to secondaries is time. I can go from brew day to tapping my keg in as little as 3 weeks on my APA’s and haus ales.

5 days primary
5 days secondary with gelatin (is usually cleared out in 3-4 days)
Keg, chill and carb at 13 PSI for 10 days

I have a milk stout that has been in primary for one day. I plan on going to secondary, but when do I go to secondary? is it based on days or when fermentation stops and your gravity is reached?

 

[togodoug]

It sounds like there is a real debate about secondary fermentation. I have very limited space and equipment. If I were to do it, I would poor the wort into a sanitized bucket, clean out my primary, and poor the wort back as was previously suggested by Dan, if I read it right.
Better off not bothering??
Also, if I am going to dry hop using only a primary, do I just open it up in about 10 days, drop in the hops and close it back up for another 10 days? I’m just reluctant to open up the fermenter any time and risk contamination.

 

[homebrewed505]

I got a concern. So I had my milk stout in primary for 9 days the gravity went from 1.061 to 1.024 i checked it three days in a row didnt drop any more, so i transferred it to my 5gal carboy. Are you supposed to transfer before fermentation in done or after. I was concerned because i heard that since it was done fermenting that the small air space in my carboy would be filled with o2 instead of co2. Or am i ok?