Question About Keg Secondary

[kurds_2408]

While I have never done secondary for simple beers I just recently switched to dry hopping in the primary and keg as well as doing secondary in the keg for beers that require secondary. I brewed a sorta Scottish ale a month ago and the recipe says after 2 weeks in primary to secondary for 4 weeks. I hit my FG and moved it into a keg for the secondary. I didn't want it to carb so to be safe I put a blow off tube on the gas post down into a jar of starsan. Question is would you leave it like this for the whole 4 weeks? Would you pull the tube and seal it up? If so do I pressurize to seal the lid and then purge or do I leave the sealing pressure? Do I leave the CO2 on and let it carb for the last 2 weeks of secondary? Not really sure if it needs conditioning time after carbing or if that is really and different than secondary. Also I need to make room in my Ferm chamber so can I now pull it out and leave in my 55 degree basement or take upstairs where it's 10 degrees warmer? I've got a stout in primary now with similar instructions so figured I should figure this out. Thanks

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

Don't do secondary as it is just an extra unnecessary step inviting oxygen and contamination.
Transfer to your serving vessel(keg) and let it mature in there.
If you know you want to let the beer sit for a while before you start drinking it you can prime the keg and let it naturally carbonate.

 

[RM-MN]

Next time just let it mature some in the primary, then move it to your keg for serving. The beer won't care where it matures and you avoid one transfer. I like to leave my beers in the fermenter for 3 to 4 weeks, then bottle them.

 

[mac_1103]

Transfer to your serving vessel(keg) and let it mature in there.

That's basically what he's done. Sure, the recipe calls it a secondary, but what he actually did was transfer to a keg after two weeks, which might be kind of soonish but shouldn't really hurt the beer.

 

[mac_1103]

Next time just let it mature some in the primary, then move it to your keg for serving. The beer won't care where it matures and you avoid one transfer.

The beer is in a keg. There's no reason he has to do another transfer.

 

[mac_1103]

Question is would you leave it like this for the whole 4 weeks? Would you pull the tube and seal it up? If so do I pressurize to seal the lid and then purge or do I leave the sealing pressure? Do I leave the CO2 on and let it carb for the last 2 weeks of secondary?

Was it a closed transfer to a purged keg? If so, leave it alone. If not, I would purge the keg. Has it reached the expected FG or at least close? If so, seal it up. I don't really have an opinion on whether to finish carbonating now or later.

Not really sure if it needs conditioning time after carbing or if that is really and different than secondary. Also I need to make room in my Ferm chamber so can I now pull it out and leave in my 55 degree basement or take upstairs where it's 10 degrees warmer?

I think 55F should be fine if it's done fermenting.

 

[hottpeper13]

I primary for 3-4 weeks then keg and put on gas at ambient until room in the 33* lagerator. If I get 2 weeks at ambient and 2-4 weeks lagering on CO2 I can switch out a keg and be ready to serve after 2 pours. This procedure is for lagers,Scottish and German ales, and big beers. When conditioning an ale its primary 3 weeks, keg and put in 33* lagerator to carb up and will be on tap in as little as 1 week. The bonus of the long conditioning is crystal clear.

 

[kurds_2408]

Was it a closed transfer to a purged keg? If so, leave it alone. If not, I would purge the keg. Has it reached the expected FG or at least close? If so, seal it up. I don't really have an opinion on whether to finish carbonating now or later.

I think 55F should be fine if it's done fermenting.

Yes it was closed transfer. And yeah it actually finished lower than expected FG. I use a plastic fermonster and purge the keg with fermentation CO2. Then close transfer through spigot using a carb cap installed in the lid to pressurize. You are right that I am not planning to transfer again. This will be my serving keg. I didn't really transfer cause I wanted to "secondary" it was more cause I was worried 6 or more weeks in the plastic fermentor would be too long in plastic. Maybe this next one I'll leave in the fermonster for 3-4 weeks and then keg and let it just condition sealed before carbing.

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

Yes it was closed transfer. And yeah it actually finished lower than expected FG. I use a plastic fermonster and purge the keg with fermentation CO2. Then close transfer through spigot using a carb cap installed in the lid to pressurize. You are right that I am not planning to transfer again. This will be my serving keg. I didn't really transfer cause I wanted to "secondary" it was more cause I was worried 6 or more weeks in the plastic fermentor would be too long in plastic. Maybe this next one I'll leave in the fermonster for 3-4 weeks and then keg and let it just condition sealed before carbing.

I'd argue that for a beer you want to age a bit before drinkin, a keg is better than the fermenter.
I misunderstood you earlier, but point still remains, just rack to keg and mature the beer in it until it is time to connect it to kegerator/keezer.

 

[Broken Crow]

I was worried 6 or more weeks in the plastic fermentor would be too long in plastic

Sounds like me many years ago...I remember in the 90's when PET water bottles had become widely used, there was a bit of a scandal when it was discovered that several brands had incorrectly formulated PET that did in fact leech into the contents. I also remember having various homebrews from friends at the time and in some of them I could clearly taste the plastic. By at least 2000, manufacturers had addressed the issue and with a name brand like Fermonster, you really can trust the plastic... you could leave it in there for months... I have.