Question about the necessity of a secondary

[JonnyO]

I've brewed a few beers with just a primary, and simply modified the 1,2,3 rule to more of a 3,3 rule, just leaving the beer in the primary for 3 weeks. My beers have turned out just fine, and I've recieved input from other brewers that this will generally not impact the quality of the beer. That said, my brews have thus far been of the simple kit variety. I'm looking at some more complex beers and many brewers add secondary flavorings (vanilla beans, fruit, oak chips, etc.) when they rack to their secondary. My question is, can you add these things to the primary (after fermentation is complete), or do you really need a secondary to achieve the desired end product (awesome beer)? Thanks for any input.

 

[cvstrat]

I used to secondary because it sounds cool but I pretty much stopped. The only time I secondary now is when I use flavorings like you mentioned. I guess you could probably skip secondary with these things but depending on how long you plan on leaving it you could get into a bit of a grey area as to when the hops and other gunk in the bottom can start to add a flavor you don't want.

 

[malkore]

On the other side of the fence is me...I secondary most of my beer. I find I get a lot clearer beer. The autosiphon always slips when racking, stirring up sediment back into the brew. I have plenty of carboys available so I just rack to secondary usually, then keg or bottle after a few more weeks.

sediment stirring up aside, I would not say that 3 week primary vs the 1-2-3 method produces any negative results.

As long as your beer is good your practices are perfectly fine

 

[GunnerMan]

I rarely secondary my beer. I have left beer on the yeast cake for 5 weeks before with no ill results. I have secondaried some beers just to try the secondary thing out and when I wanted to really try and clear the beer up. I also secondaried when I made my Watermellon Wheat.

Like Malkor said all it really does for you is help you keep some sediment out of the beer. I am also one who will often skip the whirl pool after boil and just jump the whole mess in and ferment. Does it make it a bit harder to siphon out come bottle time? Yes Does it mean I may get a little more sediment in bottles? Yes other than that it has not affected my brew at all.

 

[JonnyO]

Thanks for the input. I didn't figure leaving the brew in the primary was a problem. Seems like a lot of folks do it that way, although it seems like there's not many people that have tried adding flavorings to the primary. Just wondering if anyone has at least tried adding something like fruit, vanilla, or oak chips into the primary. A little first hand experience would be helpful.

 

[Neonsilver]

Thanks for the input. I didn't figure leaving the brew in the primary was a problem. Seems like a lot of folks do it that way, although it seems like there's not many people that have tried adding flavorings to the primary. Just wondering if anyone has at least tried adding something like fruit, vanilla, or oak chips into the primary. A little first hand experience would be helpful.

From my research as of late. Oak chips you would probably be ok with in the primary just because they take a lot less time to do what they do. Oak cubes on the other hand seem to take at least a month for flavoring to start going into the brew so with those you're probably sitting on the yeast cake for too long. I'm usually a primary only guy and will be putting a robust porter into secondary for a vanilla bean and an American barley wine into secondary for oak cubes.

 

[snailsongs]

some yeast, like the kolsch I just kegged yesterday, seem to pack down so nicely after a few weeks in primary that you'd have to be really trying in order to get any sediment into your keg or BB. One way to encourage this is to simply leave it for atleast 4-6 weeks in primary. Most yeast will form a solid cake at that length of time. Another method, especially if you're kegging, is to let it cold crash for a few days first. Secondary is such a PITA that I generally only use it for bulk aging huge beers or adding fruit/spices, etc......I even tend to dryhop in primary.

to each his own though. whatever works for you...works.

 

[hairy]

As mentioned in another thread, there are generally 2 schools of thoughts when it comes to doing a secondary

1. To allow time for the beer to mellow and to present an opportunity to dry hop or add other flavours

2. To reduce yeast count to have a clearer beer and also, reducing yeast count is thought to increase the long term flavour development and stability of the beer.

I have never done a secondary because of the risk of contamination and also I am plain lazy. For most brews, I just age them for 1 week after fermentation in the primary and i bottle or keg them. If there is a need to add special flavours, i may consider doing a secondary.

 

[Jud]

I move mine to secondary, frees up my 6.5 gallon carboy for another brew.

 

[Haputanlas]

I move mine to secondary, frees up my 6.5 gallon carboy for another brew.

Agreed, That's the only reason I keep going to secondary. Once I get a little bit more equipment, I will probably switch to primary only (Unless dry hopping, or oaking).

 

[JefeTheVol]

If I am conditioning something for a long time I like to take it off the yeast cake...autolysis scares me a bit, but I have left beers in the primary for 5-6 weeks, also. I just go by the rule that if I plan on having a beer/wine bulk age, I will rack to a secondary because the yeast is not doing anything after 4 weeks in a primary anyway and only has potential for something bad in the long run (autolysis). I have a barleywine and an apfelwein bulk aging in secondaries and have two 5 gal beers in carboys that I will let sit in the primary for 1 month and then bottle.

To each his own.
-Jefe-

 

[Padstack31]

I don't know of any commercial breweries that don't use a secondary as part of there process...regardless of additional flavoring...

You want to get your beer off the trub...that crap is made up of dead yeast, cold break and other crap you don't want messing with your beer's flavor...

In my very limited commercial brewing experience...we did a trub dump 24 hours after pitching and then again before transfer to be conditioned...breweries buy bright tanks for a reason.

It's not a lot of extra effort to make, especially in comparison to all the time you've already invested.

I believe you will make a better beer by adding a secondary to your process and I do it for all my beers.

 

[pkeeler]

Adding fruit is dicey, it is one area where you should research. Adding fruit to the primary will increase alcohol levels and produce a more mellow fruit flavor than in the secondary. Be very careful with strong fruits (e.g. lemons). It is much easier to use fruit extracts.

Vanilla extract could probably be added anywhere, even the bottling bucket. Vanilla beans could go in primary or secondary.

I use a secondary for all my beers. Once fermentation settles down, I rack to the secondary, get the yeast off the trub, and that lets me be much more flexible with bottling time. I'd much rather leave beer in a secondary than a primary. Contamination in a secondary would be hard to accomplish since the beer has a decent alcohol content.

 

[Bacchus]

I have a "1.080" rule when it comes to secondary fermentation. If my SG is that number or higher, I secondary. If it's under that number, I don't. It's worked well for me.

 

[JonnyO]

Thanks, sounds like the consensus is....primary is fine for aging anything up to about 4 or 5 weeks. Secondary is fine to use any time, but not really a necessity unless longer aging times are required.