questions!! secondary, and bottling

[ndtyank49]

I am following the directions to make German Altbier and it says to move the wort into the secondary fermenter after 5-7 days. I am going to move it on the 6th. I am worried about the yeast and carbonation. I am just going siphon the wort into the secondary (a carboy) and seal it up, without adding anything. It should finish fermenting in there and then i will let it sit for another 2 weeks. After those 2 weeks i will bottle it. My questions...

1-I'm worried about the yeast and just letting them sit in the secondary for 2 weeks. Will they still be alive and able to carbonate the beer in the bottles? Will i have to oxygenate the bottles?

2-Someone please explain how to bottle from a carboy and when to add the priming sugar....after i add the beer or before i add the beer?

 

[revco]

First, most of us just do primary for 3-4 weeks and call it good. It's been proven, more than a few times, that this can equal just as good, if not better beer...but many instructions, and even some people, hold on to the "old days" of brewing beer and the use of secondary. Transferring risks potential infections, aeration and is just a fair bit of work...all of which can usually be avoided with no consequence. To me, the only valid reasons to go to secondary is if you have to age for a month or more or you must free up your primaries.

It's still not a bad experience for a beginner, though, and is a good process to be familiar with when you want to start aging beers. To answer your questions:

1. There should be enough yeast still in suspension to get you by during bottling day. It doesn't take much. You add sugar, what is left will multiply & create CO2. Do NOT oxygenate! Oxygen is the enemy of fermented beer!

2. You will be well served with a bottling bucket, spend the $10 to get the right tool. You mix up your measured sugar with water, bring it to a boil, let it boil for about 10 or so minutes, cool it to room temps (covered, in a water bath) and then dump it in your sanitized bottling bucket (don't forget the spigot!). Rack the beer into the bottling bucket, it should mix with the sugar evenly. If you're concerned or you get uneven carbonation over multiple batches, stir very, very gently. Hook your sanitized bottling setup to the bottle bucket and away you go. Check the bottling section's stickies for some great tips that will save you a lot of frustration.

If you HAVE to bottle from primary/secondary, I would suggest using carbonation tabs for best results. It's best not to stir/aerate the beer and you risk aeration with stirring. If this is the case, hook your bottling rig up to your siphon, create your siphon (autosiphon for clean results), and fill as normal, adding carbonation tabs per your beer's carb profile. It's easy to lose siphon during bottling, which means disassembly, risk of contamination, re-santizing, re-siphoning and setting up again. Just buy the $10 bottling bucket. Seriously.

Good luck!

 

[tally350z]

I wouldn't worry about transfering it to the secondary. It is a step that is mostly not needed. Check the gravity of the primary. If it steady for 3+ days, take a reading each day.

Its hard to bottle from a carboy, you need to get a bottling bucket to make your life easier. It has a spigot on the bottom that you connect your tubing and bottling filler wand too. When you transfer the beer to the bottling bucket adding the dissolved and cooled priming sugar. Make sure to stir it up good so you evenly distrubute the sugars. If not some will have more and bottle bombs you will have.

 

[JoeyChopps]

If it was me I wouldn't secondary just let it sit in the carboy until bottle day. Then boil up two cups of water add your priming sugar boil for a few mins to let the sugar dissolve. Let the sugar water cool. Pour sugar water into the bottle bucket rack beer on top give it a gentle stir and bottle make sure everything is sanitized and your golden.