Rack Timing and Ageing?

[mongrell]

So in my last few recipies I've been a little lost on rack timing and ageing a beer so here are my thoughts. Correct me and help me answer some questions. Ales by the way.

1st-ary (Glass Carboy Fermentation Temperature)
Original fermentation is aggressive and after 3-5 days (usually) fermentation is mainly done and then it's sitting on more yeast than nessiary which can cause some off flavors, so I rack.

2nd-ary (Glass Carboy Fermentation Temperature)
This is when the complex alcohols are converted to simpler ones by the remaining yeast and most large particles settles out of the beer for clarity, how long is generally good to leave it here? I've usually gone with about 14 days. Is that overkill, not enough? Does it depend on the beer and how so? Higher gravity, lower?

3rd-ary <Kinda> (Glass Carboy Fermentation Temperature)
I don't rack, but add dry hopping and non-fermenting flavors in. I do this late because I figure dry hopping and other is to add aroma and flavor and the longer it sits out of a keg allows those aromas and flavors to escape. So 5-7 days, then I rack to a keg.

4th-ary (Keg Fermentation Temperature)
So I add carbonation sugars and any aroma syrups or lactose sugar here (things that don't settle or do not need to be removed). Let it sit for a week to let the remaining yeast carbonate the beer. Then I move the keg to the refrigerator.

5th-ary (Keg Refrigeration Temperature)
Let it age 4 weeks before drinking. Then... drink.

Is that good? Overkill? Any thoughts?

 

[McKBrew]

Overkill. Especially if you are kegging.

Primary: Typical time for primary is about a week. Many people skip the secondary for normal OG beers and keep the beer in primary for up to a month.

Secondary: Clearing stage. Allows the beer to clear up more. Also needed for beers that you are going to age a long time before bottling or kegging. This is where you should do dry-hopping. And yes the OG of the beer is one of the key factors here. Secondary is also the place to add any specialty ingredients like fruit, coffee, oak, or cocoa nibs.

3rd-ary (Tertiary sp?). I've heard of this being used in rare cases. But even if you age a beer in secondary for several months and then want to dry-hop you can do that at the end in the secondary.

Since you are kegging, you always have the option of using CO2 to carbonate vice the priming method. One week seems a bit short for carbonating in kegs, but if your carbonation level is good I can't argue there.

As for aging in the keg at refrigerator temperatures, a month isn't going to hurt anything. Beer almost always improves with age, but you could probably drink it sooner.

I think you could shorten your times in several areas for an average OG beer, and be able to drink it sooner. For higher OG beers, longer aging is in order.

Edit: For a standard beer (Pale Ale) how long does it take you to get to a drinking stage from brew day?

 

[Revvy]

The only time I have ever heard of using a tertiary is when someone has added a lot of fruit to secondary, especially something with a lot of seeds like rasberries, or a lot of "goop" like people who do pumpkin ales with the pumpkin added to secondary.

They use the tertiary to let the beer further clear, and for all that stuff to settle.

 

[Hoosierbrewer]

I leave mine for 2 weeks in the primary and that lets most everything settle out. I let it sit in the secondary for at least 2 weeks, but more if the stlye needs it. Some beers I age in the secondary in a fridge. It usually takes 3-4 weeks to carbonate unless I force carbonated. I give it 2-3 days to chill.

I want to harvest my yeast, so I may change some of this. I have harvested from the secondary, but not from the primary (too much trub). I may shorten time in primary to allow for more yeast to fall out in the secondary.

 

[malkore]

Primary = DO NOT RACK UNTIL IT IS 100% DONE FERMENTING.

5 days isn't enough. 7 days is the bare minimum, and often 10-14 days is better. You're worrying way too much about off flavors from 'dead yeast'...well they are not dead yet. autolysis takes weeks, sometimes months, to occur, and I'd wager more than 90% of the members here have never experienced the flavor of autolyzed yeast.

thus, never rack to secondary until you have 3 days in a row where the gravity isn't moving, and it is either at the expected final gravity, or really close...within a few points.