racking to secondary - neccessary?

[brewDudeSF]

Hi, first post, newbie brewer here, just bottled my first batch Sunday. So far so good.

HB shop recommends racking to 2nd fermentor to get the beer off the trub to avoid getting off flavors. But I've been reading online that some folks leave it in the primary fermentor 2-3 weeks and then bottle directly. I'm thinking of experimenting with my next batch to see what happens, but also wanted to here of others experiences.

Thanks,
Joel

 

[insubordinateK]

I do both depending on my needs. Both methods work well.

 

[bad67z]

Welcome to the forum Joel. I have only been brewing for three year or so but I have made 30+ batches and since the third brew I have not used a secondary unless I was dry hopping or needed my larger carboy. No off favors even when I have gotten lazy and left it on the cake for 3+ months. There are plenty of exiting threads on this, take a look in the search tool.

 

[BamaRooster]

The first two batches I brewed I did the same thing, but after taking the advice here, I now leave it in the primary for 3-4 weeks and then rack to a bottling bucket on bottling day. It has made a big difference in the quality of the final product. The yeast need time to cleanup after initial fermentation completes.

 

[Revvy]

I suggest you read THIS thread, it's become the "uber discussion" on this topic thread.

To Secondary or Not? John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff Weigh In .

Most everyone on this forum has ventured their opinions on the subject many many times, and most of them have ended up in the above thread. If you really do want opinions, and even some facts and citations, and articles, podcasts and other things on this topic, hit that thread.

Quite a lot of us leave our beers in primary 3-4 weeks.

And all the reasons why and everything else you can imagine is covered in that thread.

Welcome!

 

[brewDudeSF]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to continue with my plan to use only the first

I had done a search using several different strings prior to posting, but wasn't coming up with anything so I figured no harm in posting this question. Hope this doesn't cause too much of a problem.

Thanks,
Joel

 

[stratslinger]

Yeah, chances are your LHBS guys are either still going by some very dated information, or simply trying to sell you additional equipment you may not need.

Want to age a beer for a few months prior to bottling/kegging it? Want to lager a beer (though this and bull aging can probably be considered one and the same for this conversation)? Want to add wood chips / cubes / etc to a beer? Want to add fruit to a beer?

Then you might want to look at a secondary - and honestly, I'm not completely convinced the wood (or possibly the fruit) really need the secondary, but the secondary makes adding them a bunch easier.

Don't plan to do any of those? Chances are you don't need a secondary.

At least once a month someone on HBT posts about a fermenter they "forgot about" for 6 months or more, and I can't think of one of them who bottled/kegged it and had anything but positive things to say about their beer.

At the volumes we ferment, and the quality of yeast available these days, autolysis is exceedingly rare. Count me as one of the many who very rarely racks to secondary any more (my bock, a lager, is the first thing I've racked in my last several batches).

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to continue with my plan to use only the first

I had done a search using several different strings prior to posting, but wasn't coming up with anything so I figured no harm in posting this question. Hope this does cause too much of a problem.

Thanks,
Joel

Of course it's not a problem! That's what a forum is for, to "talk" over our brewing and not just reading or following links. Please feel free to always ask ANY questions you'd like. That's what we're here for!

We were all beginners at one time, and most of us not all that long ago, so we welcome "noobs"!

 

[Revvy]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to continue with my plan to use only the first

I had done a search using several different strings prior to posting, but wasn't coming up with anything so I figured no harm in posting this question. Hope this doesn't cause too much of a problem.

Thanks,
Joel

No problem, just wanted you to see where the best information on the subject was. Like I said, this discussion has had so much play, that when most folks see it these days they just glaze over and pass it by, which wouldn't be too helpful. But that thread has a lot of info in there. It's sort of the "bible" on the topic.

 

[BierMuncher]

...I had done a search using several different strings prior to posting, but wasn't coming up with anything so I figured no harm in posting this question. Hope this doesn't cause too much of a problem.

Thanks,
Joel

Only harm done around here is if you hesitate to ask a question. Even those who are so quick to pull the "do a search dummy" trigger are still newbs to someone. Ask. Brew. Learn. Ask more. Repeat. That's what we're (most of us) here for.

As for me, I prefer to rack my beers to a secondary clearing vessel 10-14 days after fermentation appears to be complete. Then its 4-5 days in that clearing vessel.