Second Fermentation?

[Hellfire_studios]

So I am new to the home brewing community and I have just made my first batch of beer. It is about three days from bottling.

I have been reading up on beer recipes.org and I found one that I want to try next. I understand everything that is discussed in making the wart but then I get confused here....

"Pitch yeast when cool. After 4-5 days of primary fermentation, rack the fermenting beer into a secondary fermenter. Secondary fermentation should last about 10-14 days longer. Bottle when fermentation is complete. "

What is the difference in secondary fermentation?

Does this require a different type of fermenting equipment?

Thanks for any help.

Josh

 

[Flyin' Lion]

Secondary fermentation is really optional. The main reason for racking to secondary is to get the beer off of the trub cake. If a beer stays in primary for too long (like a couple months), off flavors can develop.

A typical rule of thumb is the 1-2-3 method: 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary and 3 weeks in the bottle. This is flexible as some beers will require longer primary fermentations and some will need to sit in secondary for longer, but I've left beers on primary for up to 5 weeks with no ill effects (maintaining fermentation temps is vital, though).

If you do want to do a secondary fermentation, I would suggest getting a better bottle. You can use a glass carboy, but those are getting harder to find.

Hope that helps.

 

[SkylerChaBro]

Primary is when the yeast are the most active and converting the majority of simple sugars into alcohol. This usually lasts around a week although it can be much longer or much shorter. I currently have a brew that is a week old in primary to this day, and will probably be in there for another 4 or 5 days.

Secondary is debated but it's primary function is to aid in letting your beer clear and let more yeast settle to the bottom before you bottle. Fermentation may continue a bit but it will not be nearly as aggressive as primary. Really calling it secondary "fermentation" is confusing and they shouldn't have done that.

read this thread, it will help you in your quest for perfect beer forever.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/when-go-primary-secondary-if-all-43014/

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

Secondary "Fermentation" is really horribly named/worded. There's not really any fermentation happening in secondary. A better name would be bright tank or clearing tank. Transferring from your primary fermentation vessel to your secondary vessel is mainly to allow for additional clearing and aging of the beer.

 

[Hellfire_studios]

thank you for your help guys....I actually started thumbing through that thread after writing my post. I am already learning more just from the first couple pages....

a couple of questions though.....

What does is racking your beer? I am not familiar with that term.
And when you do your bright tank do you pour the brew through a filter to the bright tank to keep the trub from coming with it?
I am also assuming that this needs to be sanitized as well as the original fermenting equipment?

Thanks again.

Josh

 

[Flyin' Lion]

What does is racking your beer? I am not familiar with that term.
And when you do your bright tank do you pour the brew through a filter to the bright tank to keep the trub from coming with it?
I am also assuming that this needs to be sanitized as well as the original fermenting equipment?
Josh

Racking just means transferring--usually with a siphon.

"Bright tank" just means that the beer will clear more in secondary. You just siphon the beer into secondary (bright tank) and try not to suck up any trub with it.

Sanitize everything that touches your beer.

 

[Flattop]

Fermentation does occur in the secondary, it is usually not long but i have experienced brews that have been 10 days in primary that let off C02 for a day or so, degassing slowly after racking to secondary.
This is because the beer and trub does get a little bit stirred up during racking and any leftover sugars are again made available to yeast for consumption. The same thing can happen if you gently agitate the fermenter after 10 days.

Racking is used mostly to clear the beer which can also be done by cold crashing or adding finings.
If racking is an issue then finings can be added to the primary just as easily.
Other reasons for racking can be for adding hops or fruit etc...