secondary a must?

[jjphillybrew]

Making a chocolate milk stout, the recipe calls for secondary and then add cacao nibs 2 weeks before bottling. Because I am adding something, does that mean that I HAVE to secondary this brew? I have read on this site about only transferring to secondary if dry hopping or making other additions. Does my cacao count as one of these late additions and therefore require a secondary?

Thank you,

Jeremy

 

[DJG42]

the cacao nibs would count as a late addition, but the secondary is rarely 'required'. If I were you though, I'd try to follow the recipe as close as possible, but be very careful with the tranfer with regards to sanitation.

 

[beerloaf]

You should be able to add that to your primary without using a secondary. Most people on here also dry hop in the primary and skip the secondary all together.

I generally only use a secondary if I'm lagering, or if I get concerned about anything that may have gone wrong while racking into the primary. In general I tend to avoid it. Less chance to screw things up and expose your brew to infection or oxidation.

beerloaf

 

[JLem]

A concern I would have with adding the nibs in the primary is that they might become covered in trub (I assume the nibs sink) and then the beer and nibs would have limited contact. I would use the secondary if you have the option.

 

[broadbill]

A concern I would have with adding the nibs in the primary is that they might become covered in trub (I assume the nibs sink) and then the beer and nibs would have limited contact. I would use the secondary if you have the option.

I would think the trub would have fallen out way before the nibs were added. At worst they would sit on top. I vote no secondary.

 

[HomebrewMTB]

Do you have a secondary vessel? If so, go ahead and use it. It will be fine. Or don't and it will be fine. It's just beer not rocket science.