Secondary Basic Questions / Fruit

sboro33 · Dec 10, 2007

I am brand new, I am going to secondary ferment my 4th batch, I was curious of the following questions:

1. Can you use the same carboy/fermenter?
2. Do you add the same yeast to the second ferment, or do you add yeast at all
3. How long do I take to ferment the second time. Also, how long should I age my beer?

P.S, I am make a blueberry wheat beer, if that helps

bradsul · Dec 10, 2007

1. Yes you can, just make sure you sanitize whatever container you'll rack the beer into while you clean and re-sanitize your primary.

2. You don't add any yeast, there is still lots in there. Secondary is really a misnomer and most homebrewers just use it for clearing. If you're adding blueberry into your secondary (in which case you ARE doing a secondary) you will probably want to go to a tertiary clearing stage after.

3. Again if you're adding fruit, I would leave it until secondary fermentation stops, then rack to tertiary. If you're just doing a clearing stage, 2-3 weeks is a good amount.

RichBrewer · Dec 10, 2007

The term "secondary" can be deceiving. What is mostly referred to in home brewing is a secondary fermenter. The beer is racked into another fermenter to get it off of the trub so it can clarify in a clean fermenter.. There is no "secondary" fermentation taking place and no additional yeast is added. A secondary fermentation would happen when additional fermentables are added to the already fermented beer. In general, not too many folks would do this. There is really no need.

strangebrewer · Dec 11, 2007

Say I wanted to add fruit in my beer at the time of the secondry. Can I put it in my primary when it's done fermenting with the same results? And is it ok to age in the primary?

bradsul · Dec 11, 2007

phewey said:
Say I wanted to add fruit in my beer at the time of the secondry. Can I put it in my primary when it's done fermenting with the same results? And is it ok to age in the primary?

You can add the fruit to the primary. However you don't want to age in the primary, you want to get the yeast off the trub after 1-1.5 months so that you don't get into any problems with yeast autolysis. You could do your primary for 7-10 days, then add your fruit. Once secondary fermentation is complete rack to another vessel for clearing and aging.