I am going to do a secondary fermentation for the first time, just to see the difference between doing and not doing it. I am getting allot of conflicting opinions about how long to leave the secondary 3 weeks, 4 weeks. What i need to know is whats to soon to bottle and whats to long of a second fermentation???
Secondary Fermantation Time???
- Thread starter dentdr
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integrator
Well-Known Member
A lot of it depends on your reason. If you are doing it for clarity, you could leave it for a month. If you are adding fruit or dry hops to the secondary it could be anything from 3 days to a few weeks.
Im looking for clarity and conditioning.
jeepinjeepin
Well-Known Member
dentdr said:
Cold, still, long.
ETCS
Well-Known Member
I use a secondary when I need the room for the next brew. IMO, it is a personal decision that you have to make.
It also depends on what kind of beer you're talking about. If its a lager, you want it very cold, and let it sit for a month before bottling. If its an ale, just do it until you see what you believe is an appropriate amount of trub on the bottom to let you know that it has cleared.
phuff7129
Well-Known Member
I used to do a standard 2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary, 2 weeks bottle and it worked pretty good for most beers even if I was dry hopping I never dry hopped more than 2 weeks. Now I pretty much just leave it in primary for a month and dryhop in primary. I have not noticed any difference. My beers still clear real well and it is so much easier to dryhop in a bucket.
I have left some of my higher gravity and belgian ales age and condition in the bottle for 3 to 6 months with really good results. I guess you could leave them in secondary to condition for 3 to 6 months but I think it would only be valuable with high gravity or very complex beers that benefit from the extra conditioning. I dont think i would do it with a wit, or PA. or IPA.
I don't think you can hurt it leaving it in secondary so if you want to try different lengths of time go for it.
"Beer is like sex, the worst I ever had was pretty good!"
I have left some of my higher gravity and belgian ales age and condition in the bottle for 3 to 6 months with really good results. I guess you could leave them in secondary to condition for 3 to 6 months but I think it would only be valuable with high gravity or very complex beers that benefit from the extra conditioning. I dont think i would do it with a wit, or PA. or IPA.
I don't think you can hurt it leaving it in secondary so if you want to try different lengths of time go for it.
"Beer is like sex, the worst I ever had was pretty good!"
Is there any negative to leaving it in secondary longer? Say, for example, one was traveling and had to leave it in secondary for 3 or 4 weeks. Would this be a problem? I have a beer that will be a Magic Hat #9 clone with fruit added to the secondary, but I may be tailing the week it should be kegged....
With fruit, the one thing to be careful of is mold on the fruit cap. When I'd got fruit in a beer, I rock it every couple days to move the fruit around, so none of it is drying out at the top. So long as you do that before you leave, and aren't gone too long, you should be fine. Also should mention that I often will use a tertiary when doing secondaries with fruit, to assist with clearing the fruit debris.
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