rilo0407
Active Member
I'm planning to rack to a secondary in about a week or so. This will be my first time to secondary. Could I use a brand new bucket from a hardware store if it is cleaned and sanitised well?
Secondary fermenter
- Thread starter rilo0407
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Yep..should work just fine. Many here will say just to keep in the primary an additional 3 weeks or so. I racked to my secondary on monday and it was a lot of hassle...sanatizing etc. I think my next go around will be primary 3 weeks then bottle for 2
rilo0407
Active Member
Not planning on adding anything. Even after straining the wort I still had a lot of sediment from the hop pellets and I didnt add any fining agents. I thought maybe racking would help get rid of some sediment. There seems to be a split of those who use secondary and only primary. My fermentation is going slow also. Been in the primary for 12 days and the gravity is 1.030 with the OG being 1.048. Lets hear some suggestions from both sides....
Seven
Well-Known Member
I know many people say it's not necessary but I'm planning to rack my brews to secondaries... mainly to get the beer off the yeast sediment but also so I can free up my primary fermentors for more brews!
Personally, I wouldn't use any bucket from the hardware store for brewing. They *may* work fine but every book I've read says to use only "food grade" plastic buckets. I dunno if the ones at the hardware store are safe to use but perhaps someone else with more experience can weigh in here.
Lastly, when racking to secondaries, I think you want to use a bucket/carboy that very closely matches your batch size so you'll keep the head-space (which contains air that will cause your beer to oxidize) to a minimum.
Personally, I wouldn't use any bucket from the hardware store for brewing. They *may* work fine but every book I've read says to use only "food grade" plastic buckets. I dunno if the ones at the hardware store are safe to use but perhaps someone else with more experience can weigh in here.
Lastly, when racking to secondaries, I think you want to use a bucket/carboy that very closely matches your batch size so you'll keep the head-space (which contains air that will cause your beer to oxidize) to a minimum.
If you leave it in the fermenter longer the hops will get trapped in the yeast cake, the yeast cake will become compacted and you will be able to rack off that without stirring it up.
If your beer has been fermenting that long and hasn't gotten any lower than that 1.030 I'd suggest you might want to move it to a warmer location. Ideally you want to start it fermenting in a cooler location so the yeast won't throw off fusel alcohol or too many esters but after a few days it can be warmed a bit to encourage the yeast to work a little harder.
If your beer has been fermenting that long and hasn't gotten any lower than that 1.030 I'd suggest you might want to move it to a warmer location. Ideally you want to start it fermenting in a cooler location so the yeast won't throw off fusel alcohol or too many esters but after a few days it can be warmed a bit to encourage the yeast to work a little harder.
Spend a little more money now and get another fermenter. You'll know that they are food grade and will come with a grommeted lid so all you need it another air lock and you are ready to start a new batch. No need to wait for the first one to be ready to secondary and by leaving the first one in the original fermenter, you lessen the chance to infect it or oxidize the beer in the transfer. :rockin:
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