secondary fermenter

[Darby0626]

I've read lots of stuff about this. I just want some personal opinions on if using a secondary fermenter is necessary or if leaving it in just one the whole time is fine.

 

[RM-MN]

Depends.

It depends on what you are brewing and how long you are going to leave it. It also depends on whether you are making additions or not.

If I brewed a really big beer, something over an OG of 1.100, I might want to age it for a long time and then a secondary might be good for it. If I was going to age a beer on oak I'd want it off the yeast so the oak flavor wouldn't be absorbed by the yeast. I've found that leaving a beer in the primary and adding fruit isn't the greatest idea either.

 

[NTXBrauer]

RM-MN is on target with this. I would only use a secondary for a very high gravity beer that requires lengthy aging, at times when dry hopping for long periods, or when adding fruit or other adjuncts.

 

[Darby0626]

Thanks

 

[dannysk]

In general, I believe that you always want to rack the beer to a secondary to get the beer off of settled yeast and other undesirable that carry over. Even for a short period of time to allow for a bit more maturation, which is almost always a goo thing.

 

[BobBailey]

Most of my beers are primary only. I do make exceptions when dry hopping and also when I use US-05 yeast. I find that US-05 doesn't like to drop out and often even the krausen floats for a long time. After racking you can almost watch the beer clear.

Bob