Secondary length

[metalpysko]

Ok so my question is how long can I leave a beer in the secondary will it go bad if it's in there to long or will it affect it when I bottle it????

 

[BloodSweatandBeers]

How long are you talking about? It will keep for a while as long as you keep it in a dark cool place and it won't get infected as long as you were sanitary when you brewed/transfered. Why are you using a secondary?

 

[metalpysko]

The beer calls for a secondary not to sure my self I would just like to bottle it and skip the secondary since I'm not adding anything to the secondary. I have two beers going the first is a chocolate stout and the second is a Irish stout the first I just have to add chocolate extract at bottling the second nothing. So yea I really don't know why... Could u help

 

[BloodSweatandBeers]

If you search the forums you'll see most guys do 4 weeks in the primary and then go straight to bottles. When you secondary unnecessarily, you could be exposing your beer to unnecessary risks. I personally primary for 4 weeks then bottle. You'll learn most only secondary to dry hop, add fruit, etc....most instructions that come with extract kits are garbage.

 

[Tahoebrewer]

Depends on the style, but I typically let my beers age for 6-8 months. I think it adds a certain depth of character lacking in many young beers, but again it depends on the style. I've noticed that longer than 1.5-2 years and oxidation becomes much more common unless special precautions are taken.

If you take pains to minimize oxygen contact, ie purge vessels with CO2, insure no splashing during transfer, and keep it dark and cool, it should theoretically last for years. I found an 8 year old ale stashed in a corny in the back of my garage a few months ago and it tasted great, no signs of oxidation. It helps if your secondary vessel has a small headspace to minimize surface area and gas transfer, such as a carboy, and make sure the beer either burps out any O2 or you manually purge it with CO2. I prefer to age in cornies, flushed with CO2 before transfer, and bled off under pressure once sealed to insure no O2 is present.

 

[metalpysko]

Well it's a stout I know it's gonna be a young beer but I want to see if I can bottle it after two weeks of fermentation or just wait three weeks of fermenting to give it a lil leg room to be safe

 

[AnOldUR]

If you search the forums you'll see most guys do 4 weeks in the primary . . .

So, you did a survey of the close to 70,000 members to came up with this?

Or did you mean that an outspoken minority has been successful at convincing a lot of new brewers that they shouldn't use a secondary?

If done properly, a secondary vessel is a perfectly legitimate way to bulk condition your beer.

In the case of the OP, both of the beers you brewed could benefit from bulk conditioning, but for how long or if you want to do it at all depends on you and your beer. If they are high gravity, I’d secondary 2-12 months (depending on how big.) On the other end of the scale, if they are on the lower end of gravity for the style, 3-4 week in the primary then bottle or keg might work great. What you do will depend on your beer and your patience.

If you choose to secondary, Tahoebrewer has some great information in his post.

 

[metalpysko]

Ok the secondary is a good idea then I just this to be a good beer since this my first time brewing it's extract

 

[metalpysko]

There both stouts the 0g for the first is 1.051 and the second is 1.050

 

[AnOldUR]

There both stouts the 0g for the first is 1.051 and the second is 1.050

Gravity is low enough that you could very well get away without doing it. Not to say that you can't do it, but since you're new to brewing, your racking expertise may not be great. The only way to gain the skill is through practice. May be do one and not the other. The main problem that comes from a bad transfer is oxidation. I takes time for it to become noticeable and you may very well finish the batch before that. Be very careful with your sanitation.

edit:
It's also important that your secondary vessel doesn't have a lot of head space.
You should have enough beer to fill the carboy to the neck.

 

[metalpysko]

I did everything the recipe said to I didn't end up with all the way to neck of the Carboy like I did on my second batch. But the second batch I had to put and over flow tube on it cause it didn't enough room to ferment properly. my first did though that beer is fermenting beautifully no issues no over flow it's wonderful the way it looks

 

[AnOldUR]

But the second batch I had to put and over flow tube on it cause it didn't enough room to ferment properly.

If we're talking "secondary" here, there should be no fermentation and no need for a blow-off.

 

[metalpysko]

No I had to start the fermentation with a blow off because it was so much wort in the carboy

 

[BloodSweatandBeers]

Good luck with your beer. Whatever route you go, just keep it sanitized and don't splash when or if you transfer to a secondary. You'll find that "most" on this forum will agree.