Secondary or No??

[Eightysixd]

Hello all, I have a Blue Moon clone that has been in my primary for about 2 and a half weeks. I have heard that I am not supposed to put this into a secondary, just leave it for 3-4 weeks in primary and then bottle. Any advise on if this is good practice or not? i appreciate all the help.

CHEERS!!

 

[Meisterlowin]

Grab a beer or two or three (it's long) and check out this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/secondary-fermentation-rack-not-rack-155255/

 

[7mmSTW]

www.homebrewtalk.com/.../secondary-not-john-palmer-jamil-zainasheff- weigh-176837/

www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/do-you-use-secondary-fermenter-164313/

We report...you decide!

Personally I've tried it both ways and prefer the no secondary route, even when dry hopping an IPA it works well to stay in the primary as long as you're not washing yeast. I think I've had better luck long primary than not, plus I'm lazy, so that's a plus.

 

[BigMeah]

I always secondary (even if some "expert" says not to) Just secondary for about 4 days then bottle, it will get a lot of crap out of the beer..

 

[Brewer_Bob]

I always secondary (even if some "expert" says not to) Just secondary for about 4 days then bottle, it will get a lot of crap out of the beer..

But all that crap comes out just as well with a long primary. It isn’t like the yeast are looking down at the bottom of the yeast cake laden primary and say to themselves “I’d sure like to flocculate now but, damn, it looks nasty down there. I think I’ll hang around up here a bit longer.”

And if by some “expert” you mean John Palmer then sure, no one person’s opinion should be taken as gospel. If by “some expert” you are referring to the large number of very experienced and award winning brewers on this board then I don’t think you should dismiss it out of hand. Particularly since most of them started out doing secondaries, and thus have a good frame of reference for comparison.

Nothing wrong with doing a secondary if you use proper sanitation. But I have yet to see anything that convinces me it has any benefit at all. I don’t see the point in the extra work if there is no benefit. But some people ENJOY doing it and I say do what makes you happy.

 

[Justibone]

I always secondary (even if some "expert" says not to) Just secondary for about 4 days then bottle, it will get a lot of crap out of the beer..

If you are bottle carbing then crap will be on the bottom of the bottle anyways.

If you are kegging, I see this as a valid concern.

 

[Revvy]

If you are bottle carbing then crap will be on the bottom of the bottle anyways.

Actually I get the bare minimum of "crap" or bottling sediment at the bottom of my bottles, since I am racking the beer off a tight yeast cake, I pretty much suck up just beer, and not trub. In fact I run the bottom of my AS once or twice across the bottom of my bucket just to make sure I'm kicking enough yeast in solution to actually carb the beer, since the trub layer, after a month is so compacted. This also often means that I get more than 48 bottles/batch, usually more like 52, though if there's not a lot of hops in the beer I've gotten 54 or 55 beers even.

 

[Justibone]

More crap, less crap... if you are bottle-carbing, there *will* be crap.

I guess that's my point. I'm looking forward to my keg (arrives tomorrow) partially for the fact that I will be able to bottle sediment-free beer, woot!

 

[dfc]

Hello all, I have a Blue Moon clone that has been in my primary for about 2 and a half weeks. I have heard that I am not supposed to put this into a secondary, just leave it for 3-4 weeks in primary and then bottle. Any advise on if this is good practice or not? i appreciate all the help.

CHEERS!!

I never use a secondary.

 

[dfc]

More crap, less crap... if you are bottle-carbing, there *will* be crap.

I guess that's my point. I'm looking forward to my keg (arrives tomorrow) partially for the fact that I will be able to bottle sediment-free beer, woot!

I'm honored to be part of your signature.

 

[Justibone]

I'm honored to be part of your signature.

It was funny. Plus, threads with pictures always get the most traffic.

 

[dfc]

It was funny. Plus, threads with pictures always get the most traffic.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. In addition, pictures only enhance a thread and I want to help other new brewers learn from my mistakes.

 

[Eightysixd]

Thank you all for the info.... one other question rreal quick. This is only my 5th or 6th batch, all my others have had a few days of visible action in the airlock and then settled down. I konw you cannot judge fermintation by the airlock, but my question is... This Blue Moon has bubbled steady for 2 and a half weeks. I took a peak in it last night (after posting) and it looks like there is still some action in there. Is this normal for this kind of brew??

 

[Justibone]

Nothing is "normal" for any brew. If it's fermenting, that's good. Bubbles can be off-gassing, or they can signal fermentation.

Who knows?
Your hydrometer, that's who.

 

[BendBrewer]

I force carb kegs.

I have found the difference in NOT using a 'secondaryt' and using a 'secondary' is about 4-5 pours of slightly cloudy beer vs. 1/2 pour.

 

[SwampassJ]

I always secondary (even if some "expert" says not to) Just secondary for about 4 days then bottle, it will get a lot of crap out of the beer..

That's not a true secondary, thats a bright tank. I do the same thing with most of my beers. (I still do the long 2-5week primaries depending on the beer og/style.)