Secondary or no?

[tandersen123]

I see lots of people sayign to stick to longer primary and not use a secondary. Wouldn't using a secondary just result in a cleaner beer when bottling? I don't normally use a secondary when kegging unless I added fresh fruit but I don't like seeing all the yeast at the bottom of the primary when bottling I want cleanest beer possible.

 

[stikks]

See posts in BBB topic.

cheers

 

[Yooper]

I see lots of people sayign to stick to longer primary and not use a secondary. Wouldn't using a secondary just result in a cleaner beer when bottling? I don't normally use a secondary when kegging unless I added fresh fruit but I don't like seeing all the yeast at the bottom of the primary when bottling I want cleanest beer possible.

When I rack from the fermenter to the bottling bucket, I start my siphon in the middle of the beer and lower it as the level of the beer lowers. I stop if/when I start sucking up trub.

I'd almost argue that I have less "stuff" in my bottles using a primary-only approach, especially with a flocculant yeast strain. When I've used S04 or nottingham yeast, the yeast cake (and hops debris and break material) all formed a tightly compacted trub layer than I almost couldn't disturb. The tightly compacted trub layer especially became compacted if I stuck the primary in the fridge for a couple of days first.

Since more "stuff" doesn't fall out just because of racking, and it's time and gravity that do the work, I don't think you'd get more debris in the bottling bucket no matter which fermenter you used last (primary or bright tank) as long as there was careful racking. Even using a bright tank, you could stick the siphon down in the trub and end up with lots of crud in the bottles.

 

[tonyc318]

When I rack from the fermenter to the bottling bucket, I start my siphon in the middle of the beer and lower it as the level of the beer lowers. I stop if/when I start sucking up trub.

I'd almost argue that I have less "stuff" in my bottles using a primary-only approach, especially with a flocculant yeast strain. When I've used S04 or nottingham yeast, the yeast cake (and hops debris and break material) all formed a tightly compacted trub layer than I almost couldn't disturb. The tightly compacted trub layer especially became compacted if I stuck the primary in the fridge for a couple of days first.

Since more "stuff" doesn't fall out just because of racking, and it's time and gravity that do the work, I don't think you'd get more debris in the bottling bucket no matter which fermenter you used last (primary or bright tank) as long as there was careful racking. Even using a bright tank, you could stick the siphon down in the trub and end up with lots of crud in the bottles.

I second this! Yooper is wise! I like s-04 for the same reason. And the cold crashing for a day or two before bottling really worked for me. Also, letting those bottles sit in the fridge for 5 days really clears them up. The first few beers I cracked open were a little cloudy. Left them longer and they got clear. No secondary. See

 

[amandabab]

I see lots of people sayign to stick to longer primary and not use a secondary. Wouldn't using a secondary just result in a cleaner beer when bottling?

It certainly can but a lot of people will do everything they can to avoid it.