Secondary or not

[blazingsun81]

I have a nut brown ale that is require to fermentation for 28 days . should I rack to a secondary after 14 days or keep it in the primary .

 

[kh54s10]

Several things.. Do not go by time, go by what the beer is doing. If it is clear after you have reached final gravity, you can bottle it. The Brown Ale will benefit from a longer bottle conditioning. Maybe a month or two.

I do not use secondary in most cases. Just give it enough time to finish fermentation and to clear up.

Others will say that they secondary to make it more clear. My experience says this is unnecessary.

But then again, either method works. So it is personal preference mostly.

 

[antony]

I only secondary blondes & beer with additives (fruit, cocoa, coffee, etc.). I think cold crashing has worked out best in clearing things up.

+1 to extra time in bottles. I used to try one at 2 weeks, hate it, then again at 4 weeks, notice an improvement, then finally enjoy it at 8-12 weeks.

 

[Puddlethumper]

If I'm going to leave a beer in the fermenter more than a couple weeks I like to move it to a secondary to get it off of the yeast. That's just my preference but, imo, at some point the yeast starts adding some flavors to the beer that may or may not be helpful. A week or so one way or the other probably won't make that much difference so I don't think its anything to get overly worried about. You can probably leave it in primary for the full 28 days without a problem, but if it were mine I'd move it to a secondary within a few days of reaching FG.

And I agree that moving the beer to secondary or not will have very little effect on clarity. Clarity is improved through proper technique in the brewing process, the use of finings and cold crashing. Since you are making a brown the issue of clarity is probably moot anyway.

Cheers!

 

[BigFloyd]

And I agree that moving the beer to secondary or not will have very little effect on clarity. Clarity is improved through proper technique in the brewing process, the use of finings and cold crashing. Since you are making a brown the issue of clarity is probably moot anyway.

Cheers!

Well said. IMO, unless you're bulk aging/lagering, using wood chips, dry hopping (maybe) or adding something like fruit, moving the beer from the primary to another vessel is an unnecessarily added step.

Unfortunately, many brew kit instructions have never been updated and still reflect the old "get it off the yeast - quick!" thinking.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

+1 to the first response. Don't go be time prescribed by a kit's directions or whatever. Go by Gravity readings. A good rule of thumb is to leave it for at least 7 days. Then if activity looks like its slowing down or has stopped, check your gravity...

I typically look in on mine and see if Kreusen has resided and that I can see the top of the beer (if you are working with a bucket then this point is moot).

1. I will then check my gravity and if I'm at target gravity, I will cold crash to drop any residuals.
2. Then Since I keg, I will go ahead and transfer to the keg and add Gelatin to further clarify the beer (if appropriate to style)

3.Put on gas, shake to incorporate gelatin and then wait 10 days (depending on style of beer etc)
4. pull a tiny amount off the keg to remove some sediment.
5. And then do the same the next day.

6. By then the beer has cleared and is usually ready for consumption.

If Bottling, Do the same process up to 2 except replace with bottling bucket and add your bottling sugar. I never used Gelatin when I bottled as I found that the bottle conditioning would typically drop out any yeast or anything else. After conditioning. Fridge and enjoy!

Secondaries in my opinion are only necessary if you are going to be bulk aging for extended periods (Strong Ales, Barleywines) or if you are racking on fruit or some other flavor imparting organics.