secondary useage and beer style

[yeasty]

looking for input from those who secondary their beer. i am in the process of trying some with a secondary and some without to discover my preference. right now i have a IRISH STOUT that has been in the primary for 3.5 weeks. i was considering bottling it today unless for some reason the darker and bolder brews benefit from fermenting longer or use a secondary more than other styles. behind this one i have a ROBUST PORTER that has been in primary 2.5 weeks and will likely try a different approach with each batch.

i guess one of my big fears is that i will end up with A LOT of debris in my bottles if i dont use a secondary (dont you bottle right from the primary ? or do you risk contamination by transferring to a bottle bucket first to get rid of the debris ?)

 

[Lou]

you should DEFINITELY transfer to a sanitized bottling bucket to get it off the trub. you'll need to stir in the priming sugar and there's no way to do that in the primary without disturbing the trub.

 

[Revvy]

Actually I have found with long primaries there is LESS stuff in the bottles, because the yeast cake has compressed. Plus like Lou said, you are racking from the primary to the bottling bucket, which further leaves more behind...In fact I usually run my autosiphon once along the bottom of my primary, to make sure I do transfer enough yeast over for carbonation. Figuring a lot more flocculated and settled over the month I leave mine in primary.

 

[yeasty]

you should DEFINITELY transfer to a sanitized bottling bucket to get it off the trub. you'll need to stir in the priming sugar and there's no way to do that in the primary without disturbing the trub.

duh...had a brain fart on that one ! thanks.



sooooo. bottle it ? let it it ? secondary ? its a stout so if that doesnt make a difference on the outcome i will just try something different than other batches and see if i notice a difference.

 

[Revvy]

duh...had a brain fart on that one ! thanks.



sooooo. bottle it ? let it it ? secondary ? its a stout so if that doesnt make a difference on the outcome i will just try something different than other batches and see if i notice a difference.

I'd bottle it when it's been a month...but that's how I roll....just realize that this has nothing to do with how long it will take to carb and condition in the bottle...I have had the experience with my stouts and porters that they take between 6 and 8 weeks till they are up to snuff.

My chocolate mole porter looks to be needing a couple months for the burn to fade....

 

[yeasty]

My chocolate mole porter looks to be needing a couple months for the burn to fade....

interesting choice of adjective "burn" . what do you mean Revvy ? i just tasted the sample i pulled for FG and it has what i too would describe as a "burn" to the taste...i can even still feel it on my tongue minutes later.

 

[Revvy]

interesting choice of adjective "burn" . what do you mean Revvy ? i just tasted the sample i pulled for FG and it has what i too would describe as a "burn" to the taste...i can even still feel it on my tongue minutes later.

Well there's a tsp of my homemade smoked chili powder added to the mash tun, and a tsp of cayenne pepper added to the boil at flameout....when I say burn...I mean burn and it comes out both ends if you get my drift.

Chocolate Mole Porter.

What you are probably referring to is the alcohol burn that comes from high abv beer that needs to bottle condition...

 

[BeerArchitect54]

I have a similar question... I’ve got a cream ale I brewed on Sat. Night.. The blowoff has slowed down to a faint bubble every min. or so... Im thinking of switching it over to my airlock..

How long should this sit in my primary before bottling or transfering to secondary?
Should I use a secondary with my cream ale??

 

[Revvy]

I have a similar question... I’ve got a cream ale I brewed on Sat. Night.. The blowoff has slowed down to a faint bubble every min. or so... Im thinking of switching it over to my airlock..

How long should this sit in my primary before bottling or transfering to secondary?
Should I use a secondary with my cream ale??

Many of us leave our beers alone for 3-4 weeks in primary, then bottle...if not, one should not rack til secondary until fermentation has ended, and the only way you know is with hydrometer readings over 3 consequetive days (usually taking your first reading 7-10 days adter yeast pitch), OR many of us rack to secondary after 2 weeks..

Don't rush your beer, and don't rush it off the yeast...those of us who long primary do sou because swe have discovered that our beer tastes and looks better when we do so....search for "long Primary" or "no secondary" to see the 10,000 threads/discussions devoted to this topic..

 

[BeerArchitect54]

I was told to leave in primary for 10 days and then secondary for about 10 days.. Im going to start taking my readings so if it is unchaged on the 10th day I will move to secondary and then let sit for 10 more days or so untill I bottle... Thanks