Secondary?

[coleandrobin]

What is the purpose of a secondary fermentation? And can it be done in a pale, or does it need to be a carboy?

 

[flars]

Above is a sticky, "This vs That" You may find your answer there. Technically it is not secondary fermentation. You can rack to a secondary after fermentation has been completed in the primary fermentor.

 

[zeg]

This is an extremely common topic. I recommend using the search to find previous discussions on the topic.

"Secondary fermentation" is a misnomer for beer brewing in almost all cases. It's really a "bright tank" or aging tank, since there is very little fermentation going on. The idea is to take the beer off the trub/yeast cake so it can age without its affecting the flavor.

However, in a home brewery, there's not much effect of leaving the beer on the trub, so that's not a terribly good reason to do it. The beer can age just as well sitting atop its trub, and skipping a racking reduces the chances for contamination or oxidation, so many people don't bother with a "secondary."

There are reasons to do it, though. Some people prefer to rack onto additions like fruit or for dry hopping. If you have a larger primary fermentor, you may need to rack off to free it up for another batch. Depending on the amount of trub, it may help you keep that out of your bottles by leaving some behind when racking to the secondary, and then leaving a bit more behind when going to the bottling bucket. (In general, this won't make a difference, but if there's a whole lot or if it's loose, having less to stir up can help)

If you're doing a secondary stage, the best option is a carboy because of its smaller neck. This means less surface area exposed to oxygen. After primary fermentation, you no longer have a lot of CO2 coming out to push the O2 out of the airlock, so you really want to have a narrow-necked container that exactly fits the quantity of beer. But it certainly *can* be done in a bucket, and in some cases (such as fruit steeping) may be necessary.

 

[BobbiLynn]

I have done a secondary one time, in 4 years and probably 150 batches. I was pretty amazed at the clarity I got from it, also carbed much more quickly once I got it bottled. But, it's just an extra step that I no longer bother with. Just move the fermenter days before you plan to bottle, to it's location for the transfer, don't disturb the trub and no real need for a secondary. Just my opinion. Maybe doesn't look as pretty and takes longer to carb, but hell, save a step and still make some good beer.

 

[coleandrobin]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your input. This is just my second batch so I'm still feeling everything out.