Secondary?

[sbacpo]

I've never brewed beer before but my wife got me a one gallon Box brew kit for Father's Day. Since then I've been reading books, this forum and took a beginners class at a local home brew supply store. I'm planning on making a gallon of Brewers Best Pale Ale this weekend.

I went to Brewers Best web site and compared the instructions that were in the kit with the on-line instructions and they are different. The on-line instructions say to do a secondary fermentation after 4-6 days. The ones in the kit don't mention it and neither did the guy who taught the class (I'm going to talk to him later today).

I think I understand that by doing the secondary you will (might?) get a clearer beer but don't you also run the risk of contamination and additional oxygen?

Thoughts? Suggestions? Opinions?

Thanks!

 

[zgja2]

I (and many people on here) never secondary unless adding fruit, wood, etc or ageing for an extended time. Time and or cold crashing will make clear beer. No need to secondary.

My usual procedure for moderate gravity beers is 2-3 weeks in primary, add dry hops to primary (if called for) and let it ride for 4 days or so, package.

 

[Chanoc]

Don't worry...
I wouldn't do a secondary if I were to brew my first batch...
There are additional risks for not that much of a gain in flavor...
HTH

 

[PADave]

Your best bet is to ignore the instructions that come with kits, aside from amounts of ingredients and when to add hops. No need for a secondary.

 

[kh54s10]

Your best bet is to ignore the instructions that come with kits, aside from amounts of ingredients and when to add hops. No need for a secondary.

Especially ignore the timing of the fermentation. Most go one week primary, two weeks secondary and 3 weeks bottle conditioning etc. Use gravity readings to determine your fermentation progress.

And usually ignore fermentation temperature recommendations. Use the lower half of the optimal range listed by the yeast manufacturer.

I almost never use a secondary. It is usually just an unneeded step and possibly a step that will cause more harm than good. Oxidation or infection.

 

[Northbank]

Every time I've been tempted to use a secondary I've been talked out of it and have wound up with good bear. I just don't see that the risk is worth it.

http://brulosophy.com/2014/08/12/primary-only-vs-transfer-to-secondary-exbeeriment-results/

 

[Pariah3j]

I used secondaries for almost all of my brews thus far. First one was primary only, and my current one I plan on sticking with primary only. It was the way everyone around my area apparently did it when I learned 2-3 years ago. I didn't know any better.

My first beer wasn't very clean/clear but I chalk that up to my not knowing what I was doing, the real test will be my stout I'm working on now. This is the second time brewing it, the first time it didn't come out as chocolaty as hoped(Its a double chocolate stout), so I'm leaving it on the sediment because I believe alot of that is the coco as well as yeast. So if I can bottle it and have it come out as clear/clean as the first one, I'll begin to be more of a believer of just primary fermenting.

I say if you are careful, you can do a secondary without getting an infection. I'm at about 7 or 8 brews and I've yet to get one, most of those (5 or 6) I racked to a secondary. Do you run a risk ? Sure - you run the risk of an infection every time you touch it more or less. Good sanitary habits I believe negate that. Take that for what its worth, just my opinion - YMMV (your mileage may vary).

 

[GHBWNY]

Think of a 'secondary' for exactly what it is: a secondary fermentation, like when you do a fruit addition or anything else that causes the beer to begin fermenting for a second time. Although it's not absolutely necessary, at this point, you may want to rack the beer off the primary yeast, trub, hop residue, etc. that might residually compete with the flavor of the finished product. If there is nothing in recipe that requires racking the beer to a second vessel, I wouldn't advise it for the reasons/risks you stated in your original post.

As far as using a secondary to clear the beer, not worth the risk IMO, since the clarity of a secondaried beer is negligible to a very carefully-racked primary brew.

 

[sbacpo]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to skip it for this first batch.