Trub in primary, rack to secondary?

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rtockst

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I just brewed a spiced holiday ale a day ago, and I think I may have sucked a lot of trub into the primary with my siphon.... would it be beneficial to rack it to a secondary after primary fermentation? It had an OG of 1.07 and fermentation has started pretty well at about 65 degrees. I'm really not sure how long the primary fermentation will last. I think i've got three options: leave it in the primary for a week or two (to clear and settle it?) after it's done with the primary fermentation then bottle it, or after its done with primary fermentation rack it into a secondary for a couple weeks for clarifying then bottle, or should I bottle it right after primary fermentation and let it hang out in bottles for a few weeks? I'm really confused on what exactly is the best scenario for the fermentation and clarifying process because it seems everyone has so many opinions... can anyone shed some good light on this? Thanks!!
 
I think if I was bottling I would use a secondary. Let it ferment out completely though and that may take at least 14 days with a brew such as yours. The secondary is just for clearing and aging.

It will still take a good 3 weeks in the bottle for it to carb though regardless of which way you choose. Patience is one of the hardest things with this hobby.
 
I just brewed a spiced holiday ale a day ago, and I think I may have sucked a lot of trub into the primary with my siphon.... would it be beneficial to rack it to a secondary after primary fermentation? It had an OG of 1.07 and fermentation has started pretty well at about 65 degrees. I'm really not sure how long the primary fermentation will last. I think i've got three options: leave it in the primary for a week or two (to clear and settle it?) after it's done with the primary fermentation then bottle it, or after its done with primary fermentation rack it into a secondary for a couple weeks for clarifying then bottle, or should I bottle it right after primary fermentation and let it hang out in bottles for a few weeks? I'm really confused on what exactly is the best scenario for the fermentation and clarifying process because it seems everyone has so many opinions... can anyone shed some good light on this? Thanks!!

Just an opinion but... Leave it in the primary for 14 days...then keep it in a secondary for 14 days...then bottle it and wait a month... then try one. just an opinion :)
 
Yes I've read that with the higher gravity beers it takes much longer to ferment and to age and let the flavors mix and mellow a bit. Would there be much of a risk of infection if I racked it to secondary just from contact with air? I've got the Better Brew kit, and I'm confused about the fact that it says to put the airlock on the bucket straight away.... no blowoff tube. Is there any reason you would or would not want a blowoff tube?
 
If you siphon carefully to a 5 gallon carboy your brew will not get infected. People do this all the time. You will need to put an airlock on the carboy though. Do you have an autosiphon?

A blowoff tube is just a larger type of airlock. I use them all the time.
 
Yes I've read that with the higher gravity beers it takes much longer to ferment and to age and let the flavors mix and mellow a bit. Would there be much of a risk of infection if I racked it to secondary just from contact with air? I've got the Better Brew kit, and I'm confused about the fact that it says to put the airlock on the bucket straight away.... no blowoff tube. Is there any reason you would or would not want a blowoff tube?

I always use a blow off tube on high gravity beers just to be safe and i have never had an infection on any of my beers. I mean use a blow off if it's fermenting so violently that the airlock might spew out stuff. I'm no pro though, I just brew extract with stepping grains.
 
If you siphon carefully to a 5 gallon carboy your brew will not get infected. People do this all the time. You will need to put an airlock on the carboy though. Do you have an autosiphon?

A blowoff tube is just a larger type of airlock. I use them all the time.

Yes I used the autosiphon to get the chilled wort out of my kettle into the primary.... not a great idea... I only boiled 2 gal water with the extracts so it was incredibly hard to get it all out of the kettle without getting tons o trub. Anyway, I wasn't sure if there was a reason to have a blowoff tube other than to prevent the airlock from overflowing and having a huge mess. One batch and I'm addicted. Hasn't even been 24 hours since I pitched and I'm getting antsy to brew some more. :cross:
 
I just brewed a Brewer's Best Bold Series Holiday Ale extract kit last Saturday as my 3rd-ever batch. OG @ 72F 1.066. Achieved vigorous fermentation that actually spit up wort through my airlock (in the future, for bigger beers like this, I will use a blowoff tube). Patience has been tough for me so far. Yesterday, I just felt like I "had" to do something with it. I was considering leaving it in primary, but I had nothing to do and racked it to secondary. I put a muslin bag with 3 cinnamon sticks, 1/2 oz. bitter orange peel, and 1/2 tsp of cardamom seed in the bb. I was planning on bottling it next Saturday (1-1-3 rule), but am now thinking I jumped the gun.
 
I just brewed a Brewer's Best Bold Series Holiday Ale extract kit last Saturday as my 3rd-ever batch. OG @ 72F 1.066. Achieved vigorous fermentation that actually spit up wort through my airlock (in the future, for bigger beers like this, I will use a blowoff tube). Patience has been tough for me so far. Yesterday, I just felt like I "had" to do something with it. I was considering leaving it in primary, but I had nothing to do and racked it to secondary. I put a muslin bag with 3 cinnamon sticks, 1/2 oz. bitter orange peel, and 1/2 tsp of cardamom seed in the bb. I was planning on bottling it next Saturday (1-1-3 rule), but am now thinking I jumped the gun.

So did yours turn out to be a much darker color than amber? I talked to my LHBS and asked them about the color, and they said it actually was darker than a regular amber. I thought maybe mine was dark because I scorched the wort slightly. What temp did you ferment at? Mine's been about 65 most of the time and has been fermenting slightly less than a week. I took a gravity reading and it was about 1.02 or slightly higher, so I figure it's probably got at least three more days of fermenting to do. Hope yours turns out great:mug:
 
Yeast love trub... yum, nutrients. Leave in primary for 10-14 days, rack to secondary using a siphon. Be careful not to stir the beer too much (foaming/bubbling) aka, avoid aeration. Leave in secondary 10-14 days. After you keg/bottle let age for a few more weeks. Your last pint of this beer will very likely taste much better than your first.

RHAHB
 
So did yours turn out to be a much darker color than amber? I talked to my LHBS and asked them about the color, and they said it actually was darker than a regular amber. I thought maybe mine was dark because I scorched the wort slightly. What temp did you ferment at? Mine's been about 65 most of the time and has been fermenting slightly less than a week. I took a gravity reading and it was about 1.02 or slightly higher, so I figure it's probably got at least three more days of fermenting to do. Hope yours turns out great:mug:
Mine was darker much darker than amber. More brown than black. I ferment in my basement pretty close to the water heater which keeps it at a steady 72F according to the sticky thermometer "taped" in the side. My gravity was at 1.016 after a week. Smells great.
 
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