When Should I Rack to Secondary?

[mikem2690]

I have heard 5-7 days after brew day, or once the bubbling stops. How do I know for sure its ready to go to the secondary? And does it matter? Isn't using a secondary just to separate the fermenting beer from the trub at the bottom? Also feel free to post warnings and tips for racking to a secondary as I have never done it before.

 

[Spencecore24]

Unless you are adding something to the beer or aging for a long period of time, racking is not really necessary. 5-7 days is not long enough. I would do a minimum of 2 weeks to allow the yeast to not only ferment all the sugars but to clean up after themselves. I personally would not leave a beer longer that 4 weeks on the trub.

 

[Spencecore24]

I like to wrap my racking cane with a paint strainer to prevent any large particles from being transferred.

 

[duboman]

There is really no set time, you just want to be sure that it is done fermenting by taking a gravity reading a couple days apart. If there is no change you can rack over.

I do agree however an additional week or two is beneficial for the reasons stated above.

 

[Spartangreen]

+1
3 weeks in the fermenter makes great beer.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I always to 4 weeks primary, no secondary, 4 weeks bottle conditioning.

 

[GreenDragon]

I do 4 weeks in the primary and 1-2 weeks in the secondary. I cold crash the secondary for 48 hours before kegging.

 

[Golddiggie]

3-8 weeks in primary, rack only for extended aging on elements that benefit from being off the yeast cake. Rack to serving kegs where I add whole hops (in nylon bag) when dry hopping as it goes into the brew fridge. NO cold crashing before kegging. I move the brew from fermenter/vessel to keg via a CO2 push. So no need to move it an inch from where its been. :rockin:

 

[bobbrews]

I agree with Spencer for the most part, but everyone here is essentially "right". The only thing I would point out is that conditioning time sometimes depends on the beer. A 15% barleywine will require more than 4 weeks whereas a 6% IPA will only require about 3-4 weeks. A secondary is optional for the most part.

 

[pjj2ba]

I have heard 5-7 days after brew day, or once the bubbling stops. How do I know for sure its ready to go to the secondary? And does it matter? Isn't using a secondary just to separate the fermenting beer from the trub at the bottom? Also feel free to post warnings and tips for racking to a secondary as I have never done it before.

Once fermentation is finished you can move it to a secondary if you want. Many will say to check the gravity and make sure it is stable before moving. This is VERY good advice when it comes to bottling. For a simple transfer to a secondary I don't bother. If the air lock isn't bubbling (assuming no leaks) you are probably within a couple points, if not already at your FG, and it is fine to transfer. A big function of the secondary is to allow for bulk aging away from the yeast cake. The cake is not needed for the bulk aging. It is the yeast in suspension that do the active clean up of fermentation byproducts.

That being said, many like to simply leave the beer on the yeast during the bulk conditioning time. It will not ruin your beer. This will though lead to flavor differences compared to a batch that is secondaried. In the BYO article where they wrote about comparing the two methods, the tasters were evenly split on which they preferred.

As to siphoning, here is a great thread on a cheap siphon you can make.

Flyguys T-siphon

I rarely use my autosiphan anymore as I typically push with CO2, but I do use it for my large batches. When it finally wears out, I'm going with the T-siphon.

As far as other tips, make sure everything is well sanitized, be patient and go slow. You want a nice smooth transfer with minimal splashing

 

[dbhokie]

I like using secondaries, I usually wash my yeast and store it at the same time that I rack to secondary. If you are doing a secondary, as mentioned above, just move it after the yeast have finished their alcohol craps.

I usually rack to secondary after 7-10 days.

 

[FATC1TY]

I was just about to post about this.

I brewed an IPA the other week, it's been fermenting for around 9 days now. Came back this weekend and it's not bubbling, and I checked the gravity before I left 3 days ago, and it's not really moved. If it did, it went from 1.021 to 1.020. SG was 1.083.

Checked it today and it's the same, tasted the sample and it was good. I was going to go about bottling it and letting it age in the bottles, because I'm impatient and want to drink it now.

Decided to rack it to my secondary and get it off the yeast to try and clear it up for perhaps a few days. My LHBS is closed today, but might go one day this week and get something to dry hop it with, or bottle some, and age some of it on a bit of oak before bottling.

I can leave this beer in the secondary for a while now can't I? I don't have enough bottles for the batch yet, and I'm not in any hurry. The FG of my brew should have come in around 1.017-1.020, with a SG around 1.085-1.080. So I hit all my marks on the high side just about, I'd assume this is about done, correct?

 

[Yooper]

I was just about to post about this.

I brewed an IPA the other week, it's been fermenting for around 9 days now. Came back this weekend and it's not bubbling, and I checked the gravity before I left 3 days ago, and it's not really moved. If it did, it went from 1.021 to 1.020. SG was 1.083.

Checked it today and it's the same, tasted the sample and it was good. I was going to go about bottling it and letting it age in the bottles, because I'm impatient and want to drink it now.

Decided to rack it to my secondary and get it off the yeast to try and clear it up for perhaps a few days. My LHBS is closed today, but might go one day this week and get something to dry hop it with, or bottle some, and age some of it on a bit of oak before bottling.

I can leave this beer in the secondary for a while now can't I? I don't have enough bottles for the batch yet, and I'm not in any hurry. The FG of my brew should have come in around 1.017-1.020, with a SG around 1.085-1.080. So I hit all my marks on the high side just about, I'd assume this is about done, correct?

Yes, it's done. It can sit a long while if you'd like to dryhop it. I normally dryhop the last 5 days before packaging the beer, for the freshest hops flavor and aroma.

 

[FATC1TY]

Yes, it's done. It can sit a long while if you'd like to dryhop it. I normally dryhop the last 5 days before packaging the beer, for the freshest hops flavor and aroma.

Thanks!

I haven't decided what I want to do just yet, it's my first ever batch. Went ahead and went wild to play with it.

I know racking to secondary is pretty much a hotly debated subject, especially if you aren't going to do anything to the beer before bottling. I cleaned it so well, I had gobs of starsan foam in the carboy, haha.

Worst case, this is just a storage vessel at this point until I pick up some more bottles. I'm maybe a case short of bombers at this point I think.

 

[kbrewing]

Why rack in a secondary when you can cold crash, keg, age for two weeks and serve?

 

[Geohound]

When it's done. Yeast has it's own schedule. Hydrometer is the only way to know for sure. Although it's best to leave it on the yeast for a while after wards to let the yeast clean up after themselves. Then skip secondary cold crash and siphon from the top down into keg or bottling buckets. Secondary isn't needed unless you are doing additions to the beer, dry hops/flavoring additions.