When to put into secondary?
- Thread starter CnJsdad
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In another 5 days take a hydro reading, and 2 days later take another, if the numbers are the same, then if you choose to secondary, go ahead.
Just because you are not seeing anything, doesn't mean the yeast still don't have a ton of work yet to do...
FYI many of us don't bother to secoondary unless we are adding dry hops, fruit or oak, we opt for a long primary of 3-4 weeks.
But if anything you never transfer to primary until fermentation is stopped...and the only way you determine that is with your hydrometer...not your eyes.
And actually with wheat beers, you really don't need to secondary...with wheats you still want yeast in suspension, and a secondary is to clear your beer
If I were brewing a wheat, I would check my grav on the 10th and 14th days, if the numbers were the same I would go ahead a bottle, since I don't want the yeast to flocculate out. I just want to make sure fermentation is halted so my bottles don't explode.
Just because you are not seeing anything, doesn't mean the yeast still don't have a ton of work yet to do...
FYI many of us don't bother to secoondary unless we are adding dry hops, fruit or oak, we opt for a long primary of 3-4 weeks.
But if anything you never transfer to primary until fermentation is stopped...and the only way you determine that is with your hydrometer...not your eyes.
And actually with wheat beers, you really don't need to secondary...with wheats you still want yeast in suspension, and a secondary is to clear your beer
If I were brewing a wheat, I would check my grav on the 10th and 14th days, if the numbers were the same I would go ahead a bottle, since I don't want the yeast to flocculate out. I just want to make sure fermentation is halted so my bottles don't explode.
borracho_brewer
Well-Known Member
+1 to what Revvy said,
I just spent 5 minutes trying to say pretty much the same thing so to avoid redundancy, I'll just say +1 to what Revvy said.
Dammit, I was redundant anyway!
I just spent 5 minutes trying to say pretty much the same thing so to avoid redundancy, I'll just say +1 to what Revvy said.
Dammit, I was redundant anyway!
Recusit8m
Well-Known Member
If and when you do rack to a secondary, how much oxidation takes place...Ive a 5g batch of Cali Pale that I just transfered into a 6.5g carboy and I was a little concerned...I havent done a secondary before but due to large amounts of trub and large hop additions I figured I should in order to clean it up a bit...Any ideas???
it takes a lot more oxygen exposure of our beer to cause any damage, than what we do in the normal course of our brewing AND in most of the boneheaded mistakes we make(including using our autosiphon like a hand pump if it gets stuck...in a basic brewing podcast years ago, one of the big wigs, John Palmer, or Chris Colby (the editor of BYO) said that the amount of oxygen to actually damage our beer, is actually far in excess of what we do in the normal course of brewing and even most of our accidents. And requires about the amount of oxygen that we could pump in by emptying one of our red oxygen bottles with an airstone into our bottling bucket....not the normal amount of motion we make if we are careful brewers.
Also the effects of oxydation are long term they affect the storage of beers...Unless you pumped an oxygen bottle into your finished beer, you will have consumed your two cases of beer long before any signs of oxydation would show up.
Relax
greencoat
Well-Known Member
I've got a question regarding secondary, but didn't want to start a new thread. I was foolish and didn't filter the hops out of my wort before fermenting. In a couple days (barring a difference in hydrometer readings) I'll be racking to secondary. Since there's so much hop gunk floating around, what would the best course of action be to rack it?? I've got an autosiphon, but I imagine there will be a good deal of clogging. Thanks in advance!
