mckenry
Brummagem
- Joined
- 31/8/06
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The best way to reduce the risk of anything bad happening with your beer regarding the use of 'secondary' fermentors, is to skip it all-together.
Many people - on these forums and elsewhere - have moved away from the idea of 'secondary' fermentors, for most beers and most beer styles, however much of the HB literature has not caught up yet.
If you insist on using a secondary, the best way I have found to do it is from 'tap to tap' - by connecting a bit of plastic tube to the tap of one fermentor directly to the other - then transfer the beer that way.
If anything, the 'best' time to transfer the beer is while it is still young and the yeast are active, that way their activity will help reduce the risk of infection and they will also consume any oxygen that you mix in, however transferring early tends to defeat the purpose of moving the beer off the yeast cake, if that is the logic behind you using a secondary fermentor.
So can I get an idea of how many people are doing the above?
The reason I ask is due to my process, outlined below.
1. I will fully ferment out in the one fermenter. (I never go to secondary prior to FG) Crash chill to 3C in same FV. - takes about 3 days to crash chill.
2. Then I transfer to secondary, tap to tap, with gelatin in second FV. - leave another 2 or 3 days @ 3C
3. After these 3 days I will add polyclar. Keg later that day or in the next few days.
I am a glad wrapper also.
Are people doing all these steps in the 1 FV?
What effect will that have on the slurry? - At step 2 above I harvest some slurry. If I leave everything in the 1 FV the yeast will have the gelatin in it.
interesting..
mckenry