Secondary Fermentation

[wezz]

Hi All!

I was wondering some one could give me a run down on how I go about using a second fermentor/carboy for bottled beer.

How long do I leave it in there?
How much sugar to add?
Do I add more sugar when bottling too?
What temp should the secondary stage be at? (ie in a fridge or not?)


My main reason for wanting to do this is to avoid spooning out sugar in to bottles and get a more consistent batch of beer.

Thanks in advance for your help...all thoughts and advice appreciated!!

Cheers,

Wez

 

[razz]

Evening wezz. There is a difference in secondary fermentation and using a carboy to bottle. I take it you have a secondary vessel ? When your fermentation is finished rack the beer off the sediment into the secondary vessel, avoid splashing. Allow the beer to clear in the secondary for a few days to a week, more sediment will drop out. You can chill the beer at this stage but you will need to let it return to ambient temps before the next stage. Take the sugar you were going to put into each bottle and add it to 250ml of boiling water and stir to dissolve. Now add this sugar mixture to your cleaned and sanitised primary vessel. Rack the beer from the secondary into the vessel with the sugar mixture. This is called bulk priming. It also prevents any sugar crystals being spilt around the neck of the bottles, preventing a good seal. You need to bottle this beer immediately.

Now I know how PP feels. :lol:

 

[WildaYeast]

Boy, Wezz and Razz... confusing

Razz covered it off pretty well, but at the risk of entering the legendary PP territory, thought I'd toss my two cents in. Good coverage of how above, thought I'd be so provocative as to risk mentioning why (or why not).

Transferring from your primary to a secondary vessel allows you to get the beer off the yeast cake. Probably two main reasons for doing this. One is to simply elimanate that source of potentially cloudiness (turbidity) in you finished product. Secondly, once the food runs low, the yeast will start to eat themselves (autolysis). This can produce some undesirable flavours.

As with many things in brewing, there is plenty of debate as to whether this step is necessary. Every time you transfer, there is a risk of infection. Other than 'extra work', infection risk is probably the main thing against secondary. If you are going to let your bit sit around for an extended time it is probably worth doing.

Your secondary vessel should have little or no air space. The 23-litre cubes work well as you can squeeze out extra dead space and then put the cap on. If there is still a bit of fermentation activity, then the cube will expand a bit and you can just burp the gas out once a day or so. This does give you a much better visual indicator of fermentation progress than an air lock as there is less seal to leak. (But SG is probably best indicator)

If you are going to bulk prime, you do need to rack (siphon) your beer from the primary to another container. The reason for this is that you need to mix the priming sugar in and doing this in the primary will re-suspend the yeast and trub.

If you transfer to a secondary, you will probably want to rack again for priming, as more yeast will settle out. So, one more transfer and risk of infection.

I have been doing both. I like the secondary as it has cleared up my beers some (although a good yeast makes a difference too -- have been using US-56 and it cakes up really well). I also like the confirmation of fermentation activity slowing.

I definitely like bulk priming, both because I think you get more even distribution of priming sugar and it is less hassle than filling all the bottles.

Of course, the other way to go is to filter from the primary into your keg and then carbonate with CO2. Just need a bit more gear...

 

[Screwtop]

Boy, Wezz and Razz... confusing

Razz covered it off pretty well, but at the risk of entering the legendary PP territory, thought I'd toss my two cents in. Good coverage of how above, thought I'd be so provocative as to risk mentioning why (or why not).

Transferring from your primary to a secondary vessel allows you to get the beer off the yeast cake. Probably two main reasons for doing this. One is to simply elimanate that source of potentially cloudiness (turbidity) in you finished product. Secondly, once the food runs low, the yeast will start to eat themselves (autolysis). This can produce some undesirable flavours.

As with many things in brewing, there is plenty of debate as to whether this step is necessary. Every time you transfer, there is a risk of infection. Other than 'extra work', infection risk is probably the main thing against secondary. If you are going to let your bit sit around for an extended time it is probably worth doing.

Your secondary vessel should have little or no air space. The 23-litre cubes work well as you can squeeze out extra dead space and then put the cap on. If there is still a bit of fermentation activity, then the cube will expand a bit and you can just burp the gas out once a day or so. This does give you a much better visual indicator of fermentation progress than an air lock as there is less seal to leak. (But SG is probably best indicator)

If you are going to bulk prime, you do need to rack (siphon) your beer from the primary to another container. The reason for this is that you need to mix the priming sugar in and doing this in the primary will re-suspend the yeast and trub.

If you transfer to a secondary, you will probably want to rack again for priming, as more yeast will settle out. So, one more transfer and risk of infection.

I have been doing both. I like the secondary as it has cleared up my beers some (although a good yeast makes a difference too -- have been using US-56 and it cakes up really well). I also like the confirmation of fermentation activity slowing.

I definitely like bulk priming, both because I think you get more even distribution of priming sugar and it is less hassle than filling all the bottles.

Of course, the other way to go is to filter from the primary into your keg and then carbonate with CO2. Just need a bit more gear...

SPOT ON

 

[wezz]

Awesome Guys! Thanks heaps for some expert advice!

 

[reveler]

Help!

I have a brewmasters selection Pilsner down at the moment. I used 500g malt, 300g dextrose.

Now its been in the primary fermentor for 2 weeks (at around 10 deg) and is about 80% through.

I was going to do a diacetyl rest for 24-48hrs at 20 deg then rack into a secondary fermentor and leave in fridge for 3-4 weeks at 2-4 degrees, before letting it rise back to around 18, transferring back into primary for bulk priming and then into bottles. I was then going to let the bottles sit for a week at room temperature, before moving them to the fridge for about a month at between 3-10 degrees.

but the more I read, the more I think i have got it wrong!

is there anything wrong with my process here?

 

[Yeasty]

nope. Its exactly the same as i did it, but i chose not to rack to secondary, just bottle after the diacetyl rest.

 

[Yeasty]

nope. Its exactly the same as i did it, but i chose not to rack to secondary, just bottle after the diacetyl rest.

 

[Murcluf]

Evening wezz. There is a difference in secondary fermentation and using a carboy to bottle. I take it you have a secondary vessel ? When your fermentation is finished rack the beer off the sediment into the secondary vessel, avoid splashing. Allow the beer to clear in the secondary for a few days to a week, more sediment will drop out. You can chill the beer at this stage but you will need to let it return to ambient temps before the next stage. Take the sugar you were going to put into each bottle and add it to 250ml of boiling water and stir to dissolve. Now add this sugar mixture to your cleaned and sanitised primary vessel. Rack the beer from the secondary into the vessel with the sugar mixture. This is called bulk priming. It also prevents any sugar crystals being spilt around the neck of the bottles, preventing a good seal. You need to bottle this beer immediately.

Now I know how PP feels. :lol:

I do it pretty much the same way razz.
I use a fermenter and 2x 20lt cubes, one for secondary and the other for bulk priming. easier on the clean up and you can get a bit of a production going when the brewing bug bites. at $15 each they have been one of the best investments I have made since I started.