Secondary Or Not?

[Weizguy]

I have a slightly different problem and would appreciate the readerships' advice.
I have two beers almost at the end of primary, one a bitter, the other an APA. ( around 1015 yesterday).

They have to be gassed and ready for consumption by Saturday afternoon.

Normally I'd rack to secondary and then cold condition, but on this occasion, time is of the essence. My preference is to rack the beers tonight and give them several days cold conditioning to clear then a little ( esp the APA) before kegging.

Alternatively I could then rack to secondary and let them finish off fermentation at 18-20 c and then keg.

Grateful for any ideas and comments.

Cheers

T

[post="125023"][/post]​

I'd suggest that you (maybe, in future) try racking to the keg and cc while gassing up. I recall that Ross sez he does this.

I'm lazy, so of course I'd try this method.

Seth

 

[Tseay]

Robbo,

I suspect the issue of glass vs plastic becomes more more important if you are looking at long term lagering/cold conditioning. eg Oktoberfest, some pilseners etc.

The principle behind secondary fermentation is supposed to be that it is carried out relatively early in the process so that the beer continues to ferment and provides a layer of carbon dixoxide to protect the beer. I suspect that people use the terms secondary fermentation and cold conditioning and mean the same thing.

I think there are some practices around that are important when it comes to brewing mega litres of beer' but would benefit from some testing when it comes to small scale brewing.

Radical Brewings, debunking of Hot Side Aearation is an example.

T

 

[AngelTearsOnMyTongue]

Just a point to note.

I bottle and I have recently tried racking to secondary following reading this thread. (See earlier postings).

The Brew that I bottled has now been sitting for around a fortnight and although I wouldnt really consider drinking my brew untill at least a month after bottling, I do like to tast it at about this stage. This gives me a perspective on how much it improves over time.

I tried my secondary conditioned brew on the weekend and was shocked to find that I stuck one of a very few flat bottlesNot completely flat but pretty still). It was only when I tried a second bottle and it was also flat that I realised that the bottled conditioning is obviously heaps slower without sediment even though this has been at ambient tempperature (15 - 20 oC I guess).

I must admit I am quite excited at the clarity of the brew though.

cheers

ATOMT

 

[Jim - Perth]

Having read all this & the Brew Board posts, I'm more determined than ever to look at phasing out secondary wherever possible.

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

I am getting a keg system imminantly and when I do I will rack into a keg, and CC it in the keg until I require it to be on tap. I am predicting this will be the only form of "secondary" that I use for ales in future.

That's what I do and it works great :beer:

Only one difference though...I let mine sit in the kegs at room temps for a week or so before chilling.

PZ.

 

[goatherder]

I've been reading and listening to a lot of Jamil Zainasheff (from the brewing network) lately and he advocates not using a secondary for ales. He reasons that autolysis is not going to be a problem for at least a month and the yeast needs around 10 days to finish cleaning up after itself. to clear the beer, just rack to keg or bottling bucket. i'm going to try going without a secondary to see how it goes.

 

[Pumpy]

filter

filter

filter

I had no idea so many homebrewers filtered. But the question is, why?

[post="119484"][/post]​

I must confess to being a filter convert !!! saves time turns the beer around quickly, no discernable difference in flavour.

perhaps we can call it :-

"The No Secondary Method"

Pumpy

 

[Tseay]

Just a word of thanks for all the advice. I left both beers in primary for as long as possible then just dropped the temp to clear it a little, then straight into the keg, withn enough time to carbonate.

All went well.

T

 

[Stuster]

Hallelujah! Another convert! One more saved.

 

[colinw]

I mostly brew ales, and have been unable to detect any difference in quality of beers which I secondary and beers which I just crash chill and bottle/keg from primary.

 

[James Squire]

I also mainly brew ales and I do rack to secondary but only cos from the start I was told it was the thing to do!!! Never tried otherwise actually. :huh:

I have been thinking about a filter lately though so maybe I'll give the "No secondary method" a crack next brew!!!

Cheers to all you ever informative brewing machines! :beerbang:

JS

 

[AngelTearsOnMyTongue]

Just a point to note.

I bottle and I have recently tried racking to secondary following reading this thread. (See earlier postings).

The Brew that I bottled has now been sitting for around a fortnight and although I wouldnt really consider drinking my brew untill at least a month after bottling, I do like to tast it at about this stage. This gives me a perspective on how much it improves over time.

I tried my secondary conditioned brew on the weekend and was shocked to find that I stuck one of a very few flat bottlesNot completely flat but pretty still). It was only when I tried a second bottle and it was also flat that I realised that the bottled conditioning is obviously heaps slower without sediment even though this has been at ambient tempperature (15 - 20 oC I guess).

I must admit I am quite excited at the clarity of the brew though.

cheers

ATOMT

[post="125049"][/post]​

Tried another one last night. Although there was a little mnore Fiiitz on opening, it was still pretty sweet and flattish. I cant get over how long its taking after a secondary.

Is this normal?:mellow:

ATOTM