The Phenomenon Of Racking

[chemacky]

I have read of the wonders of racking beer, and have done some researching for a few days now but still have some unanswered questions.

I've watched numerous videos on you tube of beer racking, and all of them seem to use an syphon. All them also appear not to have a tap on their primary fermenter. My first question is, since my fermenter has a tap on it, could I use this tap and a bit of tubing to transfer from a primary vessel to a secondary vessel?

My second question is what kind of vessel should I be looking at for my secondary?

I've found both of these:

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=1842

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=2939

at craftbrewer, however I read somewhere that plastic is no good for a secondary vessel. Also, I'm assuming the top needs to be sealed, but does it need an airlock a la my fermenter? And how do I bottle from the secondary vessel with no tap?


That's the extent of my questions thus far... but I'm sure there'll be more!

Cheers!

 

[MarkBastard]

What problem are you experiencing that you're attempting to fix by racking to a secondary vessel?

 

[manticle]

A lot depends on why you are racking.

Racking for secondary ferment seems to have largely fallen out of favour with many people suggesting they think it makes no difference.

I still do it - I like the results.

My take is that plastic is fine unless you are wanting to age the beer for a significant length of time. Less headspace is better but if it's a short stint (a week or two) then I don't get too concerned. In regards to sealing - mine may have anything from the old glad and o-ring to the lid that belongs on the fermenter. My aged beers (all sours currently) are in glass with a silicon bung and airlock and no headspace but that's a different kettle of fish.

To rack, I just transfer through a tube from the tap and avoid splashing. You can do tap to tap transfers which is probably less risky (people claim racking leaves things open to infection) but I've never bothered.

The best advice I can give is to inform yourself of the whats and whys before you do it - racking is certainly not a necesary step in making beer and understanding your purpose for it is essential before trying it.

 

[arogers]

i just bottled a dunkelweizen that had been in primary for over 2 months.

i actually find no detriment to any of the beers i've done this with, but YMMV.

 

[chemacky]

My main reason for racking is for fruit beers. I have a huge desire to try this, and after all my reading it appears that adding the fruit into secondary is pretty much gospel. However, I've read that it may lead to clearer beers and other such positive things.

 

[Banshee]

If I'm doing a lager I'll rack into a keg and lager till ready for carbonation then transfer again into another keg leaving behind the settled yeast, possibly even filter. If I do an ale i'll transfer to a plastic container and cold crash for week then into bottle or keg. Hefe weissen straight into drinking keg or bottles after a cold crash, going to be cloudy anyways. And I transfer using the tap and a length of tube that goes to the bottom of the vessel to be transfered to.
My way, may not be your way.

 

[bum]

My main reason for racking is for fruit beers. I have a huge desire to try this, and after all my reading it appears that adding the fruit into secondary is pretty much gospel.

Apart from trying to eek a few points out of a particularly stubborn beer the above is the only reason I'd think about doing a secondary (of course, I should say that I don't brew lagers - that changes things dramatically, IMO). Sure, I could probably clear up most of my beers with a secondary but to be honest I worry more about reducing potential infection risks than I do about visually aesthetically pleasing beers.

My point is (I have a point?) that it looks like you've got the "reason" part of doing secondaries down, now all you need to sort out is good process.

 

[manticle]

I find less of a yeasty characteristic to the beers I rack earlier in the piece. If cloudiness is caused by yeast, it can have an effect on flavour so it's not just about making the beer look pretty.

 

[bum]

Agreed. I do tend to select less "yeasty" yeasts.

 

[pokolbinguy]

Racking has a number of benefits...and of course issues. Instead of dragging this post out I'll just list it as I see it:

Benefits:

1. Clearer beer - by removing beer from yeast cake
2. Lower Yeast character on beer...may not be favourable
3. Allows fermenter to be used again if beers racked to a "jerry can" or similar
4. allows for re-use of active yeast cake on new ferment
5. beer can be stored for longer once taken off yeast cake...as yeast will get stinky over time
6. easier filtering as beer can be made clearer before filtering

Issues:

1. potential for contamination if hoses, new vessel etc is not clean
2. time consuming
3. takes effort
4. may not be "worth it"

Basically you have to make the decision of whether the effort of racking is beneficial to yourself or not. Personally I like to rake out of a primary fermenter to a jerry can style container to reduce cloudiness, get off the yeast cake and reduce surface area to drop air intake. I do however cool the primary fermenter to about 4-8 deg before racking and keep the racked beer at the same temp later. Crash cooling will aid much more dramatically in clearning your beer of yeast than racking as is causes the yeast to form a nice compact layer on the bottom of the fermenter as they "die". As mentioned this also allows me to use the yeast cake for the next batch or wort I may have ready to ferment...this means a healty and fast start to ferment in about 1-2 hours instead of more.

Cheers, Pok

 

[Holla]

Racking has a number of benefits...and of course issues. Instead of dragging this post out I'll just list it as I see it:

Benefits:

1. Clearer beer - by removing beer from yeast cake
2. Lower Yeast character on beer...may not be favourable
3. Allows fermenter to be used again if beers racked to a "jerry can" or similar
4. allows for re-use of active yeast cake on new ferment
5. beer can be stored for longer once taken off yeast cake...as yeast will get stinky over time
6. easier filtering as beer can be made clearer before filtering

Cheers, Pok

Thanks Pok for the insite.
I have started racking to into a cube and it has improved the cleanness of the end product greatly. Next time will try the pre cool before racking.

Does the pre cool temp vary for different styles e.g. ales v lager or is it a general rule that 4-8 degrees will give the best result?

Cheers
Holla

 

[Swinging Beef]

I rack beers to:
1: free up a fermenter
2: get more yeast drop out for clarity
3: because I cant be arsed bottling right now
4: dry hopping, spices, fortifying

 

[bconnery]

My main reason for racking is for fruit beers. I have a huge desire to try this, and after all my reading it appears that adding the fruit into secondary is pretty much gospel. However, I've read that it may lead to clearer beers and other such positive things.

I don't do a secondary anymore, except for fruit beers. But what I do first is add the fruit to primary after the bulk of fermentation is finished. Kind of a secondary without the extra transfer. I also use this technique for dry hopping or any sort of additions that I used to do in secondary.
For most beers I then just chill and rack to the keg / bottle but for fruit beers I do transfer to secondary, after chilling, so as to leave as much fruit behind as I can.

 

[chemacky]

Ok, so either of those two containers (in my first post) are acceptable vessels as long as I don't plan on keeping the beer in secondary for a long period of time? And an airlock of some description is definitely required?

 

[Pennywise]

As long as the plastic is food grade it's safe to use for secondary/brewing. You don't need an airlock either, just a bit of glad wrap and a lakky band will be fine

 

[bconnery]

As long as the plastic is food grade it's safe to use for secondary/brewing. You don't need an airlock either, just a bit of glad wrap and a lakky band will be fine

What he said.

OP, with regards to your question I just use a fermenter myself.
Either of those containers you linked to would work if you wanted them.

The trick is how to get the beer out with minimal splashing, because you don't want it at this stage.

 

[roo_dr]

I rack from primary to secondary using the tap at the bottom of the fermenter, and hospital grade tubing. Full primary vessel on table, empty secondary vessel on the floor, and the magic of gravity. No splashing. A small piece of the bottling wand makes a very good connector from tap to tubing.

Why? All of the reasons above and more.

The only problem I've had with infection was identified in the primary vessel before racking (didn't occur). A sad day when 20+ Litres of rancid beer goes on the garden.

I'm not saying this is the right thing to do, but it works for me.


Edit: "..hospital grade tubing..." because I borrow it from the hospital h34r: any tubing that is bug free would do.

 

[Shed101]

Edit: "..hospital grade tubing..." because I borrow it from the hospital h34r: any tubing that is bug free would do.

I'm glad you clarified that, i was worried it had something to do with enemas

I've just racked to secondary for the first time (apart for bulk priming which I always do). But it's my first lager attempt. I used the same method as always, but admit i'm worried it will have oxygenated on transfer (using sanitised tube). Fingers crossed, but i'll be right shitted off if 6-7 weeks of waiting results in a mess.

 

[chemacky]

Thanks everyone for all the responses, I've certainly learned a lot already. I am a bit paranoid of infection, and thus a little bit suspect on my sanitising routine... so I won't be racking all that often, however I really do want to give fruit beers a crack!

Ok, so now I'm thinking another fermenter might be the way to go as I can easily use this to brew another batch when it's not required for a secondary. I am aware that both of those can be used as fermenters too, but I feel it's best for me to stick with the type I'm used to. This would also make it possible to do tap to tap transfers as was mentioned earlier. Would this reduce splashing? I get the feeling that the beer might get a little 'churned' up going through the tap and the sediment reducer and what not...

Secondly, I've been looking at the tubing on the craftbrewer site (http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/default.asp?CID=41), and there are so many sizes. I measured my 'little bottler' and it's about 10mm from the outsides of the plastic, so I'm thinking the 8mm vinyl tubing at the bottom of that page would be the way to go? It'd stretch enough to get a good seal?

Cheers guys!

 

[manticle]

I think the infection risk from racking is a little overstated.

If you're going to rack, get rid of the sediment reducer. Nothing but a 'make my experience really difficult' gimmick in my experience and racking will vastly reduce sediment anyway.

Never tried tap to tap but racking through hose to fermenter bottom is pretty gentle if you start slow then keep the end of the hose submerged. Try both and see for yourself.

As for tube size - get a tape measure and measure your tap. If it's slightly too big you could use a rubber band or hose clamp (better) to keep it in place. Too small will make you kick your cat (or smallest child)