What Is This Secondary?

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Beer

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Hi all.. as you may know I am new to HB, and have noticed alot of people talking about putting the wort into a secondry at some stage. What is this all about? is it necassary for a good beer? when should I do it?, how do I do it? etc etc

Your answers or a short tutorial very much appreciated
 
In a sentence (or 2) , racking to secondary is removing the wort from the primary fermenter to a second fermenter to finalise the fermentation process and help clear up the beer. There are heaps a variations depending on the style of beer and type of yeast used.

Check out the following link and you will find 3 topics under the "Racking" heading.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/Freq...pics-t1151.html

Hope this helps
Cheers
 
well beer a quick search would tell you every thing & more..
but in short after around 4 days in the primary [first fementer] rack your wort to the "secondary fementer" to finish off, this will greatly improve the clarity of the end product i.e not much sediment in bottom of bottle.
there is divided debate over this whether it is worth the hassle for the end finish meaning greater risk of infection by poor sanition and oxidation.
but experiment to see what ya think.
occ ;)
 
Beer said:
Hi all.. as you may know I am new to HB, and have noticed a lot of people talking about putting the wort into a secondary at some stage. What is this all about? is it necessary for a good beer? when should I do it?, how do I do it? etc etc

Your answers or a short tutorial very much appreciated
[post="81963"][/post]​
Yeah, what quincy said...

My opinion is that it is necessary for a good beer: much less sediment (mud).

BTW, it's just my opinion again, and opinions are like buttholes (everyone has one), but are U baiting forum members to give U grief about your avatar?

Seth out :p
 
Thanks guys.. yeh did a search, but didn't know racking was what it was called also.

Well too late for my current batches, both about 6 days old now.. but will try on next brew.

Cheers
 
I have my beer in primary for 7 days and then secondary for 7-14 days. It made a bid difference in the beer I was making, much better tasting and clear.
 
It is not too late, the exact timing depends on you gravity reading. Having said that I always rack after 7 days for an ale.
 
Well the 2 brews I have are a Morgans Aussie Bitter with some cluster hops in it (didn't know i should add these later.. been in from the start :p)and a standard Tooheys new kit both have a grav of about 1012-1013 with ever so slow bubbling, once every 5mins or more.
I am contemplating ditching the bitter, as it has a very fruity smell too it (doesn't seem normal?), while the tooheys batch smells like beer. If I ditch the bitter, then I can rack into that carboy, or go by a bucket I guess.

Your thoughts?
 
fruity smell is normal? ok will take your advice and leave it in... so should I worry about racking? being a total newb am a little worried about destroying it :)
 
I always use a secondary fermenter because I like to dry hop and it helps clearing out any dead yeast cells. I tend to give each fermenter a full week each before finally kegging and conditioning for another week.
 
G'day Beer,

The main reason I rack to secondary is to get the wort off the yeast cake, this reduces a thing called autolysis (The yeast eats itself when it starts to run out of fermentables and can give a vegimite flavour). I usually go 7 days primary, 7 days Secondary, 7+ days cold conditioning. Works for me.

Cheers
 
Beer, is that Wagga NSW by any chance?

If you've got malty water and live yeast then you've got beer. Everything else is about improving it.

My advice:
Never dump anything.
Keep it simple. And clean.
Don't worry too much about additional procedures until you know why you are doing them.
Spend a few hours at www.howtobrew.com.

FWIW your user ID and avatar smack of "troll" to me, and I'm probably not alone, so you may want to bear that in mind when posting.
 
Wortgames said:
Beer, is that Wagga NSW by any chance?

If you've got malty water and live yeast then you've got beer. Everything else is about improving it.

My advice:
Never dump anything.
Keep it simple. And clean.
Don't worry too much about additional procedures until you know why you are doing them.
Spend a few hours at www.howtobrew.com.

FWIW your user ID and avatar smack of "troll" to me, and I'm probably not alone, so you may want to bear that in mind when posting.
[post="82005"][/post]​

Nuh not Wagga.

Cheers for the info. That site has some good stuff, was tryin to find similar info here.

And your last comment I don't understand? my user id is my real life nickname.. my avatar is VB.. grew up on it, and still drink it.. till I learn to appreciate better beers :)
 
I agree racking gives you much nicer beer. I go 14/14 days, because the wyeast 1056 takes about 9 or 10 days to ferment out anyway. Suits me.

Then if you rack to another fermenter or bottling bucket for bulk priming, you'll find barely a trace of yeast. The sediment in the bottle will be finer, and will harden onto the bottom. You will be able to pour to the last drop without pouring any sediment.

My beer still has a slight haze to it, whereas Carlton Draught doesn't, so that's fine with me.
 
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