When To Rack To Secondary ?

[Maheel]

Hi all

i have a ESB Bavarian Larger (3kg) quietly burbling away it's at about 1020 so still a way to go yet.

I have never racked before but there was a lot of goodness in that can and i want to avoid getting to much in the bottles (and was going to bulk prime)

been reading a fair bit but am confused on when do i to rack to secondary ??

then after racking should i

1. rack back to another cube to bulk prime
2. bulk prime and bottle
3. age
4. chill

or
1. rack back to another cube
2. cold crash 2 days in fridge
3. rack back to another cube
4. bulk prime and bottle
5. age
6. chill

or

not bother and bottle and prime at 1008 ish

or ? ?


thanks

 

[barneyb]

Personally I only "rack" when I'm ready to bulk prime, from what I've read there really isn't much benefit from racking earlier.

Can't comment on the cold crashing though.

 

[felten]

I know the crew at brewstrong only recommend racking for bulk priming, extended aging, putting onto fruit or maybe dry hopping IIRC. So if you're just bulk priming, that is when I would rack. I would cold condition in the primary, for maybe a week, and rack while cold, then bottle.

There is a lot of different opinions and methods on it though so be prepared!

 

[argon]

Depends why you want to rack to secondary... is it for secondary fermentation?... or just racking to bulk prime?

I assume you mean secondary fermentation. There was a recent poll here that suggested that very few people rack to secondary on a regular basis. IIRC only those that wished to lager or age for a long periods felt it appropriate to rack to secondary. Basically most felt that for the regular brew, it wasn't worth the extra effort.

There are inherent risks in transferring to a second vessel, that is infection and oxidation. I rarely rack to secondary these days, however when i did i would rack when i knew i was about 75% through fermentation. That is if i was expecting a gravity of 1012 i'd rack at about 1020. I'd do all this at fermentation temps, ie not crash chilling before racking. After racking, fermentation will continue and a blanket of CO2 will result over the fermenting wort providing some protection. Also ensure to minimise head space in your secondary vessel. This will also help to reduce the risk of oxidation.

Of course after this you'll need to rack to a tertiary vessel when bulk priming before bottling.

IMHO Crash chill the "primary" vessel for a minimum of 48hrs (found this to be a reasonable amount of time to drop out yeast) then just rack to a "secondary" vessel when bulk priming... don't bother with the secondary fermentation vessel.

 

[RobboMC]

I've had trouble with bres I've racked in summer, yes I know it's not summer now.
Oxidation happens more quickly at higher temps, and yeast hibernates at lower temps.
I wouldn't call a bulk priming vessel 'secondary'. Secondary implies that some fermentation time
elapses before bottling/kegging.

IMHO you can make beer tat's excellent enough to scoff yourself, and share with your friends and have
them tell you how much better than VB it is without secondary fermentation, but to have any chance
in a brewing competition you will eventually need to rack.

 

[Maheel]

IMHO you can make beer that's excellent enough to scoff yourself, and share with your friends and have
them tell you how much better than VB it is without secondary fermentation

well here's hoping

I might let it chug away till done, cold crash 3 days then rack to bulk prime and bottle.....

that should put me into next weekend to bottle

been a while since i brewed beer, and i think i am over complicating things hoping for a good (read: awesome world class ) brew

thanks for the input

 

[antains]

I can understand your confusion, Maheel. It took me ages to think I've got it right.

The process I've used with lagers is to have the primary in a temperature controllable environment, such as a fridge at about 11C. When the SG gets to about 1020, I raise the temp to about 18C for a couple of days as a diacetyl rest.

Then, I rack to a secondary (usually a Willow jerry can) to get the brew off the yeast cake and then lager it at 1-2C for at least 3 weeks.

Once that time has passed, I rack it into a bulk priming vessel (the fermenter after a clean) and bottle. Then I leave it for a couple of weeks at no more than 19C (which is the temp under my house on a hot day). Then I enjoy.

It hasn't gone wrong for me yet.

Looking at Argon's response, that will work. The secondary is really just to help clarify the beer. If you don't care about a cloudy beer, then follow the simpler process. (I don't care about a cloudy beer, either, I just wanted to try and make clear beers )

 

[felten]

ah I didn't notice it was a lager earlier, so you can disregard my advice (too early in the morning for me)

 

[marksy]

I rack when its almost finished bubbling. Leave it for a few days to clean up in 2nd and bottle.

just make sure your racking tube goes all the way down to the bottom of the 2nd fermentor.

And really make sure you have closed the tap on the 2nd fermentor and before you walk off and do something while the racking happens, check again that the tap is closed. I once didnt and I came back to find beer all over the floor. 20L of it. Rookie mistake.

 

[theredone]

I know the crew at brewstrong only recommend racking for bulk priming, extended aging, putting onto fruit or maybe dry hopping IIRC. So if you're just bulk priming, that is when I would rack. I would cold condition in the primary, for maybe a week, and rack while cold, then bottle.

There is a lot of different opinions and methods on it though so be prepared!

+1 for not racking 2 secondary if u can get away with it. to me its just an extra chance at infection, and probly more importantly, oxidation. so i dont bother, coldcrash primary- rack to second to bulk prime - works a treat. just as u rack have your can a couple of inches from the top and move down as water lvl drops. dont just sit it on the trub suckin all that crap through that u dont want. also if u take straight from fridge and rack the trub is nice and hard so is avoided easily. just my opinion anyways

 

[antains]

snip...
And really make sure you have closed the tap on the 2nd fermentor and before you walk off and do something while the racking happens, check again that the tap is closed. I once didnt and I came back to find beer all over the floor. 20L of it. Rookie mistake.

+1 :unsure:

What was saved became a great beer, though.