Why do secondary fermentation

In some cases it may not be necessary at all, and in others, it is vital to the beer. Racking your beer an extra time gives you one more stage to introduce a flavor-detracting infection in your beer. It adds to the cost, since you need to buy an extra carboy. Finally, it introduces another delay before you can drink the beer! Given the cons, why would anyone do a secondary fermentation?

There are a couple of very good reasons to consider doing a secondary fermentation on your beer. The first is probably obvious. It allows the beer to clear more, giving you a better-looking brew, with less sediment in the bottom of the bottle. But why not, you might ask, just let your beer sit longer, in the primary fermentation bucket? Because plastic buckets are never fully air tight, and once the primary fermentation has slowed and is not producing large amounts of protective carbon dioxide, oxygen will affect the beer, producing those stale, oxidized flavors.

Also, because yeast are clever little creatures, when they run out of that nice yummy sugar to eat in your wort, they will find other things to munch on. One handy source of nourishment is dead yeast cells. But why age your beer so long? In essence, longer aging using secondary fermentation will generally smooth out the beer, giving you a more pleasant tasting brew.

In the case of lager beers , this type of yeast requires a long, cold secondary fermentation. As yeast consume the sugars, they leave odds and ends of more complex sugars around, and will eventually turn to them for nourishment.

It is not unusual for this process to take a month or more in lagers. Ale yeasts, on the other hand, cannot process these more complex sugars and therefore require less time in a secondary fermentation.

Once your ale has cleared to your satisfaction in the secondary, it has probably also completed any biological benefits from the secondary fermentation. Should you do a secondary fermentation? Excellent information! I have an Irish Stout that looks like mud,because i forgot to add the irish moss. My primary fermentation is almost done.

For this reason, plastic buckets do not make good secondary fermentors unless the beer is transferred just as the primary phase is starting to slow and is still bubbling steadily.

Five gallon glass carboys make the best secondary fermentors. Plastic carboys do not work well because they are too oxygen permeable, causing staling. Racking from the primary may be done at any time after primary fermentation has more-or-less completed. Although if it has been more than 3 weeks, you may as well bottle.

Most brewers will notice a brief increase in activity after racking, but then all activity may cease. This is very normal, it is not additional primary fermentation per se, but just dissolved carbon dioxide coming out of solution due to the disturbance.

Fermentation conditioning is still taking place, so just leave it alone. A minimum useful time in the secondary fermentor is two weeks. Some show signs of weak activity, while others show no activity at all. If there is no activity, am I better off bottling right away, or continue to let them hold for a full weeks? This phase is a slow not very active phase in which the remaining yeast making the beer better simple terms. If you want to really know whats going on during secondary grab a brew book they are full of awesome information and break down what is going on during this phase.

I use a secondary everytime sometimes there is activity sometimes it does not appear to have activity. I prefer to get it off the trub as soon as the foam has reduced. Lots of dead cells down there that i dont want the flavor of in my beer. The first brew had some activity on the first couple of days in the airlock but it turned out fine.

This second brew an oatmeal stout and the second day after brew day it bubbled a little but that was it. I was advised to give it a total of seven days then switch to the secondary-which is what I have done.

Hopefully this will turn out well. Anyone have any ideas? I have been brewing for about a year and half now and have always been told to only use secondary when adding other ingredients to the beer. If brewing a big beer such as a barleywine would it be a good idea to pitch more yeast? I have been reading about top cropping and wonder if pitching this yeast in the secondary would be beneficial. It is important to note that secondary fermentation is not entirely necessary. I would only recommend secondary fermentation for beers that you plan on aging extensively before bottling OR if your primary fermentor is a plastic bucket.

Plastic fermentors have the added risk of oxidation over an extended period of time, as the plastic will slowly allow oxygen to permeate into your beer and create a stale flavor. Should your primary fermentor be glass, you have no worries provided your yeast is healthy to begin with and sanitation measures were taken accordingly. Just wondering if there was a method to remove the beer, and where do you store the beer if not in bottles or second fermenter?? One thought on another possible reason to use the secondary: I use a racking cane to start my syphon which has a roughly one inch cap on the end to avoid picking up trub.

I accumulate quite a bit of trub in both the primary and the secondary and wonder if I will be more likely to suck up the trub if I complete my fermentation in the primary. Any thoughts from Brad or the community are welcome. This is an interesting idea, and even if I am a decade behind, maybe I will give it a try.

Thanks Brad! Henry: Whether you rack to you bottling bucket or a keg, you are still going to have to rack your brew from the primary. I believe that the point here is to minimize the number of times you have to rack, as each is a source of possible contamination with oxygen or undesired yeasts and bacterias.

I only use a secondary when doing extended fermentations or aging my brews, Brett. Did not get the temperature control but might make that plunge this summer, gets pretty hot down here in Texas. It is so much better than a carboy, easier to rack off the trub and easier to clean. Thanks for the article.

So if you move the beer to a secondary vessel too early, you can have these off-flavors in your beer. Be patient when homebrewing, let the yeast do the job! I thought to add things like fruit or other similar items has to be done in a secondary unless using a unitank, which I understand. Is that correct? I like the idea of leaving less sediment to support long term storage before kegging. My dad was asking me to keg up some of the beer he brews at home.

I just want to make the whole process as easy as possible to clean. Should you use a Secondary for Beer Brewing? Why Bother with the Secondary? What do the Pro Brewers Do? The Case Against a Secondary The main problem with using a secondary fermentation in home brewing is that you take a risk every time you transfer the beer.

To Secondary or Not? Don't make another bad batch of beer! Give BeerSmith a try - you'll brew your best beer ever. Download a free 21 day trial of BeerSmith now.

I love your software and this is my first time here, great blog too! Interesting information.