Sheesh
I go on vacation and miss a nice discussion like this. Guess Ill quit going on vacation! 8)
Disclaimer: The opinions and ideas expressed in this posting are my own, If you subscribe to them, so be it, If not :
;D
stadelman said:
I still don't buy it. I think the positive effects of using a secondary are mostly psychological. I think it's also a case of... I read this somewhere once and it's what I do, so I'm going to keep doing it.
No There are very clear reasons to go to a secondary which are not psychological and there are clear reasons not to.
1. The addition of misc spices, fruits, and hops that you don't want the yeast to accost.
2. Big beers that need bulk conditioning. My personal rule of thumb is anything bigger than 1.060 should go to secondary for bulk conditioning.
3. Autolysis, It is not a myth, you may want to do more reading. Or speak to professional brewers like dhaenerbrewer, AndrewQld, bonjour and hear their thoughts.
4. Adding fining agents like Gelatin
When not to go to secondary.
1. Small/Normal/Ordinary beers (IMO: under 1.050) after a sufficient amount of time has lapsed after primary fermentation has completed to clear the beer. Your call
2. Cloudy beers like wheat beers often do not need a secondary.
Let's take these one by one-
1. Bulk conditioning/Mellowing. You can bulk condition in the primary. Autolysis (at least in the first month) has been proven a myth.
No you can not bulk condition in in the primary. Bulk conditioning requires several months and I personally have bulk conditioned for over a year. Lagers take a minimum of 3 months and I usually do a tirtiary for that!
2. Clarity. Gravity takes affect both in the secondary vessel and in the primary vessel. Leaving the beer in primary longer will produce similar results.
Not sure which one you are talking about here Clarity or Gravity so I will address them both.
Clarity: Yes after a sufficient amount of time the beer will clear. However if you leave the beer on the primary yeast cake there will be more live yeast cells still in suspension because the beer is sitting on more live yeast cells. If you feel this is untrue, think about bottle conditioning your beer. You don't see the yeast, but there is some in there!
Gravity: the only thing I have to say about this, is your beer should be finished before you transfer it to secondary. If not then you are transferring to early. Trust your Hydrometer. It really works!
Downsides as I see them-
1. More work
2. Another place to pick up contamination
3. You're picking up more oxygen and increasing or hastening oxidation
4. Loss of beer!
5. A lot of times this is done too soon, you're pulling your beer off of the yeast before it's done working
1. Your hobby not mine. IMO: Your making beer how bad can it be!
2. Cleanliness is godliness, Yes! However, The PH and the alcohol content at this stage in your beer's life are not very conducive to bacteria growth.
3. O Come on! your kidding right? It takes ALOT to oxidate a batch. I have not succeed yet to do it. I once kegged a batch and forgot to purge before I started shaking the keg for carbonation. There was a good 6" of air on top of that batch and I still did not notice any off flavors.
4. Compensate like most of us do. Add an additional 1/2G and you wont have anything to worry about.
5. Trust the Hydrometer. 2 readings over 3 days. If no change, Transfer.
Also Jamil Z and many top homebrewers practice and advocate a no secondary process for most beers. Obviously there are times that a secondary is useful or required, but it's my belief that those times are few and far between.
I don't claim to know more than or less than anyone, I have presented clear facts as I believe them to be true. Take it how you like, or not at all.
The fact is this: There are no Hard Fast Rules. All you can do is read what others do and derive your own processes from that. It is your hobby do as you like.
Break free from the shackles of secondaries!
Ya right!
Cheers
Preston