OK, fine, no more secondary

[patpawlowski]

I wanted to kind of fork off of this discussion https://beersmith.com/forum/index.php?threads/do-you-still-use-secondary.21918/

I’m curious to see more detail on what others are doing post brew, or, more specifically, post primary so I can put together a regime that works for me.

Previously, 1990s Pat Brewer would follow these steps. I didn’t really have time during the week to brew so there was a weekly cadence where I worked on my brews every weekend.

1. Transfer the new batch to primary (6.5 gallon bucket), add the yeast and hope they liked their new home.
2. One week later I wold transfer to secondary which was a 5 gallon glass carboy
3. Once week later I would transfer to a bottling bucket, add priming sugar, and bottle. Later, once I got kegging equipment, I would transfer to a keg and apply co2.
4. At this point I would give the batch two weeks to condition and then go on a bender and call in to work on Monday.

Initially I had no temperature control but later, when I obtained an old fridge and added a temp controller to it, the entire fermentation occurred in the fridge at a single set temperature. No cold crashing, lagering, or aging of any kind in the fridge.

I’m curious what steps the rest of you take from the initial fermentation to serving. Including what kind of vessel you use, how you control temps, and when adjust the temps.

Right now I feel a little lost. I have multiple options and I feel like I understand the individual parts but I’m having a bit of time putting them all together in cohesive process.

 

[Kevin58]

1. Transfer from boil kettle (after chilling to desired temp) to fermenter, add the yeast and make sure they like their new home by using yeast nutrient at the end of the boil, ensuring a large enough colony of active yeast, and making sure the wort is at the optimum temperature for that strain of yeast.
2. Don't pay any attention to the calendar. One week here and one week there are recipes for disaster. Yeast don't own calendars and work on their own time.
3. When final gravity has been reached (or as close to it as it will get... we brew beer not numbers) I do a closed transfer from fermenter to a clean, sanitized and purged keg.
4. Set the regulator to serving pressure and walk away for at least a week before sampling. Ten to 14 days is usually when it is just right and another week or more of conditioning /aging typically benefit the flavor of any beer.

My brew system is a stainless steel all-in-one. Fermenter is a stainless steel conical or brew bucket. My basement ambient temp means I rarely need cooling* so to raise the temp I use an inexpensive FermWrap with an equally inexpensive Inkbird temp control unit. *I make my lagers in the winter when that ambient temp drops to near ideal for that strain of yeast. The only adjusting of the temp that I do is to sometimes raise the temp on the Inkbird near the end of fermentation to near 70°F for a D rest which I do mainly on lagers.

I don't cold crash. Sediments will settle in the keg and the beer clears very nicely. Yes, the first pint comes out cloudy but I write this off as the "angels share". Some will advocate a floating dip tube to avoid that issue but think about it - when you get to the bottom of the keg you last pint will be cloudy. So its six of one or half a dozen of the other.

 

[patpawlowski]

Thanks, Kevin. Sounds pretty close to my current method. The basement stays somewhere between 65º and 70º. It's not ideal for all styles, but it's not a bad compromise. I recently dragged the deep freeze over to my corner of the basement and put a temp controller on it. I have not used it as a fermentation chamber yet, though. Actually, I haven't brewed a beer since I've moved it.

I did cold-cash the Kolsch that I just finished, though. I kegged it from primary and put it in the freezer set at 35º. Then, a day later, I added gelatin and hooked up the CO2. Two days later, I gave it a taste. It was way too early and certainly not carbonated yet, but I had to have a taste.

Sounds like the latest data shows that cold crashing shouldn't be so crashy but should be cooled down over a few days.

Now that I work from home and I'm not working and going to school, I have more flexibility on when I can put on my master brewer costume and tinker with things, so I'm not so committed to the weekly cadence. I usually get up around 6 am, make coffee, and then go check the gravity and temp on whatever is fermenting in the basement.

 

[Kevin58]

For personal comfort I wish my basement was that warm. Mine stays in the 50's pretty consistently. Great for fermenting beer not so great for being down there for any extended period of time without layering.