A question for those of you who skip secondary
#1
Posted 22 December 2009 - 06:02 AM
#2
Posted 22 December 2009 - 06:17 AM
#3
Posted 22 December 2009 - 06:25 AM
do your beers still clear up okay? how much junk makes it into your kegs?Yeah I let my primary crash for at least 48 hrs before racking anything out of it, sometimes I let it crash longer if I'm busy or just being lazy. I try to get the beer going into keg as clear as possible, but now I'm considering the gel thing for some of my beers I want really clear. I only use a secondary vessel for lagers and belgians and for that I use a sankey keg capped with a large universal stopper.
#4
Posted 22 December 2009 - 06:36 AM
I'd like to think so but what do I know There is always a thin layer of sediment at the bottom of my kegs when I clean them, but it's well below the dip tube and my beers pour pretty clear with maybe a touch of haze. As you said before, I'm more concerned they taste good. My beers don't usually last long so I guess I'm doing okay.do your beers still clear up okay? how much junk makes it into your kegs?
#5
Posted 22 December 2009 - 06:38 AM
even when I age in secondary I end up with some sediment in the bottom of my kegs. usually I'm not super careful when transferring from primary to secondary with regards to yeast and stuff. from secondary to keg I don't really need to be that careful again b/c there is so little yeast stuck to the bottom of the carboy. but inevitably when I kick the keg and take a look in the bottom there is some stuff down thereI'd like to think so but what do I know There is always a thin layer of sediment at the bottom of my kegs when I clean them, but it's well below the dip tube and my beers pour pretty clear with maybe a touch of haze. As you said before, I'm more concerned they taste good. My beers don't usually last long so I guess I'm doing okay.
#6
Posted 22 December 2009 - 06:42 AM
#7
Posted 22 December 2009 - 07:00 AM
#8
Posted 22 December 2009 - 07:15 AM
#9
Posted 22 December 2009 - 07:23 AM
I could try to do that but I know I'd get greedy and try to take as much as I couldI always plan to have 5.5 in a carboy or 11 in the conical so I can be sure to only get clean beer. I also let it sit in the primary for atleast 3 weeks so the yeast will drop out. First pint is usualy pretty clean.
#10
Posted 22 December 2009 - 07:24 AM
#11
Posted 22 December 2009 - 07:35 AM
WHY DO YOU TEMPT ME!!??I ferment at least ten days and sometimes up to two weeks. Then I cold crash for at least 2 days. The trub settles out even before that and the yeast gets very compacted from the cold crash. Then I move to my racking area and let sit at least 1/2 hour to let things resettle. I get a little bit of yeast because I am greedy and want to get all the beer I can. I siphon until I see some yeast go up the tube.I usually have the keg in the serving fridge at least a day before I tap it and, yes, the first pint is a little cloudy. But even if I just toss that I still lose less beer than I would transferring to secondary and then to keg.Final thought, you can think of your keg as a secondary. You can either pull that first pint before moving or siphon from keg to keg just like you would carboy to keg.Give it a try I bet you don't secondary again!!!
#12
Posted 22 December 2009 - 07:35 AM
#13
Posted 22 December 2009 - 07:46 AM
we do essentially the same thing except in between the primary and keg I put the beer in a 5 gal better bottle. I actually pretty much always do about 2 weeks + some time spent in the basement or fridge (sometimes, like right now, the basement is already cool enough to encourage yeast to settle out).For an average beer, I let it sit in the primary for at least two weeks at fermentation temp, then I transfer to cornies. I don;t really have to worry about transferring excess trub/yeast since the transfer valve on my conical is well above the layer of solids in the cone. Once the beer is in the cornies I let it sit and carbonate cold for a week. That clears it up as much as it;s going to clear. The first half pint or so is nasty, the second and third may have a slight haze but after that it's clear.I'm actually thinking about adding a couple of bright tanks to my system, so I can add gel to the brights when I transfer, then after a week or so transfer the crystal clear beer to cornies. I like the idea of having no sediment in the serving vessels, but it's also another vessel to clean and sanitize.
#14
Posted 22 December 2009 - 08:53 AM
A senior member of my brewclub swears by the no secondary rule. He looks at it was just another chance to infect or oxidize your beer. I think you should try no secondary at least once with a light colored beer to see if you like the results. As I said before you can always rack it to another keg if you don't like the results.WHY DO YOU TEMPT ME!!??
#15
Posted 22 December 2009 - 09:07 AM
What is this "light colored beer" you speak of? I seem to be adverse to low SRM values...A senior member of my brewclub swears by the no secondary rule. He looks at it was just another chance to infect or oxidize your beer. I think you should try no secondary at least once with a light colored beer to see if you like the results. As I said before you can always rack it to another keg if you don't like the results.
#16
Posted 22 December 2009 - 09:15 AM
I guess I think of my secondary as a "bright tank". Usually gel is not needed in my secondary, if I give it a couple of weeks of cold conditioning. Like Zym, I prefer to have as little yeast sediment as possible in my serving keg, and no matter how careful I am in transferring from primary to secondary, and no matter how clear the beer seems at the time of transfer, I will inevitably have a thin yeast layer at the bottom of the secondary after a week or two. With the recent discussion about oxidation during transfer, I have been trying to think of a way to skip secondary (one less transfer) and still minimize yeast in the serving keg. What I think of doing is allowing for a nice, long primary, and then adding gel a day or two before transferring to the keg. My thought is that the gel would settle out with the yeast, and lessen the the likelyhood of stirring up any yeast that would carry over during transfer. I might give this a try. Of course, if I wanted to reuse the yeast, I think I would need to harvest it before adding the gel.I'm actually thinking about adding a couple of bright tanks to my system, so I can add gel to the brights when I transfer, then after a week or so transfer the crystal clear beer to cornies. I like the idea of having no sediment in the serving vessels, but it's also another vessel to clean and sanitize.
#17
Posted 22 December 2009 - 10:01 AM
I used to but I just cold crash in the keg now. The first couple of pints are discarded because there's too much lees in them but that was always the case with me anyway.Do you do anything different like cold crashing the primary for a few days before transferring to keg or bottling? My main concern with skipping secondary when kegging is every time I pour that first beer (if I haven't poured one in a while or if I've moved the keg) that I'll get a glass full of trub/yeast.
#18
Posted 22 December 2009 - 10:22 AM
even when you would transfer to 2ndary prior to kegging you'd discard the first couple of pints?I used to but I just cold crash in the keg now. The first couple of pints are discarded because there's too much lees in them but that was always the case with me anyway.
#19
Posted 22 December 2009 - 10:24 AM
I only meant that because a porter or stout isn't going to show the difference in clarity anyway. Gee if you like high SRM beers, I would skip secondary for sure.What is this "light colored beer" you speak of? I seem to be adverse to low SRM values...
#20
Posted 22 December 2009 - 10:25 AM
ah - yeah. I make some pale ales but I tend to go to the dark end of the SRM guideline.I only meant that because a porter or stout isn't going to show the difference in clarity anyway. Gee if you like high SRM beers, I would skip secondary for sure.
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