Why 2ndry FV?

[beerdoctor]

I am curious and would like to know the reasons why people use a secondary fermenting vessel. I understand it may be because it helps with clearing the beer. I read recently a comment on JBK that it is essential when using Cornie's because otherwise it will take an age for the beer to clear.
Why does using another vessel affect the clearing of the beer

[Chard]

a secondary FV is used sometimes to allow for long clearing times but without getting off tastes from the gunk in the bottom of the FV.

in the primary FV all the gunk at the bottom includes some coagulated proteins and a lot of yeast cells. when yeast gets stressed (low food levels/high alcohol levels) it can autolyse (latin meaning self split). its like yeast suicide. this can give off flavours if your beer is left on it for too long although people argue about how long is too long.

by racking into a secondary FV you leave most of the yeast behind (its done most of the work already) taking only the small ammount of yeast thats still in suspension (and alive as well). this means you can leave the beer in the secondary for a month or more (providing you have an airlock) allowing the beer to drop completely clear and for the remaining low number of yeast to complete secondary fermentation of the more complex sugars and generally help the beer mature like it would do if you used a king keg or similar. then if you have a cornie you can syphon clear beer into it and force carbonate it with CO2 allowing you to move the keg to parties etc without stiring up loads of sediment.

hope that helps and i hope even more that it was accurate. someone will soon put me right if its not.

[beerdoctor]

Yes that makes sense, thanks for your swift reply Chard

[kay-jay]

hi,

does anyone know how soon a secondary vessel can be used. is it anytime after the vigorous ferment has died off ie when the big frothy head collapses???

just wondering?

KJ

[Horatio]

hi,

does anyone know how soon a secondary vessel can be used. is it anytime after the vigorous ferment has died off ie when the big frothy head collapses???

just wondering?

KJ

That's when I do it Kay. For me that can be anytime from 2 to 5 days depending on the yeast used and, therefore, how quickly it ferments. I always drop to a secondary FV but if I'm honest it's really only because it's something I have always done. Old habits die hard! I think I probably read about doing it somewhere (Dave Line book most likely) twenty odd years ago when I first started all grain brewing, still doing it as it works for me.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

Read some of the articles in Brewers Contract (from the Craft Brewers Association) and you'll realise what a load of BS this 2nd FV idea is for the yeasts we home brewers use.

[Parva]

Furthermore, many of us with cornies just keg straight from the primary and get clear beer. In my case the first 2-3 pints may be hazy but it drops brite after that provided that you're not shaking the keg up.

[beerdoctor]

Parva, that's why I asked the question because I'm putting in Cornie straight from primary and seem to get crystal clear beer. I understand the comment about not wanting beer to sit around on the crud at the bottom but it just seems like a lot more effort with chance of oxidation and infection for the likely return in benefit. Wasn't sure if there was some science to it I wasn't appreciating!

[Brotherton Lad]

Thank goodness, never bothered with racking to a secondary myself. Always associated that with wine-making.

[dave-o]

Speaking personally, it's because i have a heated FV and a secondary vessel that has a slim tap on it which is great for bottling.

So basically I give it a week in primary, then rack it to the secondary vessel.
Add gelatin and give it another week to settle.
When i come to bottling i am bottling from a vessel that has very little sediment in it, so my beer tends to be very clear and is easy to bottle without worrying about an inch or more of sediment at the bottom.

[Chunk1234]

I've never done this and I've never had an issue with unclear beer. I get chill haze, but that's a different story.

I plan to start doing this for a different reason though. I find that my AG beer takes an age to condition in the bottle. Im talking 4 months before it gets to its best. I've heard people say that you can drink AG beer within a few weeks, but that just isn't the case for me (maybe I just really dislike even slightly green beer ???).

Next time I brew, I'm going to rack to secondary and leave to condition for 2 weeks minimum. The thought process being that the beer might condition a lot faster as a large quantity, outside of a capped bottle. It will also give me the perfect chance to dry hop.

[boingy]

I probably use a secondary on about a third of my brews. There are a few reasons:

1. My primary is never under airlock, just a bucket with a loose lid, so if the fermentation takes much longer than 7 to 10 days I like to get it into more controlled conditions.

2. Some brews I do, notably the modified cheapo lager kits, continue to drop significant amounts of sediment for several weeks after primary is complete. I'd rather not have that in the bottle or keg. A couple of the paler AG beers I brew also tend to drop loads of late sediment. I've no idea why.

3. Sometimes I want to transport a cornie and consume the contents immediately, so I need virtually zero sediment in the keg.

I don't find using secondary FV a big deal. A tad more cleaning and sanitising but that's quickly done. The oxidisation risk that some folk worry about is pretty minimal. I never bother to purge with C02 and I never use finings. It works for me!

[coatesg]

Thank goodness, never bothered with racking to a secondary myself. Always associated that with wine-making.

Mainly to get the wine off the lees - bit more important for wine where it can take a good few months to clear and thus the lees can impart off flavours. A couple of weeks in primary is fine for most beer strains, and will actually give the yeast chance to tidy up properly after the main ferment.