Secondary fermenter and batch priming

[barry44]

Afternoon all.

I have bought myself an autosyphon with the view to transferring my beer, after primary fermentation to a secondary fermenter to dry hop it.

I then intend to return it to the primary fermenter to batch prime and bottle it.

I am looking to understand the timings etc of the process as currently I dry hop and bottle directly from my primary fermenter using sugar drops into coopers pet bottles.

My current process is as follows:

1 - allow primary fermentation to complete. Usually about leave it for a week and check the hydrometer readings. I usually brew on a Sunday so will take readings the following Monday and Tuesday to check.

2 - dry hop for a period of 5 days. For example I would add the dry hops on the Tuesday and bottle on the following Sunday. This would leave the beer in the fermenter for two weeks all in prior to bottling to allow the yeast to complete its work.

Now, by introducing the secondary fermenter and bottling bucket do i :

1 - carry out primary fermentation as above until hydrometer readings are stable.

2 - transfer beer into secondary to dry hop.

3 - once 5 days are over, during which the beer is crash chilled to as low as I can get it, transfer back to primary fermenter/bottling bucket to batch prime and bottle.

So all in the process will take the 2 weeks but the beer is not on the yeast for 2 weeks, is that ok?

Or do I leave the beer for two weeks on the yeast prior to dry hopping thus extending the 'fermentation' time by the 5 day dry hopping time?

Also, is it feasible to transfer to the bottling bucket and bottle directly afterwards or do you have to wait for the beer to settle?

I realise that there is probably a very simple answer to this and I appreciate you all taking the time to read and comment.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Cheers again,

Barry

[CestrIan]

If you want to re-use the yeast then it may be best to dry hop in a second bucket to keep the hops out of the yeast, especially if you are dry hopping with pellets. I would brew for a week, transfer to secondary, dry hop and then transfer to a bottling bucket on bottling day - 2 weeks total.

Something else to consider is some professional brewers dry hop before and after crash cooling as it can give different flavours.

[barry44]

I haven't considered reusing the yeast at this time although I may look into it in the future.

Many thanks for your answer, it appears I was on the right track. Time to practise with the auto syphon

[timbo41]

If you're not reusing the yeast why not dry hop in the first fermenter? Over the time you're talking about, you're unlikely to get any off flavours from yeast, and it takes an unnecessary transfer of beer until bottling day= less possibility of any nasties

[barry44]

Thanks.

My reason for that was reading the kernel IPA recipe on the brewuk website where they suggest taking the beer off the yeast prior to dry hopping.

I would need to put it back into the primary fermenter to bottle as that one has the tap, my secondary is only a bucket.

[Mther]

I always prefer to transfer to secondary for dry hopping, first of all to improve the clarity a bit more, and also I like adding the hops in the secondary bucket first and top up with the beer. But be a bit careful to transfer the beer as smooth as possible in order to avoid adding oxygen.

Cheers

[barry44]

Yeah, that's the method I was thinking off.

Then racking back to the original vessel to batch prime and bottle

[CestrIan]

Sounds like the right way to go. Next time brew in the bucket, and dry hop when fermentation has finished, then transfer to the one with a tap for bottling. Less transfers means less oxidation which means your beer lasts longer. You should consider reusing your yeast though. It just gets better imo and it saves cash. I reuse yeast 4 or 5 times usually with no probs.

[barry44]

Cheers Cestrian, I will look into reusing the yeast. Is it quite straightforward to do?

[Fil]

just use a tube to transfer thats long enough to sit in the recieving vessel bottom,
co2 will escape from the agitated moved beer forming a protective blanket over it as u fill.

[barry44]

OK guys, I'm brewing tomorrow and this time I am going to do the three steps as noted above.

I have a couple of further questions though.

Once primary fermentation is complete and I transfer into my bucket to dry hop, do I need to leave the lid on the bucket loose or can this be sealed down?

Also, I intend to dry hop and crash chill prior to batch priming. Previously I bottled at the low temperature but I am wondering if I need to let the temp of the beer come back to room temp before priming and bottling.

One last thing, I have been using coopers drops thus far at the rate of 1 per 500ml bottle with good results. Can anyone advise how to compare this to normal sugar per litre? Or can anyone advise the rate that they use? I brew predominantly pale ales and the like.

Cheers.

[Fil]

no need to warm the beer before bottling, it will warm upto conditioning temps quicker in the bottles and the cool when transfering may help keep the sediment down and beer clear. cool wont harm yeast just make em go slow n docile.

gram for gram at priming doses the weight of a carbonation drop will be the same in sugar, so if a carbonation drop is 4g? add 4g of sugar per bottle measure..

lid loose or tight?? well some fermentation will continue so best to leave a crack in the lid, but do cover...

[barry44]

Perfect fil, thanks a lot

[barry44]

Any advice as to what I can use as a hop stopper on the syphon? I am looking to use a boiled muslin bag but would I be OK using a starsanned eleastic band to hold it on the auto syphon?

[charliemartin]

Hi Barry,
I usually use a small mesh bag which I got with a Festival kit. It has a string which can be tied round the syphon to hold it in place. I just soak the whole thing in Starsan before use. A small muslin bag would do a similar job. One problem I have found is clogging which causes bubbling in the syphon, but doesn't seem to have oxidised the beers I have done so far.
Another thing you may want to consider is batch priming. Very easy to do and would fit in nicely with your process.
That would give you more control over carbonation levels in your finished beer.

Cheers,
Charliemartin