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So my first brew in 30 years is now in the primary fermerter (Festa Brew West Coast IPA). It has been going for the last 2 days and the krausen looks like it is just starting to break down now (just a few bubbles). Per the instructions from NG, I should be looking at racking to the secondary fermerter. However, I was just reading the online version of How to Brew by John Palmer and it seems that maybe the risks of contamination are not worth the benefits of racking.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter8-2-3.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also just did a search on the forum here and it seems that many of you also do not see the value in secondary unless you are dry hopping etc. I did see one post though that said if I am using the kit from NG with a loose lid and not an airlock fermerter that I should move to secondary. This makes sense to me from what I have read so far as I would think the CO2 layer from primary would be lessening each time I lift the lid for an inspection. I am thinking I could run the risk of contamination if I do not rack to a better secondary fermenter in the next day or so.

I also like the idea of giving my beer an increased hop flavour, so even though this is my first beer, I am tempted to try dry hopping.

What advice do you have for me on this?

Earl

I used to rack all of my beers, and while I've stopped for a lot of them, I don't see any harm. If you want to rack so you can dry hop, go for it. For future beers where you want to skip the secondary fermentation, you should drill a hole in your bucket lid so you can add an airlock and snap the lid on tight. That way you can just leave it until you're ready to bottle or keg.

I personally don't use buckets, I use plastic carboys, and just do a 3 week or so primary like Palmer. I just dry hop in the primary after about 2 weeks have gone by and fermentation is complete.

Dry hopping may also kick up some CO2 for a layer above your brew.

To each his own as they say. You can make great beer either way.

I don't check on my beers unless I need to for something (or I suspect a problem). Otherwise I just try to interact as little as possible. The more you open it up the more chance you have for contamination. If I dry hop (in a secondary), I now purge with CO2 to drive the O2 out of the hops I just pitched and therefore replace the CO2 layer ontop in the process.

I may be old fashioned but I still like to use a secondary, just to clean up the beer before I bottle or keg. I have gone both ways with success, but I just prefer to use a secondary to get rid of most of the mess before I package the beer. I have never experienced an infection due to using a secondary. If you use proper sanitation, the risk of infection is very low. Might be against the grain, but its what i prefer.

Earl wrote:So my first brew in 30 years is now in the primary fermerter (Festa Brew West Coast IPA). It has been going for the last 2 days and the krausen looks like it is just starting to break down now (just a few bubbles). Per the instructions from NG, I should be looking at racking to the secondary fermerter. However, I was just reading the online version of How to Brew by John Palmer and it seems that maybe the risks of contamination are not worth the benefits of racking.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter8-2-3.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also just did a search on the forum here and it seems that many of you also do not see the value in secondary unless you are dry hopping etc. I did see one post though that said if I am using the kit from NG with a loose lid and not an airlock fermerter that I should move to secondary. This makes sense to me from what I have read so far as I would think the CO2 layer from primary would be lessening each time I lift the lid for an inspection. I am thinking I could run the risk of contamination if I do not rack to a better secondary fermenter in the next day or so.

I also like the idea of giving my beer an increased hop flavour, so even though this is my first beer, I am tempted to try dry hopping.

What advice do you have for me on this?

Earl

If you are following the instructions on the festa brew kit (4-5 days primary, loose lid, watch for krausen to collapse) I would be racking to the secondary. I did it this way for a few years without an issue. Sanitation is the key. If you do decide on leaving it in the primary, you will have to cut a hole in the lid for the airlock and snap your lid down tight.

My technique: I go back and forth between carboy with airlock or bucket with lid snapped tight and occasionally burped. I will let the beer sit until much longer than 3-4 days, more like 10-14 (with some going longer depending on my work schedule). I don't do a secondary any more, and will dry hop in the keg if the beer calls for it.

The only time that I use a secondary is when doing a fruit beer and racking the beer onto the fruit. Well, I also recently used a secondary for my Vanilla Bourbon Porter as I racked the beer onto the vanilla beans in the secondary. Other than, I never use a secondary as I don't see any reason to. For dry hopping, I either throw it in the primary after a couple of weeks or dry hop in the keg.

Thanks guys for all the feedback. Rather than modifying the bucket at this point to make it airtight, I think I will use a secondary and will be careful to avoid risks of contamination. For future brews, I will consider staying with primary.

Now I just need to order my gear from OBK to be ready to keg my beer when it finishes!

I don't rack to secondary, and recently started dry hopping in the primary after fermentation is complete. I don't attach an airlock to my buckets either, just leave one small edge unsealed on the bucket and let the pressure force the excess air out. Once fermentation is complete, I just snap the lid down and burp it if necessary.

I started a Festa Brew Blonde Lager last week. I used to do the primary fermentation in a plastic fermenter, then rack to a glass carboy for the secondary fermentation. This time around I am just going with one stage of fermentation, probably about 3 weeks in plastic and then into a keg.
I was a little leery of going against the "instructions", but figured why not take the chance. If it works, great and if it doesn't work, then it's a lesson learned. Actually either way it's a lesson learned.

You'll be fine.

If you do decide to rack to a secondary do you harvest the yeast from the primary?

I do.

I don't really do enough brewing to bother.

I started the double oatmeal stout yesterday. I used a covered lid and did not snap it tight. Is it too late to use a airlock and avoid using a secondary fermenter? Forgive me if this doesn't make sense it's my 3rd batch of beer and I have a hectic work schedule if I could skip the secondary fermentation process that would be awesome!

Matt

You should be fine adding an airlock at this point.

spears104 wrote:I may be old fashioned but I still like to use a secondary, just to clean up the beer before I bottle or keg. I have gone both ways with success, but I just prefer to use a secondary to get rid of most of the mess before I package the beer. I have never experienced an infection due to using a secondary. If you use proper sanitation, the risk of infection is very low. Might be against the grain, but its what i prefer.

Same here. I always rack to secondary, leaving most of the trub behind in the primary. Never had any problems.

For those of you who don't rake, how much trub/yeast do you end up with in your bottles? Does anyone wrap a sanitized muslin bag or something similar at the end of their siphon?

I don't really see any additional sediment in my bottles or keg. I don't have anything other than the standard tip on my autosiphon.

LeafMan66_67 wrote:I don't really see any additional sediment in my bottles or keg. I don't have anything other than the standard tip on my autosiphon.

Same here, after 3-4 weeks in primary the sediment is going nowhere.

gm- wrote:

LeafMan66_67 wrote:I don't really see any additional sediment in my bottles or keg. I don't have anything other than the standard tip on my autosiphon.

Same here, after 3-4 weeks in primary the sediment is going nowhere.

Will give it a try and leave this batch in the primary then. Was actually supposed to rack last weekend, but didn't have time because of renovations.

Jimmy wrote:I don't rack to secondary, and recently started dry hopping in the primary after fermentation is complete. I don't attach an airlock to my buckets either, just leave one small edge unsealed on the bucket and let the pressure force the excess air out. Once fermentation is complete, I just snap the lid down and burp it if necessary.

I like that idea the best. When I used to use airlocks I found them to be a lot of trouble.

At the point where Jimmy snaps down his lid (4-5 days for me) I transfer the beer to kegs with dip tubes shortened by 1 1/2", and secondary ferment in the keg. That way the beer carbonates itself, you have the benefits of "keg conditioned" beer, which is the same as cask conditioned beer, but done in a keg instead.

So i added the air lock just continue with the rest of the instructions?

LeafMan66_67 wrote:You should be fine adding an airlock at this point.

So just continue with the rest of the instruction? I added the air lock