Secondary.

Interesting read, the Imperial Pale Ale im fermenting now is going to be the first beer I dont rack to a secondary. Recipe is out of the Dogfish head founders book and he didnt say to move over so im not going to. This is also a 8.5% ABV beer. Im going to dry hop when the air lock stops all action, then wait another 7 days and bottle. Im looking forward to see how this beers tastes .. im all kinds of excited.

 

Curious why you say that? Seems the majority consensus is not to transfer to secondary due to risk of oxidation. I am about to dry hop my DIPA and my LHBS suggested transferring but now I am confused on what to do.

 

I dry hop in my primary fermenter (plastic bucket) all the time. I would recommend that you dry hop your DIPA in your primary but at the end of the day it is your choice.

Cheers!

 

Killing jews homosexuals and catholics was popular opinion at one point in time... yeah, that's how much I hate dry hopping in primary.

I have used a secondary for all of my beers with the exception of one. That batch was a mess. It had so much crap settled to the bottom that I had to crash my bottling bucket after transfering from primary. And honestly, my beer doesn't sit around long enough to show any signs of oxidation from racking to secondary. With the CO2 that gets knocked out of suspension with a transfer to secondary I am still confident that oxidation is a minor issue that, in my experience, isn't as big of a concern as getting all the shit out of my beer before bottling.

 

While it indeed true that oxidation which occurs during the transfer from a primary to a secondary could be a minor issue (particularly if you consume your beer quickly), there is absolutely no doubt that the beer is exposed to air (oxygen) during the transfer.

Why you have ‘issues’ with dry hopping in the primary is an absolute mystery to me. I have dry hopped in my primary hundreds of times and the resulting beers turn out great. There must be something you are doing (or not doing?) when you dry hopped in your primary which causes problems for you. I wish I could diagnose this issue for you.

Cheers!

 

For me I found there to be so much crap in the bottom of my fermenter after the trub and hop debris that it affected my final product. I prefer bombers, so when I was done bottling I have close to half an inch of crap in the bottom of my bottles. When I pour my first glass things are ok, but when I pour my second I get a lot of yeast and hop debris. Hell, sometimes the entire crap cake comes up off the bottom of the bottle and I don't even get a second glass.
I know that air is introduced to the beer when I rack to secondary, but I'm not sold on what palmer is saying these days. How many people here have had experience with super long secondary fermentations with high gravity brews like barley wines and imperial stouts? My experience with secondary fermenters flies in the face of Palmer at this point. The light bodied beers I brew turn out nice andd clear, while my big stouts that should show signs of oxidation are still drinking great and getting 40+ at bjcp sanctioned competitions.
So, in summation, just like the hype surrounding certain beers, I am skepticaal of new brewing strategies, especially when they are contradictory of practices that commercial brewers and homebrewers alike have been using and continue to use successfully.

 

Tthe secondary practices I refer to being used commercially today include barrell aging.

 

This sounds like a racking technique issue. Either that or the beer had not cleared before racking. Did you by any chance move your fermenter before racking to the bottling bucket?

 

Yes and no. I moved my primary downstairs, let it sit overnight, racked to my bottling bucket, and let it sit overnight as well. My bottling wand had to be cleaned out twice during bottling from hop debris, and my cane is still in pieces from when I racked over and had to clean the hop debris out. By using a secondary I get less trub and hop debris in my bottling bucket and therfore less debris in my bottles. I'm also not a fan of the yeast I used because of flocculation issues. American ale II is officially off my "to use" list. 1056 is king of my pales.

 

Jack, I can rack into a CO2 purged secondary and push the beer out of the primary with CO2. No O2 exposure. Really, it can be done. You just need have a few more things in you system and some know how.

How do you think the big boys do it when they go to the brite tank?

 

What hardware are you using on the fermenter end? Also, are you doing this with a glass carboy?

 

SS racking canes, carboy caps. 2 psi is safe for carboys.

 

Jeff, I don’t own CO2 tanks so purging the carboy is not an option for me. No worries though, the easy answer is to simply not transfer to a secondary since there is no genuine need for a secondary for ales (unless you are adding fruit or perhaps oaking). The other benefit in not transferring to a secondary beyond the oxidation topic is that you have one less chance of infection. Even if you conscientiously sanitize (and I want to emphasize the word sanitize) your secondary and the tubing you utilize for the transfer there will be introduction of microorganisms to the beer.

Cheers!

 

definitely sounds like you have a racking issue. Make sure your racking cane is not sitting in the trub when you transfer to the bottling bucket. The only time I have any form of floaties in my bottle is when using some fruit that fell apart a lot (berries mainly).

 

How are you coupling your push CO2 to the 'input' opening in your primary carboy cap?

 

I wont have this issue again because I wont be dryhopping in primary.

 

You get one of the 1/4 MFL -barb connector and push it in the angled port in the carboy cap.

Some guy named Drew has a write up here, with pictures.
http://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/racking-co2

For kegs,one can rack into a purged keg though the liquid out, and vent through the gas in with a tube in a bucket of sanitizer. I have done that, but not always with kegs.

 

The same infection logic goes for when you move the beer any time for packaging, make a starter, or for that matter put the beer into the primary. RDWHAHB.

 

“The same infection logic goes for when you move the beer any time for packaging, make a starter, or for that matter put the beer into the primary.”

Yes, but there is several necessities to make a beer. You must put the wort into a primary fermenter in order to ferment a beer. You must package a beer (unless you want to drink it from the primary). There is no must concerning transferring a beer from a primary to a secondary. If you feel compelled to take this unnecessary step, then I suppose you should do that. I personally would discourage you to not take this unnecessary step but at the end of the day this is your beer so you get to do whatever you want.

I am a fan of RDWHAHB since the first homebrew book I read was The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing. Having stated that I am also a fan of not performing unnecessary steps which have the potential to cause oxidation and infection.

Cheers!

 

Just pointing out that many brewers can do these steps without problems. Good practices in sanitation to avoid infections, good racking process to avoid oxidation. Production brewers move the beer around the brewery: Primary, brite tanks, to kegs, bottles or cans.

I will say that of late I have been avoiding lifting as much as possible due to a wonky back (it has gotten better), so I have be keeping it as simple and easy as possible - no secondary.