Racking to 2nd FV

Quick question hopefully, I know it's often recommended to Rack your beer into a 2nd FV after a few days in primary to isolate it from the trub at the bottom and help it clear. I have had an IPA in primary since last thursday in it's FV and it's now gotta a gravity of 1.008 so I think has reached its final gravity. At this point is there any benefit to racking to a 2nd FV for a few days/week or should I just bottle up??

Thanks

That's only a week. If it was me I'd leave it another week in the primary before racking to a secondary. I'd then leave that in the same place I used during fermentation for another week before moving to a cold place (in the garage) a few days before bottling.

This is what I'd do for a kit. The AG I've recently been doing is a much faster process.

Dave

I rack to a secondary to clear the beer prior to bottling, so you end up with a lot less sedement. When it's done (and it sounds like it is) move to the secondary, leave it in the warm for 1-2 days to generate a little more CO2 to help protect it, then move it to the cold for 4-5 days which will help all the yeast drop out, clearing the beer. That way, you don't end up with a load of sedement in the bottles.

@CreweBrewer - Really, so do you bottle someplace warmer again to keep them at 18 degrees to aid secondary fermentation. I hadn't intended leaving it that long in the FV but I guess no reason I couldn't

darrellm said:

then move it to the cold for 4-5 days which will help all the yeast drop out, clearing the beer. That way, you don't end up with a load of sedement in the bottles.

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So, excuse my ignorance, still new to all this. I assume theres still enough yeast in the solution after this to carbonate the bottles when you bottle up?

TitanicStruggle said:

@CreweBrewer - Really, so do you bottle someplace warmer again to keep them at 18 degrees to aid secondary fermentation. I hadn't intended leaving it that long in the FV but I guess no reason I couldn't

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Leaving it a little longer in the primary will help the yeast clean the beer up after the initial fermentation is done. When it becomes time to bottle I fetch it inside, batch prime my bottling bucket then rack the beer into that and then into the bottles. Super clear beer from the off :-D

Ok great, I had put Friday aside for bottling but will leave for an extra week or two then. Thanks both (SWMBO will be very disappointed to know the spare room will smell of beer for another forthnight ;-))

I am told there is no need for second fermentor but personally my siphon tube always goes to the bottom as a result it always transfers some yeast from bottom so to transfer reduces the yeast in the bottle. If I had some device to keep the syphon off the bottom and was willing to dump the last 1/2 pint then likely no need to transfer. The same with adding priming sugar some people add the priming sugar before bottling which in turn means they need to stir the brew and let the yeast re-settle out so clearly want as little yeast as possible in the beer, personally I use 2 litre plastic pop bottles so I put sugar in the bottle as only 12 bottles, but with 40 pint bottles I can see the point.

The syphon tube needs to be long enough to reach the bottom of both fermentors so as not to introduce more air and the same of course with bottling so personally I have two tubes joined with a tap so I can put tube into bottom of fermentor or bottle then turn on. It also means less foam in bottle so easier to fill.

In order to have two fermentors on the go I aim for 8 days then transfer so each brew has 8 days in each vessel but other events will extent this time. Again because nearly the same beer every brew and brewing in a temperature controlled fridge and using kits I can near enough say what day it will require transferring and bottling weeks in advance. However this can also result in errors. With every brew taking 16 days for months when a lager kit stuck I missed it and bottled too early. Pure laziness I did not bother taking an s.g. reading as for over a year readings had always been the same.

At the moment I have too much stock so only one fermentor running this means it may stretch to 10 ~ 12 days before transfer and up to 20 before bottling I never move the fermentor before bottling as want as much yeast as possible to settle out so bottle in garage. I will store bottles in shed often 3 months before I touch them so not too bothered about conditioning at room temperature.

ericmark said:

The syphon tube needs to be long enough to reach the bottom of both fermentors so as not to introduce more air and the same of course with bottling so personally I have two tubes joined with a tap so I can put tube into bottom of fermentor or bottle then turn on. It also means less foam in bottle so easier to fill.
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I bought a syphon from wilko for a couple of quid. I comes with a racking cane (with a sediment trap on the end). The cane reaches to the bottom of the FV so there is no need to use two syphons attched to one another

I don't use a secondary fermentation. I have done it, and it helped to clear the beer, but I now find if I leave in primary for 2 to 3 weeks, then put it somewhere cold for one to three days, and rack to a separate bottling bucket containing the priming solution 30 minutes to an hour before I bottle (while I sterilise the bottles), I get very little sediment in the bottles.

The 30 mins that clibit mentions is important as inevatably you will transfer some sediment (even if its only a very small amount) over to the bottling bucket. The 30 mins gives the sediment time to settle out so it doesn't transfer over to the bottles and like clibit I just use the time to sterilize my bottles.

I usually get about 0.5mm-1mm of yeast and no sediment, once as an experiment I gently stirred in my priming solution (I don't rack onto it) and bottled straight away. This gave me twice the amount of yeast/sediment mix sitting in the bottom of the bottles

I have a fermenting freezer set up so I don't need to move it before racking. I leave in primary for about 2 weeks, drop the temp to 1c for a couple of days, then rack to bottling bucket to prime and bottle.

If you can crash cool, there's no need for secondary imo, it's just an unnecessary risk of infection/oxidisation. I even dry hop in the primary with good results.

Even if i wasn't able to chill it down, I'd not use secondary tbh (unless lagering). A lot of risk and hassle for a little less sediment in bottles imo.

I do as Clibit.. The cold for a few days is a bit optional for me as sometimes it is hard for me to find somewhere cold.. But in general 2-3 weeks rack to bottling bucket and leave for 30 mins while I sanitise bottles.

Never bother with a secondary and I always find my beer comes out very clear

I personaly think there is more risk of introducing a possible infection by racking to a secondary than any benefit gained. Just leave it in the primary and it will clear. Any "sitting on the trub" off tastes would take many weeks if not months to occour.

Short, useful read on this issue...

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter8-2-3.html

Especially the last 2 paras:

"Leaving an ale beer in the primary fermentor for a total of 2-3 weeks versus one when using single stage fermentation (i.e. not using a secondary fermentor) will provide time for the conditioning reactions and improve the finished beer. The extra time will also let more sediment settle out before bottling, resulting in a clearer beer and easier pouring.

As a general rule, do not rack the beer to a secondary fermenter unless you are conducting a secondary fermentation with new fermentables, such as fruit or are souring a beer by adding a bacterial culture. The risk of oxidation and staling of the beer is greater than the risk of autolysis from the beer sitting on the yeast until it is time to bottle or keg it."

I'm glad I read this, cos it confirms the conclusions I have come to myself!

TitanicStruggle said:

Ok great, I had put Friday aside for bottling but will leave for an extra week or two then. Thanks both (SWMBO will be very disappointed to know the spare room will smell of beer for another forthnight ;-))

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Another fortnight ? This your last brew ?

I think you should prepare her for a permanent convsersion to brewery status :whistle: