secondary fv + carbonation temps

[Brew Dawg]

Hey all,

I'm due to bottle my first ever home brew this weekend, hoping it turns out well!

I've read a lot about moving from the primary FV to a secondary... What are the main pros and cons for this and is it worth the investment for a newb like me?

I will be using 500ml pet bottles with 1.5 carb drops to use up what came with the kit (thanks to this forum for that info!) But my query is what are the temperature ranges for carbonation... I read "a week in the hot and a week in the cold" but never see the °c info on it.

Its coopers lager I'm brewing then once its bottled onto bulldogs four finger jack next once I get my immersion heater/water bath setup.

Great forum dudes, invaluable information to be found here!

Scottie

 

[NickW]

You'll want to get the beer off the trub when bottling.. do you have a second bucket with a little bottler attachment?

General rule of thumb is 2 weeks warm (around the same temperature you fermented the beer) and as long as you can resist in the cold... 12c or lower I'd say

 

[marksa222]

I've read a lot about moving from the primary FV to a secondary... What are the main pros and cons for this and is it worth the investment for a newb like me?

Pros - gets the beer off the trub, should be a clearer beer and have less sediment in the bottle (I think)... Cons - higher risk of infection & oxidisation, more work & I don't get quite as much beer in to the bottles. I won't bother unless I'm doing going to lager or dry hop tbh.

I will be using 500ml pet bottles with 1.5 carb drops to use up what came with the kit (thanks to this forum for that info!) But my query is what are the temperature ranges for carbonation... I read "a week in the hot and a week in the cold" but never see the °c info on it.

I'd say 16 degrees + will carbonate. If you can get it somewhere that's around 20 degrees they should be carbed in 2-3 weeks. Btw, I did a coopers lager months ago and found 2 drops per 500ml was about right. 1.5 should be fine, but be careful to sanitise the knife and where you cut them in half. I'd imagine it'd be a pain to cut them in half tbh.

 

[Brew Dawg]

Thanks for the replys guys!

I'm now at the stage where I need to transfer from my primary FV to my secondary.

Q1: Both FV have taps on them but i've just realised I have no syphoning tube or system. Would you recommend getting tubing to fit over the Coopers FV Tap or a stand alone telescopic type of syphon for transferring to the secondary FV?

Q2: Also, when my Four Finger Jack kit reaches FG - can I batch prime straight into the secondary FV or is it best to transfer it back to the original/primary FV with the sugar solution mix already in the clean and sanitised FV?

Is there a table or info anywhere on how much sugar should be used for batch priming too?

 

[NickW]

http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

1.) Make use of your taps and yes get some tubing. You don't want splashing at this stage.

2.) Mix your sugar into the second FV and bottle immediately.

 

[Fil]

draining off the sediment with a tap is a doddle, but u want a tube from the tap reaching the bottom of the target bucket so it drops in with minimal air contact, the movement should encourage any co2 in solution in the beer to come out and form a nice co2 blanket over your beer keeping the air off it.

when first filling the fv o2 was good to feed the yeast, Now 02 is the enemy it will oxidise the fermented beer..

when the level starts to drop close to the tap exit start to gently n steadily tip the bucket forward keeping the tap exit below the beer level, this is CRUCIAL, dont let any air into the tap exit it cld oxidise the beer n ruin it, its not heavy when u get down low and can finish pretty quickly. when sediment creeps toward the tap or the level drops so air cld get mixed in drop the bucket back down and cut the losses..

when finished in secondary u will have a much smaller sediment deposit, but u want to leave that behind before priming, so yes pour back into the first bucket again for batch priming and bottling..

brewing means u spend a lot of time cleaning n sanitising equipment

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

this is CRUCIAL, dont let any air into the tap exit it cld oxidise the beer n ruin it, its not heavy when u get down low and can finish pretty quickly. when sediment creeps toward the tap or the level drops so air cld get mixed in drop the bucket back down and cut the losses..

Now I'm a little worried about the Brewferm Triple I drained into 2nd FV on Saturday (sorry to hijack this thread but there is some great advice here). I siphoned with a tube and one of these things that stops the sediment getting in and I tipped the first bucket to release as much liquid as possible without moving the sediment too much. There was definitely a time when there was air in the tube rather than beer and I had to suck the tube to get it moving again. The way I read this is that could oxidize the beer too? Hope not, I'm beginning to wish I'd just racked it instead of going for secondary fermentation.

It had 13 days in primary, had a reading of 1012 for the last 5 days I tested it and I am planning to leave 7 days before I prime and rack into bottles. I don't have an airlock on this FV so have put the lid on tightly then loosened 1 bit so air can escape but hopefully not get in. I have my fingers crossed for this as I'm not sure there is anything protecting it from oxidizing now.

:wha:

Confused as always, I am hoping to learn from these amateurish mistakes when I start brew number 3.

 

[Brew Dawg]

Priming calculator saved to my favourites, very handy!

I'm getting used to all this cleaning and sanitising now, i'm a pedant when it comes to things like this anyway!

I will rack to the secondary and then back into the primary for priming and bottling, makes sense anyway as thats the Coopers FV that comes with bottling wand.

One thing regarding the oxygen in the beer... when adding the hop teabags to the bulldog kit, it states that when adding the tea bags and mix it was boiled in that it is requried to "aereate the brew by stirring and splashing vigorously for 2 minutes"... surely this is the same principle/problem you mentioned? I planned to add the hop teabags once I moved it to secondary FV, should I be concerned about stirring it in or just let it sink?

http://www.bulldogbrews.co.uk/assets/do ... uction.pdf

 

[Fil]

@ClarenceBoddicker

dont worry too much about letting a syphon fail, as your beer is gonna be covered by a blanket of co2 to start with and as soon as gas gets in and beyond the top it fails, where with a tap drain letting gas in at the top will result in gas bubbles all the way down into the target vessel and then bubbling up thru the bulk, and it will just keep on going until corrected so i think the beer is at much more risk..

imo if syphoning out rather than chase the level of the beer all the way down risking a failure if u miss a move down in time, use a sediment trap on the bottom of your dip tube, and push it all the way down from the get go, you may suck up a lil sediment 1st of all but just dump out the first few ounces if needed..

@Brew Dawg u can stir the hop t in secondary, just avoid disturbing the surface too much, the transfer and stirring should encourage any co2 in suspension to release and form a new co2 blanket.

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

@Fil

Great - thanks for the tips - what I like about this forum is that beginners with simple questions aren't treated as idiots! It is a fantastic place to learn the stuff that kits and books don't necessarily tell you. Cheers.

@Brew Dawg

Sorry to tag on to your thread - good luck with the first brew - my first, a Woodforde's Wherry is alright - it's not great but doesn't taste like home brew and isn't offensive so that was a result of sorts. The lessons I've learned from that, and with the support of this forum I'm hoping to improve every time.