Primary, secondary.... Come again!?

[Kerneels Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kerneels]

Like the Title reads...

What does that mean? Might be a stupid question but hey, I'm yet to brew my first batch so to me it is a brilliant question.

[robcass Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close robcass]

I imagine you're talking about fermentation, or more specifically fermenters?

There are a few phases of the average beer fermentation.
1. Lag phase - yeast is acclimatizing to it's environment and preparing for fermentation
2. Exponential growth phase - yeast reproduces rapidly and consumes sugar, producing alcohol and CO2 (and various byproducts)
3. Conditioning phase - yeast activity slows down and some of the byproducts are reabsorbed. Yeast flocculates and beer clears.

Some brewers prefer to move the beer from a primary fermenter (used for the lag and exponential growth phases) to a secondary fermenter for the conditioning phase. Some reasons for this are:

- Producing a clearer beer
- Getting the beer off the yeast cake to prevent possible autolysis
- moving to a fermenter with lower oxygen permeability for long term conditioning

It can be beneficial but is not strictly necessary. Each time you move your beer you run the risk of introducing an infection. I think it depends on the style of beer you are making/what kind of fermentation schedule you are using.

[getack Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close getack]

No such thing as a stupid question!

After a week or two of normal fermentation most of the yeast would have settled down on the bottom of your fermentor. This is known as "primary fermentation" since most of the fermentation takes place during this stage.

The practice of doing a secondary fermentation is to rack (transfer) the beer to a new fermentor so that beer does not sit on the settled out yeast cake for extended periods of time. This supposedly helps to improve flavour and so on.

In reality a secondary phase has very little effect. A scientific exBEERiment have confirmed this (http://brulosophy.com/2014/08/12/pri...iment-results/)

Don't waste your time with it. Don't listen to what others are claiming. First make sure you make an actual batch of beer, that it is good enough that you like to drink it and that you can reliably repeat the recipe. After that try to get your friends to drink it. If they do you know you are on the right track. Get your technique and process down before getting bogged down with stuff like secondaries or oxygentation or yest starters or whatever.

[DieBaas Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DieBaas]

Agree with the rest, if you are not making a super high gravity beer or a Lager then there is no need for a secondary.

And even with those it is not strictly necessary.

GET BREWING!

[Kerneels Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kerneels]

Thanks all! Noted!

So the book of recipes that I have and obviously the first brew I will make is in that book which is a Southern brown ale. It's a quick brew because it only takes 4 weeks. So Now that I kinda understand the prim and sec.

This particular recipe will call for 1 week fermentation(Primary I suppose) and then bottle/keg for 3 weeks condition( Is this secondary?)

[robcass Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close robcass]

The conditioning in the keg/bottle is called refermentation or bottle conditioning.

The basic process is leave it to ferment for around a week for primary fermentation. It may take longer or shorter so take gravity readings to confirm when fermentation is complete. Let it sit for a few extra days if you are unsure...no harm will come and more of the yeast will flocculate.

Then bottle or keg with priming sugar and leave it for 2 weeks or so to referment and carbonate.

[Adam S Member Find all posts View Profile Close Adam S]

Don't go by 'x' number of days or weeks fermentation.
Get a hydrometer and measure the gravity of your beer.
Once there is no change for a few days fermentation has finished and you are ready to bottle.
What you describe in your post above is not secondary, it is bottle/keg conditioning. Quite different.

[that guy al Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close that guy al]

quite honestly, don't even contemplate secondary fermentation at this point. it's really just a waste of time and effort with very little, if any, benefit.

[Kerneels Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kerneels]

Ahhh ok, I kinda get it now.

Ok then I am not going to worry about secondary.

My Process will then just go from mash-wort boil-ferment(Primary)-bottle.

Thanks gents. I do have a hydrometer so I will keep checking the ferment until it get stagnent and bottle I suppose.

[Snot0ssie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Snot0ssie]

If you are worried about having a clearer beer, just invest in a sediment separator. I bought 1 for R10 and its made as much difference in giving me clearer cider as a secondary did. The separator basically just prevents the taps from pulling any wort from the bottom of the vessel when bottling.

[Kerneels Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kerneels]

Thats brilliant, where did you buy that?

If you are worried about having a clearer beer, just invest in a sediment separator. I bought 1 for R10 and its made as much difference in giving me clearer cider as a secondary did. The separator basically just prevents the taps from pulling any wort from the bottom of the vessel when bottling.

[Snot0ssie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Snot0ssie]

I bought it at the http://thehomebrewshop.co.za
I think brewcraft also sells it, and you should be able to make a diy solution with a pvc pipe and end fitting probably

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

Even better yet, get rid of the tap and invest in an auto-siphon

[Snot0ssie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Snot0ssie]

Even better yet, get rid of the tap and invest in an auto-siphon

I just checked in out on youtube without sound so not sure if they mention it or not, but how do you prevent is from sucking up the sediment at the bottom, do you judge it by eye?

[that guy al Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close that guy al]

I just checked in out on youtube without sound so not sure if they mention it or not, but how do you prevent is from sucking up the sediment at the bottom, do you judge it by eye?

theres a cap at the bottom that prevents it from drawing sediment. essentially it draws from the sides: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/02...G?v=1452123716