I almost never rack to secondary now. However, I have been experimenting with dry-hopping in secondary vs primary, and much to my dismay I am discovering that I get cleaner, better hop character when I dry hop in secondary. I wish it wasn’t the case (because I’m lazy), but the difference is noticeable enough that I am racking all my beers that will be dry-hopped to secondary now.
Dave, nice summary! What’s your reasoning behind this one, though? I could see some benefit to racking to a smaller container in this case to limit headspace and O2 exposure, but the infection isn’t limited to just the pellicle.
:cheers:
I suppose I should have also mentioned that when I rack an infection, this is the perfect opportunity also to add a couple of Campden tablets per gallon to kill off the infection. It might not totally kill it off, but it’s worth a shot, and what I’ve done with my own batch of souring porter this weekend. Worth a shot.
Gotcha - I agree with you on that. And hey, if it doesn’t work, you can always call it a historical British porter!
Yep. Exactly the way I feel about it!
Ok, after my recent question about FG and the ensuing responses, I decided to do a search on this forum about the importance of racking to secondary and found this thread. I guess I have also been following the kit directions too closely? You guys convinced me! My next batch (if not a fruit beer which I do often enough) will sit in primary, will never see secondary, and will go in the bottle when the FG stabilizes and the beer is clear. Thanks to you all for all the time you spend sharing your vast experiences.
Here’s what John Palmer has to say, which basically boils down to “don’t do it”…
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/ ... #msg191642