After being sidelined for weeks with leg gout, I finally brewed a Kolsch. Instructions call for it to be racked into a second container for an additional two weeks.
Can it be left in the original fermentor for the total 4 weeks?
Yes it can be… In fact… I’m an advocate for NOT doing a secondary… (oh dear, I’ve probably opened up a can of worms… there are some on here that DO)… I worry about allowing oxygen into the mix…
I hope yer healed up now…
Sneezles61
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I should have waited before posting this question.
I since did some digging and found many pros and cons.
I may skip the secondary and extend the primary to 3 weeks.
Thanks for your feedback.
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A secondary used to be standard procedure years ago. Now many, possibly most of us skip it except for long term storage or adding things like fruit.
Sorry about the gout. I take Allopurinol to prevent it and (knocking wood) almost ever get any symptoms. I do know how much it hurts.
If you are happy with the clarity of the beer you are making you do not have to do secondary. A secondary
will result in a clearer beer. If you purge all your equipment with Carbon Dioxide you do not have to be
concerned about oxidation. Also, if you are meticulous about cleaning up your equipment and area immediately
and sanitize everything, you don’t have to worry about infection. If you opt not to go secondary, just don’t leave it
in there for months before getting it off the yeast. If you leave it too long, you can get some off flavors.
When I made my Kolsch, I cleared it in secondary with gelatin and a cold crash to get an extremely clear beer.
Since samples were going to a German Kolsch drinker I went to great pains to clarify it more. This beer style calls
for a really clear beer…not like a hazy IPA. 
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I started brewing back in 1987 and have always done a secondary fermentation. It’s not hard at all. I know exactly when to rack it off of the yeast as well. When the head crashes and it gets down to one bubble per minute in the S-shaped fermentation lock. I would do it for a Kolsch. That is a beer that should be fairly clear. Each to his own but for me it works and has worked for some 30+ years now. Look up award winning homebrewer Byron Burch. His book “Brewing Quality Beers” recommends secondary and he still recommends it to this day. And to me, he is one of the finest brewers on this planet. So I will follow in his steps…
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You know… I never thought of this before but it wouldn’t be that hard to just purge the carboy of air with some CO2 from a tank before you siphon into it. I have never done that before but it would be pretty simple. I have a huge tank of CO2 as well.
Just a thought…
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Good idea. I think there are other brewers here that do just that. It sure can’t hurt’
I purge all transfers of wine and beer with CO2 into the receiving vessel. This applies to all transfers, even bottling. I have a bigger tank (20lb CO2?) so it costs less as well as less frequent trips to get a replacement. That said, I have no quantitative data showing it reduced oxidation.
Relative to secondary fermentation, I do notice that there is some sediment at the bottom of the secondary vessel when I transfer out of it. So it does result in a beer with less suspended solids. Whether it makes a noticeable or measurable difference I do not know. Will have to google if anyone did quantitative experiments on clarity before and after secondary. To each there own relative whether to use secondary. Never had a bad batch of beer due to contamination but I am a meticulous sanitizer and cleaner.
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I do them here and there no problems but no that often. One thing ive done to “rush” a lager is ferment to completion then keg to a cold, purged keg and hook up the gas and set and forget. After a couple weeks push to another cold/purged keg and ready to serve. So you do the secondary and carbonation in one step in a keg (brite tank) i actually thought about cutting a few inches off a dip tube and dedicating a keg as a brite but im not in that much of a hurry really
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