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Secondary fermentation & Kegging

Northern Brewer General
#1

I have a question regarding secondary fermentation & Kegging. I have a NB kit, New World Sauvignon Blanc Saison. that calls for the following schedule: 1-2 weeks in primary, 2-3 weeks in secondary and 2-3 weeks bottle conditioning.

I ended up letting it sit in the primary for three weeks, since there was still some Airlock activity @ the two week mark and just transferred to the secondary. I plan on letting it still sit for the 2-3 weeks in the secondary carboy. I’m pretty ecstatic w/ the results so far. OG was 1.069 and the FG measured in @ a bone dry 1.003.

Now for the question, since I’m not going to bottle this batch and I’m going to Keg and force carb, should I extend the secondary aging? Or should I just follow the standard schedule?

Thanks in advance! :cheers:

#2

[quote=“jgigs”]I have a question regarding secondary fermentation & Kegging. I have a NB kit, New World Sauvignon Blanc Saison. that calls for the following schedule: 1-2 weeks in primary, 2-3 weeks in secondary and 2-3 weeks bottle conditioning.

I ended up letting it sit in the primary for three weeks, since there was still some Airlock activity @ the two week mark and just transferred to the secondary. I plan on letting it still sit for the 2-3 weeks in the secondary carboy. I’m pretty ecstatic w/ the results so far. OG was 1.069 and the FG measured in @ a bone dry 1.003.

Now for the question, since I’m not going to bottle this batch and I’m going to Keg and force carb, should I extend the secondary aging? Or should I just follow the standard schedule?

Thanks in advance! :cheers: [/quote]

I’d just let it sit in secondary for longer. But you could also just let it condition further in the keg. To be honest, I don’t think it makes one bit of difference.

#3

Unless you added more fermentables in the secondary, there is no “secondary fermentation”, you’re just conditioning. You could have racked directly to the keg instead, but letting it sit in the carboy for a couple of weeks and then moving to the keg isn’t going to hurt it.

#4

For this beer I would have left it in the fermenter for 4 weeks. Then into the keg. Force carbonate/age for 2-3 weeks and drink when carbonated.

#5

This is what I would have done as well. A keg is basically another bulk conditioning vessel. Going directly from “primary” to the keg will reduce the risks of infection and oxidation, allow you to get a headstart on carbonation and it’s simply one less step (therefore a more efficient process).

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