secondary fermentation

Hi all, I have another newbie question. After 2 weeks of the primary fermentation at room temp. is it o.k. to do the secondary in a cooler area such as my basement? It’s not cold but definitely cooler.

Secondary fermentation is really bulk aging, and “cellar temperature” (50s to low 60s) is actually ideal. In general temperature doesn’t matter as much once initial fermentation is over, so long as you don’t let it get so hot it encourages oxidation.

So yes, your basement temp is presumably fine.

Not only that, but unless you’re planning to age for over a month, don’t bother racking to another vessel. Leave it in the primary and carry it downstairs.

I have the caribou slobber. And has a secondary to it. I have read the longer it sits the better. So I was planning 2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in secondary and 2 weeks in bottles.

[quote=“mokurjahoobees”]I have the caribou slobber. And has a secondary to it.[/quote]Just about every beer kit NB sells calls for a secondary, unless it’s a really big beer, calls for dry hopping or some other addition or you need to free up your fermenter, doing a secondary conditioning is optional.

Define “cooler”. It is possible you should have done the primary in the basement if your ambient temps were above mid 60’s.

Why would the gravity of the beer have any bearing on whether or not to secondary? From what I have read, autolysis is rare, so leaving a beer on the yeast cake for several months shouldn’t be an issue. What am I missing?

My house thermostat is set at 66. the thermometer strip on the carboy has been reading between 70 and 74.I don’t know what the temp. in my basement is. If had to guess lower to mid 60’s. Would it hurt anything to bring it to the basement now? I brewed it saturday evening and was done around 7:30 p.m. so it’s been about 2 1/2 days.

Nothing against NB, but their instructions are not necessarily representative of what is now considered best practice in the homebrew community. And they just might be a wee bit biased toward making more money by selling more secondary fermenters. :slight_smile:

2 weeks in secondary will do nothing. Leave it in the primary for 4 weeks total and bottle it.

Gravity matters because high gravity beers are more likely to benefit from an extended aging period. Caribou slobber is not a high gravity beer.

That was a little warm. Not drastically so, but warmer than ideal. At this point though whatever damage to be done is done. Don’t sweat it you’ll make decent beer. I would leave it where it is to make sure you finish strong and get good attenuation. Wait for the gravity to stabilize (same reading consecutive days) and then bring it downstairs.

Why would the gravity of the beer have any bearing on whether or not to secondary? From what I have read, autolysis is rare, so leaving a beer on the yeast cake for several months shouldn’t be an issue. What am I missing?[/quote]

Several months is indeed probably okay. I’ve done it. BUT If you’re doing a REALLY big beer, or a mead or something, you might well want to age even longer. I’ve aged things up to a year, and I always use a secondary in that case. But for a month or two, I don’t worry about it. Almost every beer I brew goes from primary to keg.

[quote=“Nate42”][quote=“Chris-P”]
Why would the gravity of the beer have any bearing on whether or not to secondary? From what I have read, autolysis is rare, so leaving a beer on the yeast cake for several months shouldn’t be an issue. What am I missing?[/quote]

Several months is indeed probably okay. I’ve done it. BUT If you’re doing a REALLY big beer, or a mead or something, you might well want to age even longer. I’ve aged things up to a year, and I always use a secondary in that case. But for a month or two, I don’t worry about it. Almost every beer I brew goes from primary to keg.[/quote]Another thing is that I don’t want to have a fermenter hung up for months at a time. I also ferment in buckets and there’s a risk of oxygen permeating the plastic bucket. For me big beers get 3-6 weeks primary and then transferred to a keg for aging.

Pretty much anything that needs to happen is done happening after a month in the primary (less time for lighter beers). The yeast clean up everything and they floc out well by then, so after that the process is lagering or “bulk conditioning”, rather than secondary fermentation (technically that term only applies to an addition of fermentables other than for priming). Glass or stainless is preferred after primary due to the gas permeability of plastic, although some styles actually might “benefit” from slight oxidation (rarely a true benefit, but some styles allow for it to a degree).

Ultimately don’t sweat it - check it with a hydrometer and your recipe should show where you should end up at for final r terminal gravity.

Unless you are adding another fermentable to the beer, the term: Secondary Fermentation is a misnomer. It is actually a Clarification step and it does not need to be conducted in another vessel. If you keep the vessel cool (the cooler, the better), then there is little chance of autolysis. You just let the yeast settle out in that vessel. This avoids more oxygen contact for your beer and improves its longevity.

Several months is indeed probably okay. I’ve done it. BUT If you’re doing a REALLY big beer, or a mead or something, you might well want to age even longer. I’ve aged things up to a year, and I always use a secondary in that case. But for a month or two, I don’t worry about it. Almost every beer I brew goes from primary to keg.[/quote]

My take on this is that you ferment in a carboy or bucket that has head space so the krausen doesn’t spew out. Once this drops back you still have a saturated solution of CO2 protecting for some time. However, no container ios airtight and over time air swill seep in and oxidize. Therefore to minimize this you transfer to a secondary that is full to the neck, that minimizes oxidation during storage.

[quote=“tom sawyer”]…you transfer to a secondary that is full to the neck, that minimizes oxidation during storage.[/quote]Good point. That is what makes conditioning in kegs nice, you can purge them with CO2.

Thanks for all the input. I will just leave it in the primary. Nobody has really answered my question if I should move it to my basement where it is a little cooler. The fermentation activity has calmed down and it looks like nothing is really going on. Hardly any bubbles coming out. I don’t have a hydrometer but plan on getting one.

I generally start cool and let it warm up. Cooling it off would serve no real purpose at this point.

Since you don’t have a hydrometer you have no way of knowing when fermentation is complete, if it isn’t and you move it to a cooler spot there’s a chance the yeast will drop out and not finish the job. This could be a problem during the bottle conditioning stage, you could end up with over carbonated bottles, or worse.

If it’s only been in the fermenter a few days you have plenty of time to order or pick up a hydrometer. When you get one, check it at 10 days then a couple days later, if it reads the same you can go ahead and bottle it up or move it to your cool spot for some conditioning.

Thank You