Timing of Bottle Conditioning vs Force Carb

[bigfloppy]

I brewed NB’s American Amber Ale kit on 6/17. I moved it to secondary on 6/23. I put it into a keg today. If I followed NB’s recipe I would have one more week of bottle conditioning. Or would I?

Does the week I wait for it to force carb in the kegerator equal the one week I would theoretically have it sitting in bottles at room temp? I know the temps at different but with this type of beer will it make a difference?

I’m guessing it won’t make that big of a difference.Just curious what the community thinks.

[belpaire]

The times given in kits are general guidelines and sometimes not great ones at that.

First, you will get better results with letting the beer sit in contact with the yeast for a couple of weeks to let them clean up the byproducts of fermentation. Second, for a beer like this there is really no reason to do a secondary. You only up the chance of letting the beer contact oxygen or pick up an infection.

You have to let your taste buds make the final call but for a beer like this, you will probably get the best results sitting in primary for 5-6 weeks, then kegging or bottling.

[bigfloppy]

I know a lot of people do not do a secondary anymore but I love a clear beer. I am willing to risk an infection. There is some yeast in the secondary I just always figured it was a enough to eat up whatever bad things were left over.

I guess I will let it sit in the keg at room temp for a couple of more weeks then throw it in the kegerator.

Why types of beer benefit from a long primary?

[shadetree]

[quote=“Bigfloppy”]I know a lot of people do not do a secondary anymore but I love a clear beer.[/quote]A secondary does nothing special to clear the beer - leave it in primary for the same length of time as the primary plus the secondary, and you’ll drop the same amount of sediment. Some people find it easier to siphon off the top of the smaller yeast cake in the secondary, but done correctly, you’ll likely end up with more beer in the bottling bucket if you skip the secondary and it’ll be just as clear.

[kcbeersnob]

@Shadetree

A secondary does nothing special to clear the beer - leave it in primary for the same length of time as the primary plus the secondary, and you’ll drop the same amount of sediment. Some people find it easier to siphon off the top of the smaller yeast cake in the secondary, but done correctly, you’ll likely end up with more beer in the bottling bucket if you skip the secondary and it’ll be just as clear.

I’ve skipped secondary on my last few batches and this is what I’ve found: in the carboy, the beer does not clear as quickly as is does in secondary (if left for the same amount of time in total). But the beer that’s left in primary is just as clear by the time it’s finished bottle conditioning. So I would agree there is generally not a meaningful benefit to using secondary in most cases. I don’t generally use finings in the carboy, so I’m not sure how that factors into the equation.

[belpaire]

@Bigfloppy

Why types of beer benefit from a long primary?

As a whole, most beers will do better with at least 2 weeks in primary. Unless a beer is intended to have an extended conditioning time, there is not much need for secondary.

+1 to secondary not helping to clear beer. Let the yeast do what they should and they will drop out when they are done. Some strains taking much longer than others to clear.

If clarity is that important to you, use geletin in the carboy or keg. To me, if it doesn’t effect the flavor I don’t get to concerned about the clarity.