My first batch/Secondary fermeter
As mentioned earlier my first batch was an ale so I allowed the primary fermenter to sit in a dark room at a temperature between 60F to 70F, which is the optimum temperature for ales, for a little over a week. When I checked the wort the head had gone down completely so I again could see the top of the wort and the air lock valve had slowed to about two bubbles a minute. All of this told me it was time to transfer the wort to the secondary fermenter.
The secondary fermenter is a 5gl glass carboy similar to the primary only smaller. The secondary fermenter is smaller because there will be little to no fermentation going on. The main reason for the secondary fermentation process is to age the beer and to have any sediment that may be floating around in the wort to settle out.
Transferring the wort form the primary fermenter to the secondary is similar to the transfer from kettle to primary. Now the reason you want to hold the racking cane off the bottom is to not allow any of the sediment from the primary (called trub) into the secondary. This trub is a combination of hop leaves, proteins and spent yeast. Some intro brewers skip the secondary fermentation process because after the initial fermentation the beer is pretty close to the final gravity of the beer. If for no other reason you should take advantage of the secondary fermentation to filter out some of the sediment.
After transferring the wort to the secondary use distilled water if necessary to fill the carboy just below the neck of the container. Filling the carboy to this level should yield you 5gl of wort and minimize the surface area of the wort to open air in the carboy. Place the carboy in a dark cool room try to get it in an area about 10F degrees below the primary fermentation area. At the cooler climate there will be little to no fermentation however the molecules in the wort will slow enough to allow previously buoyant particles to sink to the bottom.
Allow the wort to sit in the secondary fermenter for another 7 to 10 days before bottling……
The secondary fermenter is a 5gl glass carboy similar to the primary only smaller. The secondary fermenter is smaller because there will be little to no fermentation going on. The main reason for the secondary fermentation process is to age the beer and to have any sediment that may be floating around in the wort to settle out.
Transferring the wort form the primary fermenter to the secondary is similar to the transfer from kettle to primary. Now the reason you want to hold the racking cane off the bottom is to not allow any of the sediment from the primary (called trub) into the secondary. This trub is a combination of hop leaves, proteins and spent yeast. Some intro brewers skip the secondary fermentation process because after the initial fermentation the beer is pretty close to the final gravity of the beer. If for no other reason you should take advantage of the secondary fermentation to filter out some of the sediment.
After transferring the wort to the secondary use distilled water if necessary to fill the carboy just below the neck of the container. Filling the carboy to this level should yield you 5gl of wort and minimize the surface area of the wort to open air in the carboy. Place the carboy in a dark cool room try to get it in an area about 10F degrees below the primary fermentation area. At the cooler climate there will be little to no fermentation however the molecules in the wort will slow enough to allow previously buoyant particles to sink to the bottom.
Allow the wort to sit in the secondary fermenter for another 7 to 10 days before bottling……
posted by Boomer at 7:04 PM
4 Comments:
hello
that was a good read.I myself love beer and didnt know the mechanics of how beer was made but it looks like a complicated process and got lost a tad with the techno mumbo jumbo but quite enlightening.This process must be similar to what the brand breweries use but at a much larger scale.I think this is cool to have an open ended blog and considered trying that myself one day but I would appreciate posts on old school rock, montrose, ozzy,steve winwood, airplane (before starship-yuck)and some rockabilly.What better music to compliment the endeavor of beer drinking then old school rock!Im not sure if my tastes in music coincide with the author's but it should give him some ideas on what to write about next.
email me a heads up whenever there is a new post.Greatly appreciate it and thanks for the info on home brewing.
Kburke30159@hotmail.com
Hi Kellen,
thanks for the heads up regarding this blog. I think itsa great idea, if not revolutionary, to set up a blog where the readers dictate what the owner will post as opposed to the other why around. I dont want to overwhelm the blog owner but I would like a post or two on the arts, primarily improv,with emphasis on dance, or poetry.Either one would be super and Im just curiosly excited how this will turn out.
TO THE BLOG OWNER:
Between Kellen's input and mine,there should be enough material to give you a jump start and get this blog moving.
Thank you for the invite and allowing me to be a witness to his awesome experiment in creativity,kudos to the blog owner!!!
S.G.
we should hang out have plenty of beer
I enjoyed the read. I would like to say that instead of a secondary for another 7-10 days, try bottling in soda bottles with Fizz Giz bottle caps next time. U can choose to toss in an appropriate amount of fermentable sugar(s) or not. When U R ready to enjoy, if any bottle is insufficiently carbonated, you can inject co2 right into the bottle using the caps. U can do it on-the-fly for a perfect carbonation level every time. Check out FizzGiz.com for a video demo.
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