I'd like to get some guidance on the proper way to ferment, condition, and carbonate a beer. It seems like everyone on the internet has different techniques and I would like some input from the club. I usually ferment in a primary fermentor for 10 days then transfer it to the secondary and keep it in the secordary for at least 3 weeks depending on when i can make it back to the brewhouse to bottle/keg (on an average gravity beer). If kegging, I simply rack it to the keg and force carbonate it. If bottling, I rack the beer to the racking bucket, put the proper amount of corn sugar in it and fill the bottles. Below is my current situation.
Example: I currently have a simple Irish red ale fermenting in a primary fermenter which has been sitting for 10 days. What should I do? (I plan on kegging it at some point) Did I wait to long to transfer to secondary? is a secondary even necessary? Should I use plastic or glass carboys? If kegging, should I rack it straight to the keg from the primary? When do I put carbonation on it? These are all questions I have stemming from techniques I have read about on the internet. There are many more questions i could probably list but really all i want is some guidance so I'm not always wondering what i should be doing when fermenting. I have not been brewing quality beer recently and believe it may be stemming from my fermentation process since its always been a sort of grey area for me. Any input would greatly be appreciated. I know this is alot of questions so dont feel like you have to answer everything.
Thanks!
If fermentation is complete (which it should be) and there's no sign of diacetyl then just rack to keg and carbonate it however you desire. I don't think I've used a secondary in about 4-5 years.
Glass or plastic doesn't matter.
Also, if you have kegs but still like to bottle, here's a tip: Use a keg as your bottling "bucket." That way you can purge with CO2 before racking over, purge out the head space, then you can mix the sugar completely into the beer with no worries about oxidation. A bottling wand fits right into the mouth of a cobra tap. Simply push at 2 psi or so.
What don't you like about your beer? Maybe if you can describe it we can all try to figure out exactly what's going on. The processes I would wonder about first are what type of yeast (liquid/dry) and how much are you pitching? Are you chilling completely to below 70 to pitch? Are you oxygenating or aerating in any fashion?
I don't feel secondary is really necessary unless you intend to flavor with something like a fruit or whatever, then it's a good idea to get it off the trub and stuff. There's all sorts of people online that freak out about yeast autolyzation and stuff, I've left stuff in primary for 3 to 4 months before and had no problems with it. I really think that the online community really just loves to make things harder than they need to be to justify their expertise or whatever. On the rare occasions I make an ale, I'll let it sit for a month or so, largely dictated by my schedule and when I can get in to transfer it, then rack to a keg. I make sure to purge the keg with CO2 to keep oxygen out, then just siphon it in there. As far as carbing goes, I prefer the low and slow method, I serve at 9 psi at 49 degrees, according to the charts that's the appropriate carb level for the styles I have, so I carb at 9 psi, I think it takes 3 weeks to be fully carbed, but you can pull a decent pint after a few days. Doing it this way takes time, I think it's worth it for the precision. Chuck is a master of the burst carb method, he's like the CO2 whisperer, he hits it with like 30psi, shakes the shit out of it and it's magically perfectly carbed. I'm not that good so I prefer the slow method, but will resort to Chucks tricks if I need to. Also, my experience bears that time and cold will fix most things wrong with a beer, also, I really appreciate a clear beer, so what I will often do, is after fermentation is complete, instead of transferring to secondary, get it in one of the fridges, they are really close to freezing and let it sit for a week or so, depending on your schedule and if anyone else is trying to get in there. That cold will help stuff drop out, clear it up and clean up the flavor, goes for ales and lagers. Cold filtered....hahaha. It works though.
I agree with both the posts above, no secondary unless adding something like fruit, wood, a second round of dry hops etc.
14 days primary is my preference. 10 is probably fine. The goal is to let the yeast clean up some of the off flavors it produced early in the fermentation process. It will absorb/break down diacetyl and DMS.
Good keg truck from Kyle. I counter pressure from a keg if I need bottles and I will shake to pressurized only if I need something carbed ASAP.
I do think glass is a better fermentor material as it will never scratch. However at this point I own mostly plastic because I break glass too easily