The overlooked secondary FV?

[McMullan]

I’m not saying a great beer can’t be made without a secondary, but there are clear benefits to using one, gentlemen. In terms of clarity, aroma and flavour, racking off to a secondary produces a better product. A beer that hasn’t been racked off the yeast and allowed to settle (‘filter’) further generally contains more yeast cells and trub debris, which can mask subtle qualities, clarity, aroma and flavour. I don’t always use a secondary. It is about extra time, effort and equipment. The risks of infection and/or oxidation are minimal, assuming the garden hose isn’t being used under pressure to transfer the beer. It’s horses for courses, but I am convinced a secondary is overlooked as good practice for home brewers. ‘I can’t be bothered’ is an excuse, which I’m guilty of myself too, very occasionally of course

[Matt in Birdham]

In terms of clarity, aroma and flavour, racking off to a secondary produces a better product.

Horses for courses, of course, but I categorically do not agree with that statement.

[paulindevon]

For what it's worth, I did many kits over the years and started to use a secondary fv to get rid of that homebrew twang. I used to get it quite often and never really understood what caused it. I did notice that there was a marked improvement once I switched to using a secondary, and so carried this over when I got into a.g. just from habit. It takes very little effort and I've never had an infection

[Wezzel]

I would say that the yeast makes a difference too. Fullers strain packs down like concrete and no amount of movement will move it but I've used some strains that get stirred up when I move the FV into the kitchen for bottling or kegging.

In this case it is worth transferring to secondary.


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[AnthonyUK]

I would say that the yeast makes a difference too. Fullers strain packs down like concrete and no amount of movement will move it but I've used some strains that get stirred up when I move the FV into the kitchen for bottling or kegging.

In this case it is worth transferring to secondary.

It is worth transferring to another vessel for bottling and bulk priming.
Whether you would call that a secondary though I'm not sure.

I definitely wouldn't consider a secondary for any form of hoppy IPA where any part of the process is likely to strip any flavour.
I'd much prefer a non-bright IPA full of hop flavour over a bland bright one.

[Kev888]

In my mind time is really the key difference, rather than the secondary fermenter itself. Simply moving to a second vessel in the normal course of the initial fermentation (or its immediate aftermath) doesn't seem to accomplish much in itself and (has been mentioned above) may slow some of the processes. 'However' if the intent is to let the beer sit for many weeks then that is different, racking to a secondary vessel would likely be beneficial in that scenario, avoiding problems such as longer term autolysis and other off-flavours from sediment, or ill-fitting bucket lids.

But, the second vessel doesn't have to be a fermenter and this is perhaps where some of the reduction in popularity may also come from. Cornies, kegs and even pressure barrels can be used to bulk mature the beer and IMO this overlaps with some of the purposes of using a second fermenter.

[Matt in Birdham]

In my mind time is really the key difference, rather than the secondary fermenter itself.

I agree Kev - I was going to say something similar. There seems to be some conflation between the idea of time and secondary on this thread, but all of the perceived benefits of secondary can be achieved by simply leaving it in primary for longer. Yeast drops and compacts just fine, and autolysis has largely been shown to be a non-factor with modern yeasts and homebrew systems - I've left beers in primary for over 6 weeks without issue. The key is time spent on the yeast, to clean up any by products and this is best done in the primary. I am also paranoid about oxygen getting in, as I have had a few brews ruined this way - it absolutely does matter, and transferring to a secondary is a good way of causing it.

[McMullan]

Absolutely, Kev. 'Time off the yeast' is the key. I write 'FV' as that's how I do it. Easier to go FV1 tap to FV2 tap.