Whether to transfer to secondary

[124Spider]

Hi,

I have brewed three batches of beer, using Brewer's Best kits. All came out fine. I moved the first to secondary, but not the other two. Two of those were red ales; one a brown ale.

Five days ago, I brewed up a batch of Pumpkin Spice Porter (Brewer's Best). All went well, AFAIK, and it burbled away happily for a few days. Now, the bubbling has essentially ceased. So it's time to think about racking to secondary, I think.

I read that this particular kit results in a strong spicy taste, and some (but not all) feel that it does better sitting longer before bottling.

I have no problem with that, but I am not thrilled about having sitting on top of the yeast cake for many weeks.

So I think I want to rack to secondary this time, any day now.

I have a five-gallon PETE carboy, which supposedly is made out of special PETE to be impermeable to oxygen. Is this a good one to use? And is there any particular risk (other than contamination--I'll sanitize everything--and oxygenation--I'll siphon) that I should know about?

Also, any hints about how long to keep this in secondary, and how long to bottle condition, would be gratefully accepted.

Thanks!

 

[kh54s10]

How long to keep in primary = as long as a couple of months. Definitely until 3-5 days after you hit final gravity.

How long to do a secondary = some people fear leaching of chemicals from plastic. I am not one of them. If it is a Better Bottle, Bubbler or similar you should not have oxidation problems. I have heard of people leaving beers in them for around a year without problems.

Long term bottle conditioning will also help. I have done strong brews and bottled at about 1 to 1 1/2 months and the beers were best at 9 months to 1 1/2 years. I have a winter warmer ale that was bottled in Dec. 2011 it is still good.

 

[Puddlethumper]

Your PET carboy will do fine for quite a long time. Although glass is always best for really long-term aging, I don't think you'll risk much oxidation with 6 months or more with your carboy. Like you, I tend to want my beer off the yeast as soon as primary fermentation is completed. I think too much time left on the yeast does nothing to help and much to harm the brightness of a beer's flavor.

The risk of contamination gets a lot of wind when the subject of moving beer to a secondary fermenter is concerned. But I think it's a boogey-man that evaporates under close scrutiny. Fundamentally sound sanitation practices minimizes those concerns.

 

[paperairplane]

I haven't used a secondary in my last 15 brews, and I'm not looking back.

That's not true - I have a stout on oak in a corny. Without a specific reason like that no way.

I don't even look at my beer until 2 weeks primary.