hi, im new to homebrewing.I watch a lot of stuff online about it.One question i have is:At my local brewing store, their recipe is to put your mash in a primary fermenter for 3-6 days until the gravity gets to 1010.after you put in the carboy for another 15 days to clarify.Everything else i saw on the net was to put the mash directly into the carboy. Can anyone tell me was the difference between those 2 technic. thank
Primary Fermentation 3- 6 days
- Thread starter twistyboy
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Mash (as you're calling it) is actually wort, just to help you out in terms of explaining things.
You are going to get a lot of varied opinions on secondary fermentation. Do a search for those terms and you'll see what I mean. Most beers, in my opinion, do not need it. You risk infection and oxidation when you move your beer around so why risk it if you don't need to? If I am dry hopping, aging long term, or adding something like vanilla beans, I will move to secondary. Otherwise, I just don't. I did it once and I feel the beer is only slightly more clear than it was. If you rack (move the beer out of the fermenter) to your bottling bucket when you're about to bottle carefully, you can avoid the yeast that dropped out of suspension and settled trub and have a pretty clear beer.
15 minutes before you're done boiling you can add Irish Moss as well. It helps clear the beer. People use gelatin but I believe if you bottle, you can't use that. I may have read wrong, but that is what I think I understand.
You are going to get a lot of varied opinions on secondary fermentation. Do a search for those terms and you'll see what I mean. Most beers, in my opinion, do not need it. You risk infection and oxidation when you move your beer around so why risk it if you don't need to? If I am dry hopping, aging long term, or adding something like vanilla beans, I will move to secondary. Otherwise, I just don't. I did it once and I feel the beer is only slightly more clear than it was. If you rack (move the beer out of the fermenter) to your bottling bucket when you're about to bottle carefully, you can avoid the yeast that dropped out of suspension and settled trub and have a pretty clear beer.
15 minutes before you're done boiling you can add Irish Moss as well. It helps clear the beer. People use gelatin but I believe if you bottle, you can't use that. I may have read wrong, but that is what I think I understand.
Cider123
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If you're following a basic kit recipe, you will find those instructions to be goddamn awful. Many a new brewer has been mislead by lousy instructions in a starter kit.
If you can, download a free copy or buy a copy of How To Brew by John Palmer. This will give you good advice.
For now, if you are starting, I would use a plastic bucket that you have sanitized to ferment in. Don't pitch the yeast until you wort is in the 60's F range. Take specific gravity reading before you pitch the yeast, this is your original gravity (OG). Leave it in there for 2-3 weeks. Then take a specific gravity reading again, this is your final gravity (FG). If your final gravity is the same for 3 days in a row, then it is safe to prime with sugar and bottle.
Most of us don't use a secondary fermenter. It really isn't necessary. My carboy has been collecting dust for quite some time. The plastic bucket you get in your kit works just fine.
If you can, download a free copy or buy a copy of How To Brew by John Palmer. This will give you good advice.
For now, if you are starting, I would use a plastic bucket that you have sanitized to ferment in. Don't pitch the yeast until you wort is in the 60's F range. Take specific gravity reading before you pitch the yeast, this is your original gravity (OG). Leave it in there for 2-3 weeks. Then take a specific gravity reading again, this is your final gravity (FG). If your final gravity is the same for 3 days in a row, then it is safe to prime with sugar and bottle.
Most of us don't use a secondary fermenter. It really isn't necessary. My carboy has been collecting dust for quite some time. The plastic bucket you get in your kit works just fine.
Good advice right here OP ^. I do think the free copy of How to Brew does indicate secondary is where it is at but his revised version pulls back on that idea.
www.howtobrew.com will have some very valuable info on brewing and well worth the price(free). The second edition is worth the price even though it isn't free like the online first edition.
flars
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Does your plastic bucket have a spigot?
If it does then that is your bottling bucket. Don't ferment in the bottling bucket. Get another plastic bucket to ferment in.
Fermenting in the bottling bucket forces you to rack to the carboy and then back to the bottling bucket after it has been cleaned.
Racking between containers increases the risk of infection and oxidation of your beer.
If it does then that is your bottling bucket. Don't ferment in the bottling bucket. Get another plastic bucket to ferment in.
Fermenting in the bottling bucket forces you to rack to the carboy and then back to the bottling bucket after it has been cleaned.
Racking between containers increases the risk of infection and oxidation of your beer.
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