# Secondary Fermentation Question



## stormbringer (Feb 17, 2008)

Have a beer kit from George I'm fixin to start. According to the instructions, an option between the final SG and bottling is a secondary fermentation. It is supposed to help with clarification of the beer.






I'm not too familiar with the beer making, but the secondary fermentation sounds like a good idea. Is it really necessary and will it improve the quality of the beer? And if so, what do I need to do?


Thanking any beer makers in advance for any info you can provide.


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## Dean (Feb 17, 2008)

Sounds to me that they just want you to rack it to a carboy and let it sit until clear. After that you can bottle it.


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## smurfe (Feb 17, 2008)

It will help clear the beer as well as as the flavor. Is it an Ale or a Lager?Beer may be ready to drink in2 weeks (Ales)but if you rack it to a carboy off the trub (lees in wine speak) for a couple weeksyou will gas off some of the diacytal that can give the beer off flavors. Beer ages really fast but it does need a little age. Ales are fast, lagers take a while to do correctly.


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## stormbringer (Feb 17, 2008)

smurfe said:


> Is it an Ale or a Lager?




The beer is anAmber Cerveza. I'm not familiar enough with beer types to answer your question.


Is beer filtered prior to bottling similar to wine?


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## Dean (Feb 17, 2008)

Technically, an Amber Cerveza should be lagered, but if you do not have a specific lagering setup, your best off brewing it like an ale. To lager a beer, you need lager yeast, and lager yeasts work from about 5C up to 12C in temp, or if you are still on imperial about 40F to 55F in temperature that must be kept constant. Usually we rig fridges with Johnson controls to keep our temperature constant during a lager. The beer also does produce a little H2S, which is why some lagers get skunky when they get warm, as the H2S starts to blow off, if the beer maker didn't condition this out. Lagers can also take from 3 months to 6 months to complete fermentation. It also requires special yeast to work that cold.

Ales, on the other hand are warm fermentation yeasts, they work quite fast, and are usually fermented much like wine. Hope this helps,

Dean


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## masta (Feb 17, 2008)

All these Brewer's Best kits come with ale yeast and if you target 70 F for your fermentation temp you can transfer to secondary after 5-6 days and then wait 2 weeks before priming and bottling. As others have said the secondary allows the fermentation to complete and clearing to take place. Use caution when racking beer as you want to avoid any excessive splashing and aeration. No need to filter unless you want very clear beer and are going to force carbonate. Enough time is a stable and cool dark place after beer carbonates in the bottle will produce a clear beer (if you learn to pour correctly)





Brewing tip: If you like the result I would advise you to pick up some Irish Moss to add to your boil as this will help the clearing in the secondary before bottling.

*Edited by: masta *


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## smurfe (Feb 17, 2008)

Dean beat me to the answer. You will probably make a good beer. Don't expect a Corona or a Dos Equis clone for the end results. Using an ale yeast the beer is not going to be as dry and crisp as a lager that most are used to. 


I'll be the first to say though that I prefer an Ale to a Lager anyday. I have 2 lagers going now and there probably wont be many more. Stouts and Amber or RedAles top my list.*Edited by: smurfe *


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## geocorn (Feb 17, 2008)

Even though I am not a big beer drinker, I have discovered that I really enjoy a good brown ale. What does that say about my taste in beer.


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## masta (Feb 18, 2008)

It says you like your beer to taste like something unlike the millions of folks who enjoy drinking the watered down flavorless types.


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## geocorn (Feb 18, 2008)

So that's a good thing!


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## masta (Feb 18, 2008)




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## smurfe (Feb 18, 2008)

geocorn said:


> Even though I am not a big beer drinker, I have discovered that I really enjoy a good brown ale. What does that say about my taste in beer.







Yup, love them to! Newcastle is a great brown/amber ale. That was the style I was going for with the ale I brewed this weekend. For a lager I really like a good Munich Dunkel. J.W. Dundee's Honey Brown Lager is great to. 


Who am I kidding. I like most all of them. Budweiser included.


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