bottling/keg secondary fermentation

2budbuck

Hi there, my first brew is almost ready to move on into a keg. My question is can put all the brew into the keg and complete second fermentation and then take off some into bottles, or should I let beer second ferment in bottles. Your advice would be appreciated.  

HBO_Staff

It is best to transfer your brew out of your fermenting vessel into wherever it will end up, there is no reason why you cant transfer some into your keg, and some into bottles, in whatever quantities you want, and then prime the keg and bottles with sugar so that they secondary ferment in the right vessel. This way they will carbonate the brew and create pressure within the bottles and keg, if you secondary fermented it all in a keg and then bottled at a later stage, it would be the same as opening a bought beer and then re-sealing it - it would go flat and stale after coming into contact with the air. Once transferred to a keg and bottles, they must stay airtight. Just prime each bottle with your required amount of sugar, and prime the keg with sugar based on the amount of beer you've put in it, so if you keg half of it (20 pints for example) just add around half the amount of priming sugar you would have added to the full 40 pint batch

MattM1

I am on my first batch ever - i have completed the primary ferment, transferred the beer to a barrel and primed. The instructions say to leave in the barrel for a couple days then transfer to a cool place for two weeks. Well it's minus 6 outside tonight - my garage is the only cool place i have. I have had a glass of water in there for the last couple of days and it hasn't frozen but it's goingto be pretty cold in there. Is this too cold ? Any advice appriciated as my 2 days in the warm is up tomorrow!!  

HBO_Staff

That is too cold, you don't want it to freeze. If you have to leave it in the garage then it needs wrapping to insulate it, the manufacturers are vague on the 'cooler temperature' but you will be fine in a cooler part of the house, say around 12 to 14 degrees, ideally out of direct sunlight too. It is not essential, it just helps it clear more quickly, and remember the longer you leave it to condition, the better it will taste, after a couple of weeks if it's clear it will be OK to drink, but we recommend leaving a few more weeks to drink at it's best if possible

MattM1

Thank you HBO - i ended up turning off the heating in the spare room last night and putting it in there in the end.

HBO_Staff

That will be fine for it, but it's not too critical so don't worry about it too much, it could just increase the time for it to clear and carbonate, but it will get there

lewis_5026

Hi. On this subject I am just under 4 weeks into the secondary fermenting stage with the beer in the barrel. I have just sampled it and it does not appear to have carbonated very much. Is this normal and should I just leave it? I was very rigid with the temperatures during the initial stage keeping it between 21-27 but have been less so during the secondary stage just keeping it at room temp. Do I need to change anything? Thanks

HBO_Staff

Often a brew when under-carbonated can be because it is not yet ready, as the secondary fermentation takes place in the barrel it produces CO2 which will pressurise the barrel and carbonate the brew, it is then that the brew will clear too. Usually just leaving it for longer helps. Once kegged it is best to leave it somewhere warm for a week too, this helps the sugars dissolve and ferment quickly, before moving somewhere a few degrees cooler to help it clear

lewis_5026

Ok thanks a lot I will leave it a few more weeks.