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Last time, we left off at the beginning of the primary fermentation stage, as part of our great saga of home brewing our first batch of pecan brown ale.

The big push of activity, or at least the things that must be done in a very precise manner, all comes at the beginning of the home brewing process, i.e., EVERYTHING that we talked about last post. The transition from primary to secondary fermentation is quite painless, actually. Which is great, because you can excuse yourself from a whole night of doing chores/laundry/your tax return, etc., on the basis of transitioning your beer betwixt the first and second ferments…

And instead just watch an episode of Vampire Diaries or two. Preferably while drinking wine. (It’s a great system, beer brewing.)

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(My Best – But Probably Not Very Good – Explanation of) How to Home Brew, Part Deux:

After you move your cooled, yeasted wort to a sterilized plastic tub for the primary fermentation, the wort will remain in the primary fermentation stage for about 5 days. This can be longer, or shorter, depending on a number of factors, namely, how much sugar there is to be digested by the yeast and how fast the yeast is able to digest the sugar.

The air lock will tell you whether the yeast is active or not. A few hours after you seal up the wort, the air lock will begin bubbling as the yeast begins to break down the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The bubbles, obviously, are the carbon dioxide being released out of the wort. The flow of bubbles will be fast, for about two days, slowing down to nothing as the beer marks its third or fourth day of fermentation. Wait for the bubbles to die down completely, then wait one MORE day after that before you move to the secondary fermentation. Capiche?

On the day you intend to move to the secondary fermentation stage, sterilize the siphon, clear tubing, and the carboy (the large glass container above) or a second food-grade plastic tub with a diluted hot water/bleach solution.

Attach the siphon to the clear plastic tubing, and direct the other end of the tubing into the carboy (or second food-grade tub). Start the siphon by either pulling up on the interior tube (if it’s an automatic siphon) or sucking on the tubing to start the flow (if it’s a manual siphon).

The only important thing to remember when siphoning from the primary fermentation vessel to the secondary fermentation vessel, is to avoid sucking up any of the sediment that has formed on the bottom of the plastic tub. Essentially, you will sacrifice about an inch of your beer that is sitting in the primary fermentation vessel.

I really had no idea why there was even a secondary fermentation at all, honestly, until I googled it. According to homebrewing.com, a second fermentation isn’t actually necessary, although it’s preferred by most home brewers since the beer isn’t filtered before bottling, like commercial beer. If, after you taste the beer post-secondary-fermentation, the beer tastes too much like yeast, then you can even send it through a third fermentation period. With each additional fermentation, the dead yeast (and other sediment left over from the breakdown of grain and malt) will settle in the bottom of the vessel, which will yield you a much more clear looking and purer tasting beer.

So, after all but the last inch or two of beer has been siphoned into your secondary fermentation vessel, either top the vessel with an airlock or, for a carboy, a simple layer of saran wrap, held fast with a rubber band or two. The yeast won’t have as much sugar left to convert into alcohol in the secondary fermentation (most of it was converted during the primary stage) so there will probably be less carbon dioxide build up in the secondary fermentation vessel. Still, if you are using saran wrap, check it every day or so to make sure the carbon dioxide buildup hasn’t busted open the plastic wrap – even though bacteria can’t live in alcoholic environments, we are still aiming for a clean fermentation vessel.

Next post – the final step… bottling the beer!

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James Pants / Darlin’

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