How long is too long ??

[Chris2012]

Gday guys! I'm trying to get a nice clean clear beer. I already leave my brews in fermenter for 14 days and thinking of picking up a second fermenter to rack too for perhaps another 7 days or split 11 in first 10 in second. Or should I rack as soon as fermentation is finished ?

I'm not kegging ( yet ) so I'm worried will there be enough yeast left alive to carbonated 750ml PET's ?
Will finings impact on this aswell ?

Cheers in advance!

Chris

[Guru]

I rarely rack my beer. Normally I just let it ferment (usually 1-2 weeks) and then bottle. I always store the bottles in my pantry for a couple of weeks before I put any in the fridge and usually only put in a few at first to try. My beer always seems to come out pretty clear. I would only rack if there was some sediment, like recently when I racked my ginger beer which had bits of ginger floating around in it.

[Marty]

I racked and bulk primed for the first time on the weekend. The decision to move to racking was not about the clarity of beer (as with Guru I have never really had an issue with clarity) but had more to do with getting consistent carbonation. I wouldn't worry about not having enough yeast as I can already see a thin layer of yeast on the bottom of some of my clear longneck bottles suggesting there is still enough for carbonation.

Are you moving the fermenter to bottle? If so, my suggestion would be to move the fermenter to your bottling area at least a day before bottling as this will allow time for any sediment to settle to the bottom of the fermenter.

[Chris2012]

My fermenter doesnt move before bottling, so all good there. I just started adding hop pellets to my boil to balance my brews. I didnt use a hop bag just chucked em in.

[warra48]

Why are you racking? Is there a good reason why you wish to do this?

Recently, I brewed an ALT and fermented it with lager yeast. It was 3 weeks fermenting at 10ºC, then 5 weeks at 2.5ºC, all in the primary fermenter.
I bottled it straight from primary after 8 weeks from brewing, and it carbonated within about 2 weeks. '

You'll have no shortage of yeast for carbonation.

As for clear beer, just leave it in the bottle long enough to setle. I never have issues with getting my beers to clear, even Hefeweizens end up looking like Kristalweizens!

[emnpaul]

I only ever bother with racking when I bulk prime,which is about half the time. This is so I don't stir up the sediment when I mix in the priming charge.

Like Warra I have not come across a compelling reason to rack my beers. It is also worth mentioning that to the best of my knowledge Warra bottle primes all his beers so doesn't face the bulk priming/sediment issue.

[Chris2012]

Righto, so you reckon a better use of a second fermenter to to have 2 brews going at once and leave them for 2-3 weeks? This would open up more experimentation; running same recipe side by side with different yeast or different hops etc.

Oh and racking was number one on the sticky post 'Simple things that make HB better'. Also seems to be a very controversial topic in home brewing! Not stirring the hornets nest

[warra48]

Righto, so you reckon a better use of a second fermenter to to have 2 brews going at once and leave them for 2-3 weeks? This would open up more experimentation; running same recipe side by side with different yeast or different hops etc.

Without wishing to resurrect the racking/no racking debate, yes, I agree with this.
I used to only rack lagers, but I don't even bother with this any longer. So long as you have temperature control, I see no need for it.

And, yes, I do prime my bottles individually.

As a final note, I don't say to never rack, but I do say there should be a good reason for it.