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My first brew (standard lager included in a starters kit) looks like she's finished fermenting, it's been a week tomorrow. She's stopped bubbling and is getting less clowdy and the SG looks good.
I keep reading about racking and have finally found out what it actually means. This is a little dissapointing as I was all hyped up about bottling tomorrow nite (which involes a ceremony of drinking the rest of our long necks so we have enough bottles!) only to read that you should rack the beer for about a week or so.
Is this really necessary or will it just make it taste better? The boys are keen to bottle and as everyone keeps telling us the first tastes like shit so i'm keen to prove them wrong!
You DON'T need to rack!
I brewed for more than 15 years (I keep losing count of the years though!) and didn't rack until my last brew a couple of weeks ago. At risk of being flamed I found that the beer was clearer in the bottle. That's about it.
I will rack a beer if I have a heavy trub developed just after high krausen, particularly if I have a lot of break material and free hops in there. For a striaght forward batch as described in the question, I would not rack.
Baby steps!
After you are sure that your sanitation is spot on, then you can experiment a little.
I don't rack and my beers pour crystal clear after two months in the bottle.
But then again I couldn't be bothered bulk priming either.
Racking (via a second fermenter) also gives you the chance to boost production. Start one, rack (to second) in 3-7 days. Clean ferm. #1 and get another on. Bottle, Rack, brew and so on and so forth. You are only limited by your bottle supply, your drinking prowess (or popularity) and your imagination.
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