racking

sonictruth · Post by **sonictruth** » Thursday Mar 01, 2007 10:03 pm

ok ive seen a fair few references to racking on here and i want to get everyones opinion. does it really matter that much? im not claiming to be experienced being that im only on my 5th batch, but are there really any amazing benefits to it? all of my beers have been great without it, mind you they have all been dark beers, so cloudiness doesnt really come into it.

id like to know your opinions

Zuma · Post by **Zuma** » Thursday Mar 01, 2007 10:30 pm

Definitely worth it.

sonictruth · Post by **sonictruth** » Friday Mar 02, 2007 12:16 am

but why? does it taste different/better?

Krusty · Post by **Krusty** » Friday Mar 02, 2007 1:06 am

I only do kit and kilo with a few extra hops and grains, so I don't have ant issues with trub as such, but I have gone off racking. Now I leave the fermented beer in the fermenter for a few weeks after fermentation ceases and it has produced the clearest, best tasting and sediment free beers I have done to date. No bad flavours from the yeast cake or anything else to worry about in my opinion.

chris. · Post by **chris.** » Friday Mar 02, 2007 6:35 am

http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... php?t=4888

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/posting.php

http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/search.php

Boonie · Post by **Boonie** » Friday Mar 02, 2007 11:10 am

http://homebrewandbeer.com/forum/viewto ... 091576cbc3

I remember this one........

If you want some opinions, look no further than the link above.

This one should become a Sticky I reckon....Oliver??

Cheers

Boonie

PS I do it to get clearer beer and I can add Aroma hops at that stage.

Rod · Post by **Rod** » Friday Mar 02, 2007 11:34 am

I rack all my beers after about 5 days

leave it for another 5

Then bulk prime

Racking gives a much clearer cleaner beer

If you do not want to rack you should at least bulk prime , which is a late rack in some ways

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Friday Mar 02, 2007 12:27 pm

Yeah. I vote for racking (once again)

Trizza · Post by **Trizza** » Wednesday Apr 18, 2007 12:17 am

Rod wrote:I rack all my beers after about 5 days

leave it for another 5

Then bulk prime

Racking gives a much clearer cleaner beer

If you do not want to rack you should at least bulk prime , which is a late rack in some ways

Rod,

Do you Bulk Prime straight into your vessel that you use for racking, or do you transfer the beer off the small trub that develops after racking?

I'm about to start racking my brews and I'm not sure if I can get away with using the same fermenter for racking that I use for bulk priming.

My only concern is that this method will stir up too much sediment, which would form after racking.

What are people's thoughts on this issue?

Trizza

timmy · Post by **timmy** » Wednesday Apr 18, 2007 7:50 am

Trizza,

It's better to bulk prime in another vessel if you can. You need to stir the beer with the priming sugar solution and this will disturb the sediment on the bottom of your racking vessel and you lose some of the benefits of racking. It is a bit more cleaning but worth it IMO.
I'm only a relative noob and have racked/bulk-primed the last 6 or so batches and can see the benefits. I normally follow a 7/7/14 schedule (that is, 7 days in primary, 7 days in secondary (racking), and 14 days cold conditioning). I've got most brews to a point where I get little or no sediment when I bottle into stubbies which is a bonus.

Cheers,
Tim

pixelboy · Post by **pixelboy** » Wednesday Apr 18, 2007 10:00 am

I do athe same as Rod and timmy..

- 7 Days Primary in Fermeter A
- 7 Days Secondary in Fermeter B
- Bulk Prime back into Fermeter A (or sometimes C, the ol coopers one)
- 14-21 days to carb up before you drink. (3 months is best tho)

Get almost zero sediment and very clear beers

rwh · Post by **rwh** » Wednesday Apr 18, 2007 12:57 pm

If you have two fermenters and one racking hose.

1. Rack - transfer beer from vessel 1 into vessel 2.
2. Bulk prime - boil up sugar in a bit of water, add to fermenter 1, transfer beer from fermenter 2 into fermenter 1.
3. Bottle from fermenter 1.

Ensure that the hose reaches all the way to the bottom of the destination fermenter, and it's good if you can droop it in such a way as it swirls around to mix in the sugar in step 2.

Boonie · Post by **Boonie** » Wednesday Apr 18, 2007 2:07 pm

rwh wrote:If you have two fermenters and one racking hose.

1. Rack - transfer beer from vessel 1 into vessel 2.
2. Bulk prime - boil up sugar in a bit of water, add to fermenter 1, transfer beer from fermenter 2 into fermenter 1.
3. Bottle from fermenter 1.

Ensure that the hose reaches all the way to the bottom of the destination fermenter, and it's good if you can droop it in such a way as it swirls around to mix in the sugar in step 2.

And get a big spoon to stir up the Bulk Primed vessel. Leave out the Sediment reducer so that it bottles faster too.

Cheers

Boonie

Trizza · Post by **Trizza** » Wednesday Apr 18, 2007 6:13 pm

Thanks for the clarification on the issue, might stick to the carbonation drops for a little while longer then move onto bulk priming after trying racking a few of my upcoming brews.

Trizza

Mr_Booze · Post by **Mr_Booze** » Wednesday Apr 18, 2007 11:02 pm

Hey Trizza,

I don't rack, but bulk prime in the primary. Basically, my method is add the sugar (dissolved into 500ml boiling water) into the, errrr, thing (wort) and stir a wee bit. Leave for half an hourish. Then bottle.

I get a bit of sediment, but I have no worries with this, it is something I expect. Just a bit lazy to get into racking. Beer tastes gooood.

So far, I have been dissolving 185g of sugar into 500ml of water. Having opened those brews (after 3 months +), it seems a bit much carbonation. Might take that back to maybe 170g? Not quite sure, don't want to have flat beer!

Andy T · Post by **Andy T** » Wednesday Apr 18, 2007 11:06 pm

Could one go half/half and try both ways with the same brew ? Bottle half of it with carbonation drops ( or method 1 ) and do the rest the other way ( method 2, whatever it is ) .. this way you have something to compare later on, based on exactly the same brew with method being pretty much the only difference. Hmm ?

Longrasser · Post by **Longrasser** » Thursday Apr 19, 2007 9:24 am

Ditto for me pixelboy timmy boonie rwh and co

Am now using Glad wrap for fermenters

LG

rwh · Post by **rwh** » Thursday Apr 19, 2007 10:02 am

Mr_Booze wrote:Not quite sure, don't want to have flat beer!

http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Metho ... uide.shtml

dewbot · Post by **dewbot** » Thursday Apr 19, 2007 6:07 pm

quick question.. can i rack from my primary straight into a keg and bulk prime in there? ie wait a 3 months and then tap it with the gas on pouring pressure?

Paleman · Post by **Paleman** » Thursday Apr 19, 2007 8:00 pm

Just skipping all posts that have gone a tad away from the original question from sonictruth, and just adding my opinion on racking.

Im a firm believer in racking, with Ales fermented at around 18 degs, i follow the 7 and 7 rule. 7 days Primary, 7 days Secondary.

It has multiple benefits for me. Firstly it knocks the final SG down a few points, for some reason it seems to stir up any unused yeastys. So and unracked beer at 1013....may come down to 1011- 10, after racking.

Racking also gets your beer off the big trub from primary. The numero uno yeast cake

If your beer is left too long on this baby, expect yeast bite, or taste. If you bottle without racking.

Also getting your beer off the primary cake, seems to settle out whatever yeast is left in suspension, when its racked for a few days, so this makes for a clearer bottled beer. With less sediment, and less yeast taste. You dont want to taste yeast too much......unless your brewing a true Wheaty

( of course, there will still be some yeast left in suspension, which is mandatory for secondary fermentation, or conditioning ).

These points all add up to racking, for improving homebrew.