wheat beer - need to rack to secondary?

bibibobo

Do I need to syphon off a wheat beer to a second fermentation bin prior to bottling? If I just bottled straight from the primary fermenter would that be ok. I like my wheat beers to be cloudy like Erdinger Urweisse. I guess the secondary fermenter allows me to add sugar to the bin instead of those carbonation drops.

mayto

You could bottle from the primary fermenter no problem assuming fermentation is complete. What is the final gravity of the beer?. A bottling bucket works good too but the carbonation drops work fine for direct bottling from the fermenter.

bibibobo

Not sure what the final gravity is just yet as it is due to be finished in a few days. OG=1.041
I just want to minimise the amount of sterilisation of buckets etc. If I bottle straight from the primary am I going to get alot of sediment etc in the bottles?

mayto

The sediment will stay at the bottom of the fermenter if you carefully siphon when filling the bottles. With a wheat beer you generally want it cloudy so you will have more sediment anyway than a beer you want to be clear at bottling time.When fermentation slows more sediment will drop from the beer. You really want to check the gravity of the beer to confirm fermentation is done before getting ready for bottling.

Saruman

bibibobo wrote: »

Do I need to syphon off a wheat beer to a second fermentation bin prior to bottling? If I just bottled straight from the primary fermenter would that be ok. I like my wheat beers to be cloudy like Erdinger Urweisse. I guess the secondary fermenter allows me to add sugar to the bin instead of those carbonation drops.

I would consider myself a fairly advanced brewer and to be honest, I almost never transfer anything to secondary. Not unless I wanted to make something as clear as possible, without filtering and irish moss or whirflock tablets during the boil are not going to be enough.

You certainly do not want to secondary a wheat beer. So go ahead and bottle it. Of course you should use a bottling bucket so you get a good mix for your priming sugar and even carbonation levels in all bottles.

Also make sure it is done fermenting. As others have said, take a gravity reading. If it is two weeks in the primary it is not going to do much more unless there is a problem. I often keep mine for 3 or 4 weeks in the primary. You don't want too long of course or autolysis will set in. Anyway I know you are a new kit brewer and they often follow the instructions on the kits. Unfortunately the kit instructions are rubbish and should not be followed at all. For instance many say to bottle after 5 days! That is not enough time.

bibibobo

I am new to this but am enjoying it so far. The advice from you guys is very helpful.
When I asked about transferring the wheat beer from the primary to a secondary (when it has reached its FG) I really meant a second fermentation bin (bottling bucket?) just to allow me evenly mix in 150g dextrose and then bottle straight away. I didn't mean to further ferment the beer. Presumably if I leave the filter cap off the bottom of my autosyphon then it may give me a final cloudy beer.

mayto

bibibobo wrote: »

Presumably if I leave the filter cap off the bottom of my autosyphon then it may give me a final cloudy beer.

I would not recommend that as you will have too much sediment in the bottles. If your wheat beer is clear when drinking you can just swirl the yeast at the bottom of the bottom and add it to the beer. I do this with commercial wheat beers myself.

Saruman

Yes, use the other bin as a bottling bucket.

And don't take the cap off. It's not needed, it only prevents excess yeast from the sludge down the bottom from getting in. You will still have plenty of yeast in the beer and it will be cloudy.

One thing, coldness helps yeast to the bottom and gives you a clearer beer. So if you (as you presumably will) keep your beer in the fridge for a while, give them a swirl to get the yeast floating around.