What's the proses to transfer beer to second fermentation tank?

[Mastoras007]

Hello.
I want to ask some stupid question
Lets say after a week i want to transfer to another fermentation tank for beer to be clean.
How can i do that without transferring the yeast?
In this case the top fermentation yeast

 

[Minbari]

just dont.....................there are no advantages and you risk infection and oxygenation. 10+ years of brewing, have never secondaried.

getting clear beer, assuming the style requires it, will come from time and cold. you can use fining agents too. I use biofine clear, works magic in 2 days.

 

[Mastoras007]

So how can i separate yeast from beer during transferring in kegs?
I'm talking about ale yeast top fermentation
If I transfer slowly?
I just throw away the last liters?

 

[Minbari]

So how can i separate yeast from beer during transferring in kegs?
I'm talking about ale yeast top fermentation
If I transfer slowly?
I just throw away the last liters?

when it is done fermenting, it will drop out of suspension.. if you have the ability to cold crash it, that speed up the process.

 

[Donoroto]

Top fermenting yeast, when it is finished, drops to the bottom. Just do not use the bottom 5% or so.

 

[Craigerrr]

So how can i separate yeast from beer during transferring in kegs?
I'm talking about ale yeast top fermentation
If I transfer slowly?
I just throw away the last liters?

Essentially, yes, you will lose a bit of beer. Just plan for that and make a bit extra so that you still get a full keg.
If you make extra and end up being able to transfer more than you thought transfer the last bit to a PET soda bottle. You can carbonate it with a carb cap. You should be able to get one from any homebrew supplier.

 

[Craigerrr]

Top fermenting yeast, when it is finished, drops to the bottom. Just do not use the bottom 5% or so.

And yes, this, be patient, give the yeast etc to drop out. If you have temperature control, drop the temperature to 0C/32F and leave it for 2-3 days. That will clear it up some more, and compact the yeast.

 

[Zambi]

Essentially, yes, you will lose a bit of beer. Just plan for that and make a bit extra so that you still get a full keg.
If you make extra and end up being able to transfer more than you thought transfer the last bit to a PET soda bottle. You can carbonate it with a carb cap. You should be able to get one from any homebrew supplier.

You can also just use sugar

 

[Mastoras007]

That's great.
I can give it some cold but sure not 0 Celsius, but anyway i will give it a try.
After fermentation ends i will drop the temperature to 3-5 Celsius for 1-2 days
After that i will transfer directly in to the keg just leaving the last liters inside the tank.
So the learning message is that as cold is the beer so clear it becomes,
But this why is happening? The temperature greates gravity different from liquid and yeast or is just stopping all the fermentation prosses so the yeast is no longer active dropping to the bottom like dead?
This prosses killing the yeast?
I'm asking because i want to reuse yeast

 

[west1m]

I don't know anything about the dropping but the yeast will not be dead. It is quite useable. After the fermenter is empty just swirl it all up and pour some into clean sanitized jars. I use the spring top pint jars to save the yeast.
Others may have different ways of doing this....

 

[Minbari]

That's great.
I can give it some cold but sure not 0 Celsius, but anyway i will give it a try.
After fermentation ends i will drop the temperature to 3-5 Celsius for 1-2 days
After that i will transfer directly in to the keg just leaving the last liters inside the tank.
So the learning message is that as cold is the beer so clear it becomes,
But this why is happening? The temperature greates gravity different from liquid and yeast or is just stopping all the fermentation prosses so the yeast is no longer active dropping to the bottom like dead?
This prosses killing the yeast?
I'm asking because i want to reuse yeast

cold causes the yeast and protiens to clump together., which is what most of the hazy stuff is.

depending what kind of fermentor you have, the drain port will leave most of the trub behind. if you use a racking arm, then keep it a couple inches off the bottom.

 

[Mastoras007]

cold causes the yeast and protiens to clump together., which is what most of the hazy stuff is.

depending what kind of fermentor you have, the drain port will leave most of the trub behind. if you use a racking arm, then keep it a couple inches off the bottom.

I'm almost ready to older my first fermentation tank
Will be stainless steel with a small curve at the bottom installed a drain valve right to the bottom of curve.
A few cm up will be a second valve.
I will try to drain first a little bit and thene will continue filing my kegs from second valve.
I hope will work this method.
Or maybe the last keg will be a little more foggy

 

[Minbari]

I'm almost ready to older my first fermentation tank
Will be stainless steel with a small curve at the bottom installed a drain valve right to the bottom of curve.
A few cm up will be a second valve.
I will try to drain first a little bit and thene will continue filing my kegs from second valve.
I hope will work this method.
Or maybe the last keg will be a little more foggy

if it is a conical, the bottom valve is for dumping trub or collecting yeast. the smaller valve on the side ussually has a small tube on the inside designed for racking off to a keg.

 

[Bigbre04]

just dont.....................there are no advantages and you risk infection and oxygenation. 10+ years of brewing, have never secondaried.

getting clear beer, assuming the style requires it, will come from time and cold. you can use fining agents too. I use biofine clear, works magic in 2 days.

Totally agree.

It really only makes sense on much larger scale where you have to fine or age the beer brite. But the big guys have a lot more gear and tech to ensure low O2 pickup and cleanliness. Plus they can afford the loss in total volume because of their scale.

Even on my scale(2bbl) I don't transfer or fine my beers. My lagers and standard ales are crystal clear. Hazies are hazy for the entire time that they are on draft.

 

[Bigbre04]

A racking arm(what Minbari took pictures of) is super clutch. You don't need to dump yeast from the bottom unless it will be sitting on the yeast under pressure for a long time or you are collecting it to reuse.

Turn the racking arm until you see cloudy yeast coming through and then go back a touch until it clears up. This is the way that even the big guys do it.

You need to maintain positive CO2 pressure on the tank or you will suck air which is bad(or pull a vacuum and crush the tank which is worse.)

 

[Sandy Feet]

If you are just learning, you can buy a plasic fermonster for $30 and a racking cain for a few dollars. I just had to buy another fermenter this week. My other plasic one is 3 or 4 years old.

 

[Mark Maquillan]

Instead of trying to reuse the yeast I overbuild a starter. Much less hassle.

 

[Minbari]

Instead of trying to reuse the yeast I overbuild a starter. Much less hassle.

I just buy more yeast. It's cheap and less chance of weird things happening

 

[Bigbre04]

I just buy more yeast. It's cheap and less chance of weird things happening

Over pitching is usually a safe bet as long as you arent going crazy.

 

[Mont Y. Märzen]

So how can i separate yeast from beer during transferring in kegs?
I'm talking about ale yeast top fermentation
If I transfer slowly?
I just throw away the last liters?

I found out very quickly that a good rule of thumb is to plan to rack to fermenter 10% more than you want to package. This has been very consistent, over 100 batches in. Thus, if you want 5gallons packaged, plan to get 5.5gal to the fermenter. Walk your system losses backwards from there to figure out pre-boil and strike/sparge volumes.

I started out with glass carboys and a siphon which let me get close to the yeast cake after crashing without too much beer loss. I eventually moved to buckets & Bubblers with spigots that do the same as the cake settles below the spigot.

After racking to a keg or bottling bucket, I swirl the cake very well, portion out to sanitized mason jars and let them re-settle at room temp for about 30 minutes. Then I decant the 'yeasty beer' on top to a flask or another jar and cold crash that for about 4-7 days in the fridge. Once the yeast is compact and the beer on top is clear, I decant all but an equal volume of beer as the yeast, swirl well again and transfer to another smaller sanitized jar. (usually 4oz.) That alone is enough for a full pitch for most ales, but I sometimes build a starter anyway especially if it is more than a few months old.

I also top-crop yeast that make a good Krausen that lasts a couple of days. In that case, I usually don't bother with the cake after racking.

*note, while I'm sure mileage varies, in my personal experience I can't get really clear beer unless I cold crash at 29–31℉ for several days. 32 or above takes a week plus, and yes, that is using fining agents too.