A lot of sources now say there’s no need for a secondary fermenter, but most recipes where adjuncts such as coffee beans or pecans are added say to put them in the secondary.
I’m hesitant to siphon to a secondary for fear of contamination --it’s just one more opportunity for bad things to happen-- especially when the adjunct is in a muslin hop bag that usually floats on the top of the brew.
Also, I’d have to buy a second bucket for fermentation.
Comments please, and thanks in advance for your advice.
I believe that if you are conscientious about cleaning and sanitizing you have nothing to fret about transferring to a secondary. I imagine you could simply float the bag in a primary.
Floating the bag in the primary is what I’m doing now, but would my beer be substantially improved if I did rack the beer over before adding the adjunct?
If the bag is floating, I don’t see any need for the secondary. The whole idea would be to get it away from the yeast and trub, which is accomplished by floating. If it’s on the primary for an extended period of time, MAYBE there would be a concern of autolysis, but IME that just hasn’t been an issue.
Like was said before, if you are careful with sanitation you have nothing to worry about.
I use secondaries for dry hopping and adjuncts. I found that I get cleaner beer in the bottle (less gunk on the bottom). The other advantage is that with a secondary, you can add a handful of glass beads to the bag to sink it.
I don’t think it would be ‘substantially improved’ over what you’re doing now. “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.” – Theodore Roosevelt. You’re going to make great beer.
I would be more concerned with oxidation than infection during transfer. I would only secondary for long term in glass. I’ve only used secondary for fruit and wood.