Secondary vs. Bottle Conditioning

[sullydavid]

I have been back into homebrewing for about 5 batches now. I have been using a secondary, but for only about a week on some low gravity beers (1.040 - 1.050). What I am wondering is what a general rule of thumb is for having "average" gravity beers in the secondary. My original source said one week, but I have read in some other places that 2-3 weeks is a "common" practice.

My thoughts are that within a week the beer seems to have stabilized and has settled.

This leads me to another question. Is there much of a difference between conditioning beer in a secondary as opposed to in the bottle? For example I would think that both of the following beers would taste nearly the same:
- Beer A left in secondary for a week then bottled. Tasting after in the bottle for 5 weeks.
- Beer B left in the secondary for 3 weeks then bottled. Tasting after in the bottle for 3 weeks.

Any insight would be appreciated. I know I can learn this with some experimentation, but I would prefer to experiment with different mixes and flavors if this is already a widely known fact.

[Tom C]

Not exactly sure why here but beer apparently matures better in bulk (maybe because of higher yeast cell counts???) I had a barley wine that I asked the same question about and people beleived that it was best to stay in the secondary for months rather than bottle condition. Either way beer is patient. By the way, the Barley wine is now a year old and very yummy.

Tom C

[mmmBeer...]

My beers usually spend 2-3 weeks in secondary. I have also heard that beer matures better in bulk. The odd beer that was rushed out of secondary had noticeably more sediment in the bottom of the bottle. The beers left longer in secondary always seem clearer…now that could be my imagination.

I guess I just prefer to be patient and give the beer time to mature, either that or my schedule is so hectic that it takes longer for me to find the time to bottle, so it is just easier to let it stay longer in secondary.

[YamahaXS]

a couple of thoughts....

First, fermentation isn't always done after a 1 week in the secondary.... it all depends on the beer, yeast and environment. So leaving it in 3 weeks is advantagous in that regard. (many people here don't bottle until they see level Gravity readings).

Assuming, the hypothetical beers are in fact finished after 1 week in the Primary, then I think that leaving it in the carboy would mean that the beer would continue to settle out, clear up, and slightly continue to ferment as 1 UNIT, rather than 48 UNITS. This suggests that when the 3 week beer is finally bottled, you will have a more consistent taste between bottles. The 1 week beer could vary between bottles because the immature beer might be stratified to some degree.