I just brewed an IPA with a OG of 1078 using wyeast 1056, fermenting @ 68deg.
My question is this.
How long is a good time in a secondary?
Do i keep the temp @ 68deg or colder?
What are the benifits if any?

Secondary is not a place for fermentation (normally) but rather for claricication.

My choice would be to leave this beer in the primary for an extra week then bottle/keg and eliminate an extra chance of oxidation.

Fred

My preference for a larger beer like this is wait until fermentation is almost done and transfer to secondary. The still somewhat active yeast should clean up any O2 introduced, hopefully it's minimal. then let it clear in the carboy for 2-3 weeks at least, then bottle or keg.

I just cracked open a bottle of IPA I made with similar OG and the same yeast and damn was it good. I think mine fermented close to 70 and was pretty much the same for the secondary. You could secondary that a little cooler to help it clear up and age. You also want to secondary the beer so you can dry-hop the heck out of it, it's an IPA afterall. From what I hear, beer ages better in quantity so the longer you can keep it in a carboy the faster it will age. That being said, my IPA was only about a month old when I drank it last night and it was awesome.

Especially for bigger beers (more than 1.070), I like to keep the beer on the yeast (i.e. in the primary) for no less than 3 weeks. Somtimes 4 or 5 weeks. This yeast should clean up and unwanted by products. Then you can do a secondary if you like. I just dry hop in the primary after 3-4 weeks and bottle/keg. Don't rush to ge your beer off the yeast just because it is "time" to transfer.

AS for lowering the temp, it might help it to clear faster,but for this beer I wouldn't worry about it.

I let things clear up in the primary then keg. I just skip the extra transfer step, takes just as long to clear. I woundn't transfer before the beer is done and sat at least a few days after.

I usually only do a secondary in glass on bigger beers.

Thats when I have no more room for anything.
So the only free space I have is my glass carboys.

One thing that stops me from doing more beers like that is....
A few years back it was only $10.00 for a 6.5.
Now it's like $25.00 and up..

From your replies, the majority of you say to leave it in the primary up to 4-5 weeks and then bottle or keg it.
I like the simplicity of that, but Ive always transfered to a secondary after 7 days.
One other question,when you guys do your transfer to bottle, there is a lot of yeast on the bottom.
Do you keep the siphon off the bottom of the carboy or what.
Thanks

I use an Auto-Siphon.

Keeps all most all of the slurry on the bottom.

If you leave the beer in primary longer, there will be less yeast pick up to deal with. Don't let the calendar make your xfer schedule, let the beer do it. 7 days may be enough time, and it may not.

If you bottle condition/naturally carbonate, there will be sediment on the bottom of your bottle. I have had beers that are crystal clear (if you pour correctly) and some that have a little haze, particularly dry hopped beers. Depends a lot on the yeast. And yes, keep the siphon off the bottom.

I agree with DC, 7 days in primary is too short for most beers. I never go less than two weeks.

ok guys thanks for all your advise. Im going to leave it sit for a week or two or three and then bottle it.
Have a great 4th of July and God Bless America.

It's always interesting to see what others do. I always let my beers finish fermenting in the primary. I transfer the beer to a keg or bottle from the primary once I have reached my FG. I just kegged an English Bitter / Pale today. It was in the primary for 16 days. The beer that transferred was almost totally clear.

I have always thought of secondary fermentation as conditioning or clearing rather than actual fermentation.

You won't regret picking up an AutoSiphon. It's one of the best additions to my system so far.

The AutoSiphon is a great tool for racking beer.

Part of the idea behind a secondary fermentation cycle is to get the beer off of the trub.

Not familiar with this particular yeast, but I've brewed fairly good wits previously.
And having developed to this point, learning from my mistakes...
I say go for a short primary, 7 to 10 days, then a long secondary, and drop the temp by 10 to 12 degrees.

But then, I often pitch a higher attenuating yeast into the secondary. Give it about 2 or three days, then drop the temp. Then don't even mess with it for about three weeks.

Rex,

What benefit do you hope to gain by pitching into a secondary, that other wise could be taken care of in primary?
Never heard of anybody using that technique..

Several reasons.

Ensures enough healthy yeast in the secondary.
I've only had one stuck fermentation ever. It was a braggot. Added more yeast and it took off again.

Layering of flavors.
If you think about it, confining oneself to only one yeast is similar to formulating every grist with a single malt.
I start with a low attenuator, then move to a higher attenuator.
Sometimes I don't do it for flavor, but for the additional attenuation.
I use the 1728 & the 1335 as neutral. Flavor yeasts are like the 1099 (dry) and 3864 (tart).

Example:
I can get the dryness of the 1099 with the attenuation of the 1335 by starting out with the 1099, then pitching the 1335 into the secondary. The 1099 attenuates at 68-72, with the 1335 at 73-76.
I can count on 75.

To find out what the yeast is doing, feed several starters at once. Then pour off a bit of each into a cup, and take a sip. You can miss some differences like this, but it will give you a pretty good general idea as to the predominant taste there.

Other than that, I can say that a good part of secondary is the cleaning up of by-products by the yeast. Removing the beer from the trub gives the yeast less by-products to scrub.

rex,

have you tried simply pitching that second yeast into the primary? i suspect you'd find no difference from your current method.

unless your aim is to harvest the first yeast strain from the primary, i see no reason to rack. the byproducts of fermentation are in the beer, not the yeast cake. and autolysis is all but the sasquatch of brewing, based on most people's experience here.

Typically, I do harvest the yeast from primary.
Probably won't for awhile though, as I only have space for about 5 or 6 more jars on the second shelf of my refrigerator these days.

Also, it's a bit iffy on whether or not I strain the hop material out of the wort before I aerate it. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. A few variables there.
I find that the yeast settling out is better than any strainer.

I suppose it could be done all together in primary. I don't see why not. I know that there are a lot of blends that are marketed.
I think that I developed that to overcome certain issues I had encountered with isolated batches, and made it standard procedure as a safeguard.
Works for me.

It's like waiting until brew day to mill the grain. It might not be necessary, but it makes me feel better about it.
Ah, yes.... brewing psychology...