Beer Forum

I understand the whole primary and secondary. But, I am confused
when you want to brew a beer that should be fermented for a long time lets say six months is that done in a primary for fermentation then moved to the secondary for the remaining time. Or is it a long fermentation in primary. I hope I do not sound like an ass

Primary for a week to two weeks, or, until you have reached terminal gravity, then you can rack it to a secondary vessel for how ever long you feel you need to condition it.

Just purge your secondary w/ some CO2 before you transfer, and you'll be gold.

There are no stupid questions. However, there can be tons of stupid responses. What crazymonkey said goes. If you don't have CO2, fill as much of your secondary vessel as you can. The beer will produce some CO2. Then put it in a closet, and, except for checking the airlock, forget about it for a while. RDWHAHB. As long as you have good sanitation you should be fine.

It doesn't matter what style beer you are brewing you should never age it on the yeast. You can leave it on the yeast for a couple months without a problem though.

I'm a little confused about your question though, when you say "when you want to brew a beer that should be fermented for a long time lets say six months is that done in a primary for fermentation then moved to the secondary for the remaining time." No beer "ferments" for a long time. You let it ferment out which could take anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks or longer. It is done when it hits your desired gravity and then you transfer to secondary to let it clear.

Secondary fermentation isn't really fermentation at all, by the time you transfer to secondary there should be no fermentation going on. It is only for aging/clearing the beer.