How much headspace is acceptable in secondary?

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Bisco_Ben

Bisco_Ben

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Hey guys, quick question here. I have a 5.5 gallon batch of an Imperial White recipe that I put together sitting in a bucket with krausen blow-off having sprayed out through the lid and blow-off tube. The batch was brewed exactly 7 days ago. I was going to transfer it to a 5-gallon carboy after 3-4 weeks to bulk-age for a month or 2. However, I noticed that a 5 gallon carboy actually holds just over 5.5 gallons and I am concerned about minimizing headspace. If I transfer around 5 gallons into the carboy, will about a half-gallon worth of headspace create an issue when bulk-aging? Or should I go directly to bottles instead after 4 weeks? This is the biggest beer I have brewed to date (OG: 1.089) and I am not sure how to handle such big beers. Any insight would be very much appreciated! :mug:
 
Bisco_Ben said:
Hey guys, quick question here. I have a 5.5 gallon batch of an Imperial White recipe that I put together sitting in a bucket with krausen blow-off having sprayed out through the lid and blow-off tube. The batch was brewed exactly 7 days ago. I was going to transfer it to a 5-gallon carboy after 3-4 weeks to bulk-age for a month or 2. However, I noticed that a 5 gallon carboy actually holds just over 5.5 gallons and I am concerned about minimizing headspace. If I transfer around 5 gallons into the carboy, will about a half-gallon worth of headspace create an issue when bulk-aging? Or should I go directly to bottles instead after 4 weeks? This is the biggest beer I have brewed to date (OG: 1.089) and I am not sure how to handle such big beers. Any insight would be very much appreciated! :mug:
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First off so not transfer until you are sure it has reached final gravity.

A half gallon or less would be fine as head space in secondary for the 1-2 months, just be sure the airlock doesn't dry out. If you have CO2 you can always purge the secondary first and then rack.
 
Just let it bulk age as is...a month in primary won't hurt anything.
 
I don'y see why you wouldn't just put it in bottles once you're happy with clarity. MUCH less risk, and I don't know of anything you'll gain from bulk aging.
 
I recently under shot the amount of IIPA contained within my primary and racked it to a 5 gallon secondary. The volume of beer was actually 3.8 gallons and I topped it with about 2-3 inches worth of leaf dryhops, which completely covered the beer and took up some extra space. Still there was about a gallon of headspace. The beer spent 7 days in secondary and was partially oxygenated. Some bottles were perfect, some were okay, some were wet cardboard/sour. Take my experience as a cautionary tale. I'd say a gallon of secondary headspace is too much.
 
So you guys think that 4-5 weeks in primary (bucket) will be sufficient aging for an Imperial Wit with OG of 1.089? I just want to make sure that I condition this batch properly. Also, I was also going to transfer to secondary for clarity purposes before bottling, but I guess a 3-5 day cold crash in the bucket will do just fine?
 
ALSO, with such a high OG, would it be advisable to add yeast at bottling time? My Belgian Golden Strong (OG: 1.082) had a hard time bottle conditioning and has some uneven carbonation as well, which could be due to lack of viable yeast at that point. I was thinking of adding the new CBC-1 yeast when bottling to insure that I have a smooth conditioning process.
 
Not sure about adding new yeast, but I would just bottle and let it age in the bottle awhile. That way you can free up your fermenter for something else.
 
Anyone see an issue with racking a 5 gal batch to a 6.5 gal bucket and aging for a month??

When transfered I VERY VERY carefully transfered an kept foaming, areating to just about nothing.

I did this with my Tripel and it smells and looks good just hoping there's no oxidation, which I don't think there will be. It was racked and the lid has not been opened since then.
 

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