Secondary Headspace

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irishman646

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I have 5 gallons of beer in the primary and I'm thinking about putting 1 gallon on oak for secondary in a small carboy I have. Will this leave too much headspace for the other 5 gallons in a 6 gallon secondary? What about a 5 gallon secondary?

I'm about to buy a secondary (as we speak), that's why I ask about the different secondary volumes.

Should I shy away from buying a 6 gallon carboy for secondary if I plan on doing 5 gallon batches?

Thanks for the help.

Merry Christmas
 
You need the headspace in the primary for the krausen, but it's not needed for the secondary. Minimal headspace is supposedly best in the secondary, but I think even a large headspace is fine because of the blanket of co2 that covers the beer. I have stopped using secondaries altogther, and couldn't be happier with the results. I'd say buy the 6 gal carboy and use it as another primary. I think the yeast do a better job of cleaning up after themselves when left on the yeat cake, and unless you're leaving it there for months, there really isn't any risk of autolysis.
 
You need the headspace in the primary for the krausen, but it's not needed for the secondary. Minimal headspace is supposedly best in the secondary, but I think even a large headspace is fine because of the blanket of co2 that covers the beer. I have stopped using secondaries altogther, and couldn't be happier with the results. I'd say buy the 6 gal carboy and use it as another primary. I think the yeast do a better job of cleaning up after themselves when left on the yeat cake, and unless you're leaving it there for months, there really isn't any risk of autolysis.
word.

Thanks for the advice. 6 gallon it is!
 
I primary in a 6 gal and prefer to secondary in a 5 gal when I do transfer to secondary which varies. I have done secondary in a 6 gal on occasion which has left quite a bit of head space because there is usually a loss of wort when transferring so you quite often end up with 4.5 gal or < out of the original 5 gal (especially when you use fresh hops). I have not run into any problems yet but I would prefer to have minimal headspace if possible. Montanaandy
 
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