6.5 gallon carboy for secondary?

Ksosh · 06-24-2009, 03:18 PM

Hi all,
I picked up a 6.5 gal. (glass) carboy from sweet a craigslist purchase. Realistically, is there a major disadvantage to using this as a secondary for 5 gallon batches vs. getting a separate 5 gallon carboy as a secondary and using this larger one as a primary?

stoneman · 06-24-2009, 03:26 PM

I think you would be fine using it as a primary, but I wouldn't use it as a secondary (too much head space).

eschatz · 06-24-2009, 03:28 PM

Your beer won't put out much C02 when it's transfered to the secondary. Therefore you'll be placing the beer in there with all of that headspace (02). It can cause oxidation issues. If you keg then you can just purge your carboy with gas before you rack. That will make it work. Otherwise I just wouldn't use a secondary. I believe that most of us have given up on secondaries for beers other than fruit or lagers, for the most part.

**RevRon** · 06-24-2009, 03:28 PM

I don't think so. Some people may say that it can promote dissolved oxygen in your beer but I don't think it does. Back when I used to secondary, I used a 6.5 for primary and another one for secondary. Now I've come to realize that secondary really isn't necessary if you are brewing an ale. I think it makes my beer taste better when I leave it in my primary. You should try using and not using a secondary to see which you prefer but I wouldn't worry about using your 6.5 for secondary.

thejerk · 06-24-2009, 03:28 PM

Fermentation is pretty much done by the time you rack off the trub into secondary, and the remaining fermentation may or may not produce enough CO2 to protect the beer from all of the oxygen in that much head space. It's probably fine, but for that reason I would prefer not to secondary in a vessel that's too big. The 6.5 is perfect for primary though, giving room for krausen and preventing blow-off.

boydak · 06-24-2009, 10:43 PM

I still secondary my Kolsch and use a 6.5 carboy and have had no issues. I leave it in primary for 2 weeks than secondary in a cooler area for another 2 weeks.

**Killer_Robot** · 06-25-2009, 02:58 AM

I don't have much personal experience yet , but I will note that every time this comes up I see a bunch of people say "don't do it, it's too much head space" and a bunch of others say "I've done it often and it's fine." I've yet to see a "last time I tried this my beer went all cardboard on me" though.

Really, I'm finding this principle seems to apply to a lot of "should I do this?" arguments and the answer usually comes down to personal comfort and what people have heard rather than what they've had hurt their beers in personal experience.

That said, the no secondary plan seems to have a lot of personal recommendation from people who have done both, so when you don't need a secondary, two primaries sounds like less work to me anyway. And sometimes when you need a primary(like adding fruit) the new fermentables and fresh krausen needs the extra head space anyway. I say it's a good deal.

Ben25 · 06-25-2009, 03:43 AM

I haven't used a secondary in 8-10 batches. They've all come out great! I'd say just use it as a primary. Leave it in there for about a month and then rack to bottling bucket or keg carefully.

Ksosh · 06-25-2009, 04:53 PM

Thanks all, I think I'll just use the large carboy as a primary from now on, and *maybe* pick up a smaller better bottle (or even a 5 gallon (1 or 2 plastic, right?) water jug) for clearing in case I need it. This is assuming SWMBO doesn't kill me first because of all the crap piling up in the kitchen (and the living room... and closet...)