First time using secondary and too much head space..

I am using a secondary vessel for racking for the first time, and my volume is about 3/4 to 1/2 gallon too low...I racked from a 6.4 g to a 5 g and I guess I was never at the correct amount in the primary vessel.

Am I screwed? Is this too much headspace for a 2 week rest?

I did spray the space with some argon gas used for preserving wine bottles in an attempt to displace the O2 and fitted it tightly with the airlock.

Any suggestions?

if you just got done with the primary, there should be some Co2 coming out to keep it safe. argon cant hurt IMO. I also racked to a 5 gallon and was about 3/4 gallon short. I let it sit for a week with a towel around it and it was fine, however I was told it could stay for about a month like that because of the Co2. someone correct me if I'm wrong!@

Resist the urge to mess with it and leave it perfectly still, there will be a small amount of CO2 produced and this will be fine for a short secondary. Argon is probably overkill, but cant hurt if you have easy access to it. I have 3.5 gallons of an imperial stout in a 5 gallon carboy right now. Plan on another couple weeks until bottling.

Is this is a common occurence, though? I used my "5 gallon" carboy to secondary my ESB, and it seemed almost like a 6-gallon carboy due the headspace. I definitely had 5 gallons in there, since I bottled 2+ cases. Are all carboys not created equally?

thanks for the advice.

I am hoping that there actually was enough dissolved CO2 in there, because I made very sure that my primary was finished (SG readings that were constant 1.009 3 days in a row) before making the transfer, and there has been no fermentation "takeoff" so far.

It is very common & there is no need to worry.

RDWHAHB!

When I have alot of headspace in the secondary I just shake the carboy around a little after racking to secondary until there are bubbles on top. Then I put the airlock in and the CO2 from the bubbles push all the oxygen out.

joey11bball said:

When I have alot of headspace in the secondary I just shake the carboy around a little after racking to secondary until there are bubbles on top. Then I put the airlock in and the CO2 from the bubbles push all the oxygen out.

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I would not "shake" at all. The CO2 will offgas naturally, and shaking may actually oxidize the beer.