Secondary to big???

Just brewed a 3 gallon all grain batch, I normally brew 5-5.5 batches. Now I was looking at my secondary and it's a 6 gallon BB is that too big for a 3 gallon batch (too much air inside). I don't have my keging equipment to blow co2 into the fermenter And I'm afraid of oxidation, any tips or ideas. Thanks

haus88 said:

Just brewed a 3 gallon all grain batch, I normally brew 5-5.5 batches. Now I was looking at my secondary and it's a 6 gallon BB is that too big for a 3 gallon batch (too much air inside). I don't have my keging equipment to blow co2 into the fermenter And I'm afraid of oxidation, any tips or ideas. Thanks

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Don't sweat it, as your beer produces co2 it will force all the air out the airlock, once that happens it will have a protective co2 layer and your beer will be protected.

A secondary isn't going to produce much CO2 though unless you add more fermentables.

I think he said he "just brewed" which would indicated he meant primary, even though he said secondary, so now I'm confused.

Hey sorry I'm in primary about 3 days into the brew, I want to rack I in a week. But when I move it too my secondary it won't be producing too much co2? I'm doing all grain and don't want to add dme or lme to produce more fermentable.

haus88 said:

Hey sorry I'm in primary about 3 days into the brew, I want to rack I in a week. But when I move it too my secondary it won't be producing too much co2? I'm doing all grain and don't want to add dme or lme to produce more fermentable.

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Leave it in the primary then, don't bother racking to secondary as this is where your problems could possibly arise. And it should stay in the primary for at least 3-4 weeks minimally. Are you planning any additions in the secondary, like dry hopping or something, as many dry hop, and add some additions to the primary.

Is there a reason why you are using a secondary? Why not just keep it in primary till you bottle? That solves the co2 problem. Otherwise you could raise the temperature in the secondary and the off gasing co2 should push some o2 out.

I was told from a friend I brew with who use to wok at a brewery that doing a secondary to condition the beer an removing or from the trub will improve the beer. I still have to dry hop but its such a small anount of beer in a big container I'm afraid of a contam. So I'm thinking about skipping the rack into secondary.

haus88 said:

I was told from a friend I brew with who use to wok at a brewery that doing a secondary to condition the beer an removing or from the trub will improve the beer. I still have to dry hop but its such a small anount of beer in a big container I'm afraid of a contam. So I'm thinking about skipping the rack into secondary.

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He's wrong. There isn't anything "magical" about moving the beer from one container to another. Leaving the beer on the trub for a couple of weeks isn't going to change the beer. Leaving it long term on the trub might. If you leave it in the fermenter for 2-3 weeks and then bottle, you'll be absolutely fine.

Yeah just skip secondary there is lot of debate but the general idea is secondary is not needed like it used to be. Unless your doing additions or like me and want to free up a bigger fermenter. Racking isnt terrible or anything but in your situation I would just leave it unless you intend to let it sit a very long time.

Skip the secondary. There's a raging debate over wether it's even necessary, but in this case there's a clear reason to skip it. There's no clear evidence of any benefit at all, but a very clear risk of oxidation transferring 3 gallons into a 6 gallon vessel. Think risk vs reward here. Secondary would be a risk here for minimal (if any) reward.

Thanks guys I will deff skip the secondary ill just bottle in 3 week thanks a lot.

haus88 said:

Thanks guys I will deff skip the secondary ill just bottle in 3 week thanks a lot.

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3 weeks should do the trick, but try and avoid doing things based on a set schedule. Rather, use sound reasons to determine things like when to bottle. For example, when activity stops check the gravity. If it's at expected terminal gravity, confirm the reading a few days later. If it's the EXACT same, age it a few more days or "cold crash" if you have the fridge space. If the reading is lower, even .001, WAIT! Most normal strength ales will be done in 3 weeks but you never know, every fermentation has its own unique set of variables. This way you're learning the yeast's behavior, not taking a shot in the dark...

+1

Even if you do everything the same, they will still be different.

I did a 10 gal batch of cream ale then split into 2 buckets to ferment. They were side-by-side the whole time and I could still tell a difference. Yeast are weird!