How do i do secondary?

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poison2003

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This confuses me a bit when i start fermenting i leave it for a week or so and then if i wanted to go do secondary what should i do?
I have a 6 gallon carboy and a 5 gallon bucket
if i ferment first in carboy then secondary in bucket
but the bucket doesn't have a top or the aeration thing
Do i just pour the fermented wart into the bucket or do i keep it in the caboy and just add more yeast? or what can someone explain
 
You don't want to use a plastic bucket for your secondary because you want as little air to touch the wort as possible. Before primary you want aeration, after primary you do not want aeration.

What I do is use a 6.5 gallon carboy for my primary (or you could use a bucket here) and a 5 gallon carboy for my secondary.

You'll want to siphon to the secondary and you'll want to be gentle, avoid splashing.
 
everything must be sanitized and you should have a cover. actually, don't use plastic, get a 5 gallon carboy for your secondary and use an airlock (you can usually use the airlock from the primary and just transfer that, too.)

transfer it to the secondary with as little splashing as possible.

You don't need a secondary at all. if you don't have the proper equipment or are worried about your beer, just leave it in the primary until you bottle. it won't hurt it.
 
You secondary fermentation is kind if confusing. You really want to finish fermenting (reach your FG) in the primary. Then rack (move the beer with little oxygen addition) into the secondary. This get the beer off the junk (trub) in the fermenter and let it clear and age.

The primary fermentation usually takes a week to 10 days , but you should let the hydrometer dictate when you rack to the secondary.

You will want to use the 6 gallon carboy for a fermenter.

The bucket will be OK for a secondary, some people say not to because bucket, depending on the plastic, may let too much oxygen through. But IMHO, it would be OK for short (maybe 2 weeks) secondarys. But you will probably want to invest in a carbiy in the future.
 
so i just siphon into a new carboy? couldn't i just add more yeast? to primary?
after i siphon do i add anything new ? or just leave it for another week?
 
You don't have to add anything new. Just sanitize and siphon in. You aren't too worried about the yeast at this point, just basically looking for a clean place to put your beer. Some people add other flavors here (fruit, more hops) but you don't have to and most beers don't call for anything.
 
And don't add more yeast- the whole point of the secondary, which really should be called the clearing tank, is to get the beer off of the old yeast and trub that's settled on the bottom and to clear up the beer.

Your fermentation happens in the primary. You rack without splashing off with the racking cane above the trub so you leave that all behind when it goes into secondary to condition and clear. You don't have to secondary- some bottle out of the primary. I always use a secondary.

Then you rack out of the secondary (again, quietly without splashing) into the bottling bucket when it's time.
 
ooh i get it
my last question is how do i siphon it with the least amount of oxygen getting in? or it doesnt matter that much?
 
It matters alot- siphon it with a racking cane and tubing. Some people use an auto siphon, but I either use a carboy cap (you can find that here by doing a search) or the old fashion siphon method of filling it with water after sanitizing the tubing and letting it flow into a different container until the beer flows.

Put the tip of this tubing at the bottom of the receiving vessel. so that the tip is covered by the beer as it flows into this vessel. Do NOT splash or stir or otherwise aerate the beer.

You use this same procedure for transferring the beer into your bottling bucket, too. See here: http://howtobrew.com/section1/chapter8-4.html
 
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