Uh oh... LOTS of head space after transfer to carboy...

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McKraut

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As in lots..? Like five inches maybe... Is this going to kill my Belgium trippel? It was in primary about two weeks... Is this the worst thing I could do and I should just bottle at this point? Or its not that bad?
 
It will be fine. Put an airlock on it. Cover it. And forget about it for two months. It will still create co2 and keep the headspace filled with that.
 
It will be fine. Put an airlock on it. Cover it. And forget about it for two months. It will still create co2 and keep the headspace filled with that.

Wow really? Seems like so much yeast is left behind on the bottom of the primary bucket... Tasted it tonight and its yummy if a tiny bit bitter... So if it's just safer to bottle I can do that...
 
McKraut said:
Wow really? Seems like so much yeast is left behind on the bottom of the primary bucket... Tasted it tonight and its yummy if a tiny bit bitter... So if it's just safer to bottle I can do that...

Even if you didn't purge the headspace with CO2, your trippel will still produce enough to sparge it out. Don't bother bottling yet, RDWHAHB
 
Sweet... Though it already tastes so damn good after only two weeks with no carbonation. Would leaving it in secondary for a week and bottling be okay? Then we can sample as it conditions? Just want to do what's best
 
Got a pic of it

IMG_20110708_205612.jpg
 
You're sure that much o2 is okay? Just seems counter to everything over heard so far about keeping o2 out
 
You're sure that much o2 is okay? Just seems counter to everything over heard so far about keeping o2 out

if you have yeast in there they will produce CO2 and that head space will be mostly devoid of O2. if you shook the carboy that dissolved a lot of O2 into your wort. in short, don't worry.
 
Shook the carboy? No... Just transferred it slow and carefully, didn't think I was supposed to shake it at all. And as for how much yeast was transferred I'm not sure... I thought that bottom layer of yeast was supposed to stay in the primary
 
You're sure that much o2 is okay? Just seems counter to everything over heard so far about keeping o2 out

They only point you realistically need to worry about is if you shook the batch and it created sloshing which introduces oxygen into the beer. Having a small layer of O2 sitting on top won't do anything, and as it was mentioned above, there's still activity going on, so the CO2 production will push any oxygen out. RDWHAHB.
 
Shook the carboy? No... Just transferred it slow and carefully, didn't think I was supposed to shake it at all. And as for how much yeast was transferred I'm not sure... I thought that bottom layer of yeast was supposed to stay in the primary

I thought that was the point when racking to a secondary as well. Leave the sediment and trub in the bottom of the primary and allow any suspended yeast to finish the fermentation and clear up the beer.
 
I thought that was the point when racking to a secondary as well. Leave the sediment and trub in the bottom of the primary and allow any suspended yeast to finish the fermentation and clear up the beer.

Exactly.

OP, RDWHAHB. :mug:
 
You can top if off with a similar beer, personally I would like to see less air contact, even with the C02 layer.
 
Not to worry!!!!!!!!!! I transfered a batch thi morning that has at least that much head space. Spend your time getting an air lock and forget it for a couple weeks.
 
Thanks for all of the replies. Maybe next weekend we will bottle this if time permits, but nice to know that it's at least not a cardinal sin or anything.

And re: the syranwrap on the top was just during the actual transfer process so I wouldn't breath in contaminants or something. It has a proper airlock on it now
 
Thanks for all of the replies. Maybe next weekend we will bottle this if time permits, but nice to know that it's at least not a cardinal sin or anything.

And re: the syranwrap on the top was just during the actual transfer process so I wouldn't breath in contaminants or something. It has a proper airlock on it now

That's a bit much, your beer isn't going to catch a cold. I only started brewing this year, myself, so I understand your abundance of caution, but keep in mind Westvleteren and others use open fermenters for primary and people have been making presumably decent beer long before anyone knew anything about sanitation.
 
That's a bit much, your beer isn't going to catch a cold. I only started brewing this year, myself, so I understand your abundance of caution, but keep in mind Westvleteren and others use open fermenters for primary and people have been making presumably decent beer long before anyone knew anything about sanitation.

This theory has often mad me think that I am being way to worried and cautious in the whole process. But then again, my first two batches of beer are going well so far after paying particular attention to sanitation effort.
 
Depending on your OG, tripels tend to take a long, long time to ferment out. So it will not just be OK, it will be greatly beneficial and necessary to keep this (preferably in primary, but ok in secondary) aging for 4-6 weeks. Many belgian strains go gang busters for the first 75% of the fermentation but will really slow down for the final 25%. Your patience will be rewarded-provided you get a bung and a fermentation lock on that bad boy.
 
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