increasing the volume in the secondary

Greetings,

I have a bourbon old ale that has been in the secondary for two months now with four to go. It is sitting in a 5-gal glass carboy and is probably at the 4.25-4.5 gallon level.

I have a possible need to move this carboy by car for an eight hour drive. There is just too much headspace; it will be sloshing around and getting horribly oxidized.

My thought is to increase the volume, adding liquid right up to the neck; then use a stopper or ?? for the trip. The ABV is over 8% now, so I have no problem adding distilled water. My other option is to blend in some of my imperial oktoberfest which I will be bottling this weekend. That way it is at least beer, and the taste should blend nicely.

What do you think? Please don't tell me to bottle it; it really needs six months soaking with the vanilla beans and bourbon oak chips.

Thanks..

I wouldn't top it with water if it were me. I think if you are going to do this, I would definitely use the other beer you mentioned. I would be very careful in putting it in there (ie try not to get and oxygen during the filling). You don't want to ruin anything by oxidation. If you have a keg you could purge with CO2, that would be a better option.

How about buying a couple pounds of kids' marbles, sanitizing them, and dropping them gently in there to reduce headspace? You could flood with co2 first, to avoid oxidation.

The marbles is an old winemakers trick. Be careful dropping them in, as they are usually made of glass! But it works!

I wonder if you could sanitize a punching ball balloon, slide it down inside and inflate (CO2 if you have it-just in case it pops) to fill up that dead space.

I've brewed 4.5 gallons for 5 gallon batches before and toped it off in secondary with distilled watter. I've made excellent beer that way, but then all may calculations were intended for the final five gallons. Budweiser is made in a similar fashion.

Conroe said:

I've brewed 4.5 gallons for 5 gallon batches before and toped it off in secondary with distilled watter. I've made excellent beer that way, but then all may calculations were intended for the final five gallons. Budweiser is made in a similar fashion.

Click to expand...

I agree this can be done with the numbers beforehand, but I wouldn't recommend just adding water freely. I "blend" just like Bud in a lot of my beers. I brew high gravity and over hopped, then dilute prior to serving on occasion... but it is tricky (take in consideration SG and FG, among other factors to get it done right). I like Yoop's idea about the marbles in this case. Easy to sanitize and easy in application for what he is trying to achieve. But... isn't this a perfect excuse to "have to buy a keg", lol?

PS, I had another revelation. You could always hire the space shuttle creeper to gently move this beer. Those guys could keep it from sloshing up the glass sides of the carboy even a micro meter. I'm just sayin'

If you have a similar beer (homebrew or off the shelf) you could add enough to incease the volume to a better level. I imagine it might be an expensive way to go if you have to buy it but ultimately you will get to drink it.

Most Awesome suggestions! Thanks all.