Primary in a carboy?

Just wondering those that do their primary fermenting in a 6.5 gallon carboy, how do you get your wort into the carboy. Do you pour the wort into a bottling bucket and then rack to the carboy, or do you pour directly into the carboy using a funnel? Probably a stupid question but thought I would ask anyway. Thanks.

Poured through a funnel from the pot.

Well if you must know, one of the kits I was looking at came with a 6.5 gallon carboy to primary in and I was wondering what the best way to get the wort in there. Thanks for your input though I guess. And I am sure even in a carboy I could aerate the wort enough.

I've never had a problem aerating in a carboy. It does it quite well when I pour it in the carboy and more so after I shake the crap out of it.

Cheezy, why are you screaming and using that kind of language?

pouring through a funnel works, especially if you want to pour through a strainer bag to get out hops from the bottom of your brew pot. Your other option is to siphon. You fill your tube with sanitizer, put your brew pot on a table and the carboy on the floor. put your finger on the bottom of the tube, put the top of the tube in the bottom of the brew pot then release the bottom of the tube. make sure you have a small basin to catch the sanitizing solution as it comes out of the tube, you don't want all that in your carboy.

Whirlpool and then siphon from the pot into the carboy.

Well this post could be easily answered. As most of us have. Using a funnel. That's what I used when I used carboys.

I too am surprised by Cheesy's response. I think the point of having a dedicated homebrew forum is to share our collective experience. Whether you’re a seasoned brewer or a beginner, we all come here to learn and to share.

However, as members with experience, I feel we have a bit of responsibility to help those who are just beginning, there are no stupid questions ( I know, how cliché).

There are 101 ways to do everything. Keep an open mind. Learn all you can and then do what works for you. If using a carboy is what you want to use. Then so be it. Learn about using Carboys. It's apparent Cheesy likes using buckets. Is he right and your wrong? Or is he wrong and your right. Neither.

I've used buckets and carboys. Both have their pros and cons. Buckets are cheap and easy to clean. Most have a handle, which makes carrying or lifting much easier. However, I had issues as well. I found the seal on the lids to be suspect. I have 2 buckets I used as fermenters. Both leaked CO2 from the fermenter through the seal on the rim and then taking the lid of the bucket when it came time to clean them was a pain.

I ended up using my carboy more as a primary fermenter, and then transferred to a bucket as a secondary.

As a primary, yes you can see the initial activity. You can see the yeast sediment. I like using a blowoff tube, and find it works better with a carboy. Of course cleaning a carboy is definitely a little more work then a bucket, having to scrub the inside with a carboy brush. Not fun.

As for getting the wort into the carboy, just remember. If you are NOT chilling the wort using a wort chiller or other method, you need to put cold water into the carboy first before adding the hot wort. This is mainly for glass carboys, so you don't crack the glass. If it's plastic, you shouldn't need to worry about cracking so much, but it's better if you still use the cold water, just in case the hot wort warps the plastic. Using this method, I am assuming that the amount of wort is in the 2 gallon range, so for a 5 gallon batch you need to have 3 gallons of cold water to make up your full batch.

cheezydemon3 said:

Carboys are good for 1 thing and 1 thing only. SEEING YOUR BREW.

Click to expand...

I don't know what Cheezy's deal is, but he's wrong. The carboy is better than a bucket for several reasons 1) the surface area exposed to air at the top of it is much less than a bucket, meaning less oxidation. 2) Glass (or even Better Bottle material) is much less likely to scratch than a bucket, and scratches harbor microbes. 3) I can see my brew.

To answer the OP, I use an autosiphon to move my wort from kettle to carboy.

I have SWMBO hold a funnel with a screen in it while I dump my wort from the brew kettle. The screen seems to do a great job of getting oxygen in there while keeping a fair amount of trub out.

DarkSide said:

As for getting the wort into the carboy, just remember. If you are NOT chilling the wort using a wort chiller or other method, you need to put cold water into the carboy first before adding the hot wort. This is mainly for glass carboys, so you don't crack the glass.

Click to expand...

Perhaps a bit nitpicky, but initially this reads like you are suggesting cold water as a way to temper the glass so it doesn't break from the thermal shock. On my second read I realized you were saying the cold water would temper the wort, not the glass, lowering the thermal shock from the heat.

I still would never recommend filling glass with anything over 100 degrees.

And lastly, if you do not have to top off, the addition of water would not be uselfull.

For partial boils where I know I have less than 3 gallons, here's what I do:

1) chill my pot in an ice bath
2) put a funnel in the carboy opening
3) put a strainer in the funnel (I got a large strainer from breworganic, I was using a smaller cooking strainer earlier and it got clogged way too fast)
4) pour ~2 gallons of bottled water into the carboy, through the strainer/funnel
5) Pour the chilled ~80 degree pot through the strainer/funnel into the carboy (depending on what I've made and how quickly it chilled, I may have to empty the strainer once if it gets clogged).
6) fill in the remaining top-off water
7) remove the strainer, pour in the yeast through the funnel.

My screen in my funnel plugged every time I tried to use it unless I used my auto-siphon onto the screen and left the hop bits in the kettle.

Now, I sanitize my bottling bucket and a 5 gal paint strainer, then rack on top of the strainer (I dump it in when there's about a gallon left in the kettle). I then pickup the strainer from the bucket along with some of the break and all of the hop bits and let that drain. This way I get all of my liquid into my bucket, then drain that into my carboy. I also have my bottling bucket marked with a 5 gal line and I top up while in the bucket and stir. Then take my OG by dropping in my sanitized hydrometer. I found this easier than racking into my carboy, topping up to my 5 gal mark, then using my thief to get my gravity sample.

Some will say my method opens a lot of room for contamination, but I'm ridiculously critical of my sanitation methods.

I want to get a 5 gal strainer that sits in the top of the bucket. They make them from about 100micron up to 600micron. For reference, a human hair is about 100micron so I figure the 400 or 600micron one would work and catch all/most of the trub.

http://utahbiodieselsupply.com/filters5gallon.php

This is just my method. It works for me. You will come up with what works for you pretty soon.

For my second brew, I used a 6.5 gallon BB as my primary. I simply put a funnel in the carboy and poured the COOLED wort into the bottle. BB's will only tolerate about 140°F before warping/melting, so make certain the wort is cooled. If you are doing partial-boil, as I did, put some cold "top-off" water in the bottle first, and then pour the wort into it. Using the funnel provided a substantial aeration, so I didn't have to shake it up. And I used a blowoff tube for the first rather heavy fermentation; once it quieted down, I pulled the tube and put a standard airlock in place.

glenn514

I use a funnel and a strainer. The strainer will clog up with hops, but just turning it over into the sink and tapping the strainer on its rim or handle dislodges the residue. I have to do this about three or four times per 5 gallon batch.

I got the funnel and strainer from either Northern Brewer or Midwest, and it says on the descriptions that the funnel is the largest one that fits into a carboy- and that the strainer fits perfectly into the funnel.

You can do this transfer by yourself, but it is easier to have someone holding the strainer by the handle while pouring. My brewpot is on the kitchen counter, and my carboy (inside an igloo icecube cooler) sits on a stool. This brings the funnel to perfect pouring height. I don't spill a drop. Use the funnel to pitch the yeast with and use some top-off water to pour after the yeast to make sure they all get into the carboy.


As an aside, an immersion chiller is the best $50 bucks I've spent on my brewing. I purchased the stainless unit from Midwest.
Cheers! Pez.

I've got the funnel with the strainer, but I don't use it- too much work by myself to constantly empty it. I just pour it all in- works fine

Sorry if I offended anyone. I have definite opinions, and a sense of humor that doesn't always translate in this format.

I USED to primary in both carboys and better bottles.

The reasons NOT to are:

They suck to clean.
They have a narrow opening.
I see no need to "see" fermentation. Sometimes it is best not to see. Most of the "infected" threads are due to people "seeing" fermentation.

I went back to BUCKETS because:

They are easy to clean (relatively).
They have a HUGE opening to pour my wort through, reasonably aerating it.
They hide the disgusting things yeast do.

After my initial fascination with fermentation (2 years or so), I tired of cleaning krausen and hops out of a 2 inch opening.

JUST TRYING TO HELP.

Wish I'd seen the light 2 years sooner.

Wasnt gonna chime in but nobody else with a keggle did. The ball valve with a barb on the end makes it really convenient to just attach a sanitized piece of tubing to it and put the other end into the carboy. Straining is optional and it takes a little longer than dumping but it works for me.