schadelh
Active Member
So, from what I have gathered you want to use the smallest possible carboy that will contain your batch when you rack to secondary for settling/secondary fermentation/bulk conditioning. You use the smallest carboy that will fit the batch because you don't want the oxygen in the headspace to oxidize your product.
I am about to brew up a 5 gal. batch of partial grain imperial stout, and the recipe requires the use of a secondary. My (currently only) glass carboy is 6.5 gal, leaving 1.5+ gal of headspace in the top of the carboy. I was thinking, to displace the oxygen in the headspace, that I could "blow in" some N2O (nitrous oxide, also known as whipped cream propellant, or "whipits"). Would this be a prudent procedure to help eliminate the risk of oxidation? if not, should I just buy and boil a gallon or 2 of marbles to fill in the rest of the space? or should I just RDWHAHB and not worry about the 1.5gal of air in the secondary?
advice is much appreciated
I am about to brew up a 5 gal. batch of partial grain imperial stout, and the recipe requires the use of a secondary. My (currently only) glass carboy is 6.5 gal, leaving 1.5+ gal of headspace in the top of the carboy. I was thinking, to displace the oxygen in the headspace, that I could "blow in" some N2O (nitrous oxide, also known as whipped cream propellant, or "whipits"). Would this be a prudent procedure to help eliminate the risk of oxidation? if not, should I just buy and boil a gallon or 2 of marbles to fill in the rest of the space? or should I just RDWHAHB and not worry about the 1.5gal of air in the secondary?
advice is much appreciated