sediment ring in the top of my primary?

Hey all

Quick question. I just opened my primary (6 gallon plastic bucket) for the first time to take a look and smell, and found there is a ring of sediment about a half inch above the top of the foam. Should I mix this back in, or just leave it there? This batch was pitched Sunday night, had good airlock activity at 12 hours, which slowed at about the 36 hour mark. Now I get a bubble out of the lock about every 15-20 seconds. Recipe is an Irish Red. Yeast was a dry yeast that was pitches first into a 1.5 cup of warm sterile water, then pitched to my primary. Anything else I need to tell to help this get figured out let me know

Cheers
Jordan

That's kraussen residue my man. Leave it alone....doesn't need to go back in and will be there until you empty the beer into your bottles/kegs. Clean it out before the next batch though

Chump, thank you for the quick reply, I will leave it as it stands. I plan on moving this to my secondary (6 gallon better bottle) in about a weeks time. I'll be sure to clean/sterilize after this batch for sure!

Skeeter7424 said:

Chump, thank you for the quick reply, I will leave it as it stands. I plan on moving this to my secondary (6 gallon better bottle) in about a weeks time. I'll be sure to clean/sterilize after this batch for sure!

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Can I ask why you are moving it to secondary? As a new brewer you may have been told secondaries are THE standard practice. This is quite untrue these days.

After doing a bunch of reading here and other places, I ser where you are coming from on the no-secondary method. My idea was to go the long way the first time, then shorten it down as my batches got better and more consistent. I just wanted to form my own opinion of both schools of thought from my own experiences.

With that said, can a 6 gallon "better bottle" be used as a primary? If I do try the primary only method this would then allow me to have two batches fermenting at once!

Thanks for the feedback

Cheers
Jordan

If you use a secondary you want to reduce headspace as much as possible. A 5 gal container would be ideal to reduce the risk of oxidation.

Skeeter7424 said:

After doing a bunch of reading here and other places, I ser where you are coming from on the no-secondary method. My idea was to go the long way the first time, then shorten it down as my batches got better and more consistent. I just wanted to form my own opinion of both schools of thought from my own experiences.

With that said, can a 6 gallon "better bottle" be used as a primary? If I do try the primary only method this would then allow me to have two batches fermenting at once!

Thanks for the feedback

Cheers
Jordan

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The 6 gallon Better Bottle is what I use most for primary. I have a bucket but prefer the BBs. I haven't done a secondary since last summer.

Everyone is concerned about the headspace but I would also use the 6 gallon for secondary without fear. I do have a 5 gallon BB though. I have done 4 gallon batches in it.

While not necessary, I have found that a secondary will definitely get me a clearer beer. I also recommend it for long term storage, but for most beers, a 2 week primary is good enough.

Skeeter7424 said:

After doing a bunch of reading here and other places, I ser where you are coming from on the no-secondary method. My idea was to go the long way the first time, then shorten it down as my batches got better and more consistent. I just wanted to form my own opinion of both schools of thought from my own experiences.

With that said, can a 6 gallon "better bottle" be used as a primary? If I do try the primary only method this would then allow me to have two batches fermenting at once!

Thanks for the feedback

Cheers
Jordan

Click to expand...

I can totally dig the idea of trying everything. Most things though you may want to wait on. Maybe later down the road you do a 10 gallon batch and leave half in primary till bottling and the other half you use a secondary and see which is better. Starting out you may want to eliminate unnecessary complications. There is no real advantage to using a secondary on a "normal" beer but there can be significant disadvantages.

And yes, a 6 gal BB can well be used as a primary. You might want to think about going the blow off tube route.

Holy wow. Thank you guys for all the info and insight!