Splitting batch into 1 gallon secondarys?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

West_Coast_Brew

New Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Location
North Bay
I have my first batch of brew in my primary bucket (501st Vader's Fist Chocolate Stout) and was thinking of breaking it into smaller batches in a secondary to try out some different flavors. (Was planning on making drewbage's method of cacao tinctures, one with and one without vanilla and maybe a raspberry one)

I was wondering what might be the best way to do that. I initially thought about getting 5 1 gallon apple juice jugs (and using the juice to make cider) but I was at Target last night and they had the basic Mr. Beer barrel kit on sale for $12 so I went a little overboard and bought the last 3 they had. So now I'm thinking about using those but have read they might not be airtight enough for secondary.

Any advice on if the Mr. Beer would be ok for a week of secondary or if I should try using gallon jugs?
 
I'm not very familiar with the Mr Beer equipment but from what I've seen it doesn't look like it has an airlock, also you dont want too much headspace in your secondary. The less contact with oxygen the better. I'd suggest picking up a few 1 gallon growlers and throw some airlocks on them?
 
You can definitely ferment in Mr. Beer containers, the Basic brewing guys do it all the time.

OTOH, 1G juice jars work great to split batches.
 
You can definitely ferment in Mr. Beer containers, the Basic brewing guys do it all the time.

OTOH, 1G juice jars work great to split batches.

I know that primary should work fine in the Mr. Beer, I was hoping to use the Mr. Beer barrel as a secondary for trying different flavors and am concerned there might be too much air getting in vs. a 1 gallon bottle.

I suppose I can just try it and see how it turns out.
 
I know that primary should work fine in the Mr. Beer, I was hoping to use the Mr. Beer barrel as a secondary for trying different flavors and am concerned there might be too much air getting in vs. a 1 gallon bottle.

I suppose I can just try it and see how it turns out.

You definitely don't want to oxidize your beer. If you're going to use as secondary, and can't purge it with CO2, then fill it all the way.
 
Back
Top