Carboy & Head space

[RandallFlag]

Hiya.

My first-ever batch is finishing up it's primary fermentation within the net 24 hours (best guess). I only have 6G carboys. If i rack my beer into one of these to let it settle for a couple more weeks, will the excess head space affect the beer quality?

I've made wine for years and the practice has always been to top up the carboy with a similar wine to eliminate as much head space as possible.

Happy to hear thoughts/suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[kh54s10]

I would not transfer to a 6 gallon carboy unless you can purge the headspace with co2. Just leave it in primary for 2-4 weeks then check for final gravity and if stable, bottle it.

 

[RandallFlag]

Ok. That makes sense. So will it be fine just sitting/aging in the primary for that long?

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[Potamus]

Absolutely do not top it off like you would with wine. I agree to leave it in primary the whole time. Secondary is mostly unnecessary unless you are adding fruit or are doing something long-term like a sour. I've left beers in the primary for two months with no ill effect.