Bartmannj
Active Member
Hi Everyone,
After weeks of reading posts here, I finally decided to register and ask some questions directly.
I'm in the process of making a Belgian White at home. This is the first time that I'm using specialty grains, actual hops (as opposed to a hopped extract), liquid yeast, and fermenting in a glass carboy. I decided to take the carboy route for primary because my last batch of mead spoiled in my bucket, and it's been impossible to get rid of the smell of spices and other sour smells. I initially planned to buy a 6.5-gallon carboy, but couldn't find one, so I went with a 6-gallon instead.
After about 20 hours, fermentation was getting out of control, and the yeast was beginning to get into the airlock. So, in a moment of panic, I quickly sanitized the bucket I had lying around, and racked about half of the wort into that. When finished, fermentation continued (and still does) without any problems in both container. After reading horror stories of exploding carboys, I figured I'd take a chance and divide my wort.
I'm planning to do a secondary fermentation of the two together in a 5-gallon carboy next week. Are there any dangers of a spoiled or off-tasting beer if I combine them? Obviously, I'm expecting something off because of the initial problem of not using the bucket. Should I skip secondary and bottle directly from the two separate batches? Is there a danger of too much oxygen in the two containers (they're both about half-way full)?
Thanks,
Bart
After weeks of reading posts here, I finally decided to register and ask some questions directly.
I'm in the process of making a Belgian White at home. This is the first time that I'm using specialty grains, actual hops (as opposed to a hopped extract), liquid yeast, and fermenting in a glass carboy. I decided to take the carboy route for primary because my last batch of mead spoiled in my bucket, and it's been impossible to get rid of the smell of spices and other sour smells. I initially planned to buy a 6.5-gallon carboy, but couldn't find one, so I went with a 6-gallon instead.
After about 20 hours, fermentation was getting out of control, and the yeast was beginning to get into the airlock. So, in a moment of panic, I quickly sanitized the bucket I had lying around, and racked about half of the wort into that. When finished, fermentation continued (and still does) without any problems in both container. After reading horror stories of exploding carboys, I figured I'd take a chance and divide my wort.
I'm planning to do a secondary fermentation of the two together in a 5-gallon carboy next week. Are there any dangers of a spoiled or off-tasting beer if I combine them? Obviously, I'm expecting something off because of the initial problem of not using the bucket. Should I skip secondary and bottle directly from the two separate batches? Is there a danger of too much oxygen in the two containers (they're both about half-way full)?
Thanks,
Bart