Does air space in the carboy effect the beer?

[satyrbassist]

I want to experiment with a couple flavors using the same beer as a base. And i thought id split it in the interest of time and money saved. Would it have any negative effects to split one batch into two 5 gallon secondarys? Or do I need to do 2 full batches. Or maybe smaller fermenting vessels? Any input would be greatly appreciated

 

[freisste]

In general, headspace in the secondary is bad. That is precisely why carboys are shaped the way they are - the small neck minimizes air contact. In primary it doesn't matter because the beer produces enough CO2 to push out the oxygen.

To get around the issue, you could purge your carboy with CO2 prior to racking beer over, then it would be fine.

 

[satyrbassist]

In general, headspace in the secondary is bad. That is precisely why carboys are shaped the way they are - the small neck minimizes air contact. In primary it doesn't matter because the beer produces enough CO2 to push out the oxygen.

To get around the issue, you could purge your carboy with CO2 prior to racking beer over, then it would be fine.

Aaahhh. So I have to worry about o2. I didn't think of that. Thanks!

 

[unionrdr]

I'm always leary of excessive head space. You have to count on the fermenting beer to entirely fill all that space to absorb the o2 & go out the airlock. The smallest I've ever gone was 5 gallons (about 19L) in a 27L vessle.
Then into my bottling bucket which has a spigot & airlock grommet for a secondary. And it's listed as some 7.9 gallon capacity. So Head space in secondary is more critical,as you can't count on dissolved co2 to fill a large head space adequately. Got lucky & no pellicles so far. But now that I have a 6 gallon Better Bottle,that last gallon is in a tappered shape that would stand to hold less air. So that might be better.

 

[MedicMang]

I transferred a beer into my secondary vessel once. Had a solid gallon or so of headspace. Came back next morning and BAM! Pellicle.

Like others have said, as long as you can toss some co2 in there before you put your airlock on, you will be fine. O2 in the vessel just speeds up the "infection" process. If you plan on doing these experiments often, go ahead and grab yourself some 3 gallon carboys.

 

[Demus]

Just skip secondary and ur good. Problem solved....

 

[satyrbassist]

I thought about skipping secondary but I have done secondary on all my beers and have had great success. I don't want to "mess with the soup" too much at one time just in case I have problems and its easier to pinpoint. I think the smaller carboys sounds the most appealing to me. Thank u for all the help!

 

[Beernik]

I've always been of the opinion that oxidization from excessive headspace in a secondary is one of the brewing boogymen that exists but rarely ever materialize in your beer/wine.

I've had 4 gallons in a 6 gallon carboy. I've had 3 gallons in a 5 gallon carboy. None got infected. None were oxidized.

 

[freisste]

Maybe I'm just dumb, but how does headspace affect likelihood of infection?

 

[Demus]

Maybe I'm just dumb, but how does headspace affect likelihood of infection?

Not necessarily the headspace, unless of course you transfer in a very dusty place. It's more the transfer itself opening up one more opportunity. Good practices obviously prevent this. I've personally done secondary on at least 20 batches, and have seen no detrimental effect since I gave up the practice. I even did a schwarz bier (lager) that was in the primary for two months and it was awesome. ...