Can you secondary into individual 1 gallon jugs and split the batch?

[Devasin]

Hello,

So I was just the recipient of 6-7 cases of old barn bottles from a homebrewer that past away about 7 years ago and in one of the boxes was four 1 gallon jugs he used for wine. Now my question is can I ferment in a primary and then split the batch in to the various jugs to finish off the fermenting? Also would it be wise to dry hop or add anything in these jugs if it possible?

P.S. side question. How would you go about cleaning old barn bottles with all sorts of stuff inside them?

 

[rupert130]

Yes it's possible. I regularly do it when experimenting with hops, fruit, spices, etc. I would soak them in a warm oxyclean/PBW solution for 24 hrs then rinse and see where you're at. The oxyclean is amazing at lifting grime from my carboys

 

[Aristotelian]

I don't see why not. You could also divide the batch before fermentation and use them as primaries. You could add different dry hops etc without transferring to secondary.

 

[DevilNuts]

I've done this with mead, to test out different spices. Didn't notice any real difference between them otherwise as a result of separating them (with the exception of the juniper - those hit the ceiling when we opened them).

 

[Calder]

I find gallon carboys/demijons extremely useful. I have about 25 of them. I prefer the ones with dark glass.

- Split batches (primary or secondary)

- Take a gallon and add some sour dregs or brett to it and store for a year.

- I use them for starters.

- The odd gallon of cider with a little slurry works great.

I'd clean them out as best as you can, and then soak for a week in Oxy/PBW to remove any crud, then follow with a soak in a mild bleach solution for a week to make sure everything is gone/dead. Rinse with hot water and sanitize and use as you would any other fermenter.