carboy question

[snowultra]

the person i bought my brew supplies said that after 3 days i should put it into my carboy and let it sit there, before bottleing. he also told me to follow the directions of the kit, which say to leave it in bucket, and bottle it from there.

should i follow the directions of the kit or the guy from the store?

 

[libs]

Are you using a ale pail type setup for your primary?

 

[Yooper]

I think "Neither!". Alot of people around here recommend the 1-2-3 method; 1 week in the primary, 2 weeks in the secondary (carboy), then 3 weeks in bottles.

3 days is way too soon to transfer it. The best way to know is to take sg readings. When the beer reaches the final gravity, it's done! Then it takes a while to clear and condition.

 

[snowultra]

thank you chick, i thought 3 days was way to soon to tranfer it. i will follow the 1-2-3 method.

 

[Moonpile]

1-2-3 covers 90% or more of the styles out there. What are you brewing?

 

[snowultra]

john bull brown ale beer kit

 

[Short Drive]

What kind of primary did they sell you? I went to the Purple Foot and they told me the same thing. But my primary looked like an 11 gal. white garbage pail. So i followed what they said and got it into the carboy as soon as the kreusen fell. About three days.

My first batch was a John Bull Brown Ale kit as well.

Where in Wisconsin are you located?

 

[Moonpile]

1-2-3 applies well to that style, though you might cheat and drink one two weeks after bottling and see what you think!

Really the things it doesn't apply to are easier to list:

1) higher gravity beers that might want longer in secondary and will need longer in bottles (sometimes MUCH longer)

2) beers with a lot of hops which might want to mellow out in secondary and bottles a bit longer.

3) hefeweizens which can be ready in as little as 10 to 14 days from brewing.

 

[snowultra]

i am in wawautosa, right by the milwaukee zoo. yes they sold me a white garbage pail as well. i dont think it matters what bucket looks like. so did you use the 3 day method?

this is my first batch, so im not that advanced moon. thank you for the 1,2,3, method advice though.

 

[Short Drive]

Ya since the was no airlock on the garbage pail thing I just moved it to the carboy with the air lock after the kreusen fell. I bought a couple of 6.5 gallon carboys for primarys as soon as I could afford them. The white garbage pail is now for grain storage.

 

[snowultra]

thank you for that answer, i guess thats what i should do. so the garage pail is a bad primary then. you need an airlock on the primary?

 

[woosterhoot]

thank you for that answer, i guess thats what i should do. so the garage pail is a bad primary then. you need an airlock on the primary?

Yeah if you don't have an airlock and the pail is sealed then the gas will build up and it could blow off the top. I have read in books about how some people brew without sealed fermenters, but that seems super sketchy to me. A 6 gallon food grade bucket or 6 gallon carboy would be a good primary fermenter. You can attach airlocks to both.

 

[Yooper]

You should have an airlock. If you have a cover for your pail, you could just make a hole in the lid that fits an airlock. I use a 7.5 gallon "ale pail" primary fermenter, with an airlock. You really should have an airlock on your brew at all times.

 

[Short Drive]

I bought the same set up as Snowultra and the cover is not that air tight. It looks like this:

It works though if you do as the seller told him and only leave it in for three days.

 

[lgtg]

I've seen this larger pail thing recently and it purposes to be (and I might not be right) that it's a ten gallon fermentor? I failed to see however, any lids outfitted for airlocks. Could this be what he's selling?

EDIT: here's what I saw;http://www.homebrewit.com/

Look on the right index for Fermenters and then at the bottom of that page, there are ten and twenty gallon pails.