Carboy Size

[BangorBrewer]

I recently brewed a 3 gallon batch of Pale Ale and after taking a hydrometer reading on consecutive days, it appears it is finished fermenting.

My question is this:

I only have one 3 gallon carboy, but would very much like to secondary this beer: what are my options?

Would there be too much air space in a 5 gallon carboy?

Are there any other ways to clear the beer out? What is crash cooling? Is this an option for me?

Thanks

 

[DeathBrewer]

crash cool it if you can, but IMO a secondary is not necessary, just leave it in the primary for a couple more weeks and it'll clear.

 

[Kevin Dean]

Secondary (sometimes called "Brite Tank" or "Clearing Tank") is something that will get mixed results. Some people swear that you can't make anything but murky beer without using them. Some people claim you can make crystal clear beer without them.

The short answer here is: you can still get great results keeping your beer in the primary for the time you'd put it in the secondary. Until you're pushing 6 weeks or more, there's little risk of any off flavours developing.

Crash cooling is basically chilling your beer quickly while it's in secondary. This causes yeast to go dormant and fall out of suspension as well as taking some heavier particles with it. If you've got the space in your fridge, it may be an option for you. Again, this isn't required to make good beer, it's contribution is primarily aestetic.

 

[Donasay]

If you have kegs, you can purge a keg with CO2 and then fill the keg with the beer and allow it to condition under pressure. If the headspace is purged with CO2 it does not matter to much that there is a lot of room.

 

[david_42]

Crash cooling is just cooling a brew rapidly (like over night). Depending on where you live and the time of year, you can do this just by setting the carboy in a garage or outside.

I'd just leave it in the carboy until it clears (2-3 weeks).