Easy oxygen free racking (I hope)

[salamastre]

First time poster, long time lurker.

I am pretty much a noob to beer brewing, with only 1 finished batch and 2 on the way, but I have a lot of experience with planted aquariums, fish breeding and gourmet mushroom growing. These hobbies are a lot more similar than most people think (Sanitation? I've sanitized a whole bathroom to make clean spore cultures).

All the CO2 that gets 'wasted' during primary fermentation makes me sad. I've had elaborate setups to supply CO2 to the plants in an aquarium and to lower the relative oxygen concentration to promote mushroom growth.

I decided to use the waste CO2 from a primary fermenter to prevent oxidation during the racking of another primary to a secondary.

I actually tried what I am going to show, it may work, it may not, but it is easy, free, and I like to experiment. I hope it will minimize oxygenation during racking, and it could be used for bottling or any other oxygen sensitive part of the process. It may not be an original idea, but I could not find any mention here.

In few words:

1- Use the CO2 from a vigorous primary to displace the oxygen (in the air that is) in the secondary.

2- CO2 is heavier than air, so it should remain in the bottom.

3- Once you think there is a nice layer of CO2, proceed with your normal racking. There should be a nice layer of CO2 protecting your precious wort from the evil atmosphere.

4- If you dont have another primary bubbling during racking, you can create the CO2 with lemon juice and baking soda, a yeast starter, from a pressurized tank or from your dog's breath.

5- Enjoy.

If at bottling time I have a bubbling fermenter, I may put some CO2 in some bottles to see if it makes a difference.

I hope this is useful. If this is doomed to fail, an old idea, just stupid or boring, please let me know.

Thank you for your time.

 

[nebben]

I would think that would probably work. My dogs probably produce enough CO2 (and drool) to run a full sized brewery. But then again, the methane they make could run a power plant too.... Nice drawings by the way!

 

[bad67z]

Impressive first post. I like the artwork and data.

 

[salamastre]

Thanks for the compliments

I just like to tinker and experiment. I am too new to this to be able to tell if anything I do will make a difference, that is why I like feedback.

 

[jaobrien6]

Unless you have a lot of headspace in the carboy, you're going to have to worry about more than just CO2 making it into the bucket. People use blowoff hoses for a reason. I'd be more worried about the bottling bucket staying sanitized during whatever efforts you're going through to get CO2 in there than I would be about some possible oxidation. But maybe I don't know any better.

 

[salamastre]

This is not speculation, I already did it, but did not take pictures.

There was nothing I could see coming out of the hose, there is about a gallon of head-space in the carboy.

But if anything else was coming out, would it not be the same kind of stuff I have in the other bucket I am racking?

 

[ajwillys]

It seems like it would work, but I certainly would remove the 'easy' part from the title. Easy is using a CO2 bottle, dropping the hose in the bottle, and letting it run at 1-2 psi for a little while, which is what I do. Another really easy way is to use the CO2 to force the beer out, rather than gravity.

There are a few methods described on the Better Bottle site that are similar to your technique that are worth exploring also. I've tried a couple and they work really well.

Click the below link, then click "How-to Tips (left navigation panel), then "Racking, Carboy->Carboy"

http://better-bottle.com/products_master.html

 

[billc68]

For years I brewed without ever purging the carboy, but since setting up a kegging system, I have tried it once or twice. How important is this step? it is obviously not in any of the "kit instructions".
Does make a noticeable difference?

I have considered dropping a cube of dry ice in my carboy or bucket, hoever you would need to know it was clean ice.

 

[salamastre]

Dry ice! Why did I not think of it. That would be so easy and you get a visual of how full the bucket is. I can get it practically for free a few blocks from my house.

 

[billc68]

I could put a cube of dry ice in my bucket in a small bowl in case there are contaminates in it, no problem, but what about purging O2 from my carboy how could I keep it from actually touching my carboy?

 

[remilard]

I could put a cube of dry ice in my bucket in a small bowl in case there are contaminates in it, no problem, but what about purging O2 from my carboy how could I keep it from actually touching my carboy?

Pour the gas in. It is quite a bit heavier than air and can be poured like a liquid through air.

 

[salamastre]

What I did for mushrooms was to put the CO2 generating stuff (fermentation, dry ice, baking soda) in a tupperware with a hole in the cap, pass a hose through the cap and into a bubbler (a soda bottle half full of sanitizer with two hoses) and from there to the grow chamber. You could omit the bubbler and run the hose to the bucker / carboy.

You could also pour it in, which would be a lot easier, take a look at this video, they are pouring CO2 from dry ice into a beaker.

 

[throwbookatface]

^ This is a great idea. Keep the bubbling/sanitizing unit small, and it should serve as a nice bubbling monitor showing you the CO2's progress.