experimenting with my bottling bucket as a secondary....

[ahoym8e]

My second brew, a Kolsh, has successfully finished primary fermentation, and I am toying with the idea of using my bottling bucket as a secondary.

I know people say that buckets don't make good secondaries because of the headspace in them, so my plan is to boil up a little water + sugar and put it in the secondary along with the beer. I am hoping that it will create a little more CO2 to lay on the top of my beer, shielding it from the air. I plan un just using the fermenting bucket top with the airlock on the other bucket.

In a week or two, I'll boil up the priming sugar, put it in the other bucket, carefully transfer the beer back, mix it up and bottle.

any reason this might be a bad idea?

 

[todd_k]

extended time in plastic is not good for the beer. how long did you plan on having in the secondary? I've read any more than 2 weeks in plastic is not recommended.

 

[ahoym8e]

^ that's something i'd never heard before.... makes me glad I asked. makes me wonder a litttle about the storebought or ballpark beer in plastic bottles.

I was just thinking of getting the beer off the yeast cake, and letting the crap settle out of it a little while longer. maybe 4-5 days?

just thinking, not doing yet.

 

[david_42]

As someone who has done all of my brewing in plastic, I can only say BUNK! The plastic used in fermenters is not PET. After transfering your ale to a secondary the outgassing will provide enough CO2 to blanket the ale.

We have award-winning homebrewers up here that mash in plastic, ferment in plastic and use plastic buckets as secondaries.

Storing ale in soda bottles doesn't work because PET will let oxygen through.

 

[ajf]

Bottling buckets usually have a spigot. Fermenting buckets don't. It's much easier to bottle from a bucket with a spigot than without.

Perhaps it's time to buy a carboy. They cost more than buckets initially but I find they are cheaper in the long run, and they free up the buckets for sanitizing (which I find very useful).

-a.

 

[ahoym8e]

I moved my fermenting bucket around a little to do the FG test, and after reading a FG of like 1.016, I set the bucket back into the tub of water. I peeked in through the airlock hole, and the Krausen has not yet settled back into the liquid. Anyway, even though thought I had avoided all jostling while moving the bucket around, I must have done something, becasue the airlock is bubbling again! not like on the 3rd day, but maybe 3-4 glurks per minute.

I drank my gravity testing sample (of course), and it tasted ok. not blow me away good like the last ("lager a like") ale, but good. A little green.

I'm gonna leave it in the fermenter for a few more days and see if I can't "empty" some more Grolsh bottles.

Bought another ingredients kit form DeFalco's here in Houston. German Wheat beer this time. They seem like real knowlegable guys. Now where am I gonna get all the bottles I'll be needing soon???

 

[homebrewer_99]

RE-EDITED:

I did not read all the other input,

The reason for a secondary is to allow the brew to become more clear and allow time for blending and maturation.

When you rack from a secondary to a bottling bucket you are racking a more clear beer to a bucket you can add priming sugar to.

Simple.

 

[casebrew]

If you don't want to buy a secondary, I's say to transfer the beer to the bottling bucket, dump the trub, and put the beer back into the primary. Later, use the bottling bucket as--- a bottling bucket!

But I don't think you would gain anything over leaving it in primary for 3 weeks, then rack to bottling bucket and bottle it. My studying on it seems to say that a few weeks with the trub won't hurt- it's the few months of lagering that you don't want beer on the trub.

 

[ahoym8e]

I have decided against secodary fermentation. I am waiting for my airlock to stop bubbling (been 9 days now!) and bottle.

spoke with some locals, and they all say secondary is overrated.

thanks for the input.