First attempt at racking to secondary

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StankAle

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I have a few noob questions that I hope will get answered..and yes I searched first:
I am working on a newcastle clone from midwest supplies.


1. Is it at all bad to move the primary fermenter? I ask because I have my primary in the basement. I would like to bring it upstairs to rack it to the secondary, but I am worried about stirring up the sediment on the bottom of the bucket.


2. This will be the first time I use my glass carboy. Should I clean the carboy with soap and water before using the one step? I hear that this might not be necessary. I was thinking about rinsing the carboy with hot water and then soaking and swirling a one step solution in it. I will probably rinse it after with tap water but that makes me nervous as tap water probably has contaminants in it.

Thanks for the help. The hardest part of this hobby is waiting, wondering, and well....waiting!!!
 
Some people move their vessel the morning of...I generally do it gently about 15 minutes ~ 30 minutes before and let anything mixed up settle back down.

No harm in rinsing out the carboy with some mild soapy water as long as it is thoroughly rinsed out before hitting it with the onestep. Don't rinse after using onestep.
 
No problem moving the carboy, just give it time to settle back down.

Personally I would rinse the carboy at the very least, would be better to wash it. Most folks recommend using Oxyclean or PBW powder rather than soap to clean brewing equipment as soap can leave a residue that could contribute off flavors to your beer (I heard one once about a beer that tasted like lemon pledge, apparently, it was lemon pledge).

Also, (and I hate to mention this for fear of controversy, please people, let's not go there just this once) you might want to consider upgrading to Star San or Iodophor for sanitizing, both are cheaper than One Step and are rated as sanitizers by the FDA whereas One Step is not.
 
One Step isn't a sanitizer? How come all the bags I buy of it say "No Rinse Sanitizer"

what am I missing?
 
Washing with soap and water is discouraged, but if the carboy is actually DIRTY then soap and a carboy brush will do wonders. :)

My kit was a hand-me-down from a friend... It had sat in a basement for a good nine years and had the dust cakes and all.

THAT needed a scrub with dish soap, a bleach soak and once i was SURE all that was out, I proceeded to wash and sanitize with one step.

As long as it's clean, debris and residue free, you can sanatize it and use it. :)

Good luck!
 
It's amazing what B-Brite will do to a dirty carboy, with just a couple hours of sitting.


ie..
I had a box of bottle go unwashed after being "emptied"... Unfortunately, to add to the pain, they had also been outside in the sun and humidity.
After about a month of sitting, I found them last week. I kicked myself, cursed alot, then checked the bottles. Yup, sediment was nice and caked onto the bottom.
I mixed up a batch of B-Brite, filled the bottles and soaked them real good.
Later that day, I emptied them and they were perfect. I hit them with a bottle brush taking a better safe then sorry method, but still.
 
malkore said:
One Step isn't a sanitizer? How come all the bags I buy of it say "No Rinse Sanitizer"

what am I missing?

It does work as a sanitizer; however, the company that makes it has not paid to undergo all the testing required by the FDA in order for it to be labeled a sanitizer. Also, it will only sanitize a surface that is already clean.

(I knew I should have kept my mouth shut about that.)
 
Ok everyone I racked the beer from primary pail to secondary glass carboy. I used an auto siphon and was as careful as I could be.
On thing that concerns me though:
While siphoning, and when the carboy was a little over half full, i accidentally pulled the siphon out of the pail causing air to get into the siphon. This air traveled into the carboy and traveled up bubbling as it escaped from the carboy. I know that its crucial to keep oxygen out of the beer at this stage. I really hope I didn't ruin my first batch.

I did try a little bit of it and it tasted ok to me. I certainly hope this little mishap didnt ruin anything.
 
You'll be fine. I think the general consensus is to not airate it as you do when filling up the primary with cold water. The odd bubble shouldn't make too much difference.

Happy brewing!

Silva
 
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