Help me plan this out - Primary / Secondary / Corny gameplan(s)

[Naptown]

I have started my first homebrew and have some questions. (I have previously homebrewed, but I have taken 5+ years off). I picked up a Sierra Nevada "clone" at my LBSS. I have approximately 5.5 gallons in the primary (which is a 6 gal glass carboy). I used to use a plastic bucket as the primary, then to the glass, then to a bottling bucket.

Things have changed - I bought a kegerator and 2 corny kegs. Should I skip just the secondary? Should I buy a 5 gallon carboy to use as a secondary? Should I leave it in the primary for 3 - 4 weeks and just siphon directly to a corny? Should I use one of the cornys as a secondary?

I figure you guys can give me some suggestions on what to do since you know what equipment I have. Thank you.

 

[wailingguitar]

Primary, crash, keg works just fine. I like to use some gelatin finings (recent convert, totally sold) between cold crash and kegging for beer as bright as I used to get using a DE filter in commercial settings

 

[cactussam]

You should be fine without the secondary unless you plan to dry hop or add fruit or something later into the mix. Once fermentation is complete, just cold crash, siphon into your corny, then carbonate and drink

 

[Frodo]

I don't cold crash - the beer usually ends up pretty clear after 3 - 4 weeks. If it's not clearing I sometimes use gelatin (in the primary if I don't plan on re-using the yeast).

 

[Naptown]

I don't have an available refrigerator that my 6 gallon carboy would fit into. Can I just let fermentation end in the carboy and siphon to a corny? Anything special or different that I need to do?

 

[duckmanco]

I don't have an available refrigerator that my 6 gallon carboy would fit into. Can I just let fermentation end in the carboy and siphon to a corny? Anything special or different that I need to do?

Nope, that will work just fine. Crash cooling is neat and all, but the beer will crash cool as well when you keg it. I only secondary for oaking/bourboning and fruit additions. Dry hopping gets done in primary.

 

[Rivenin]

There are a ton of us that use only primary. No secondary

 

[Naptown]

There are a ton of us that use only primary. No secondary

So, will this be OK? I have a 6 gallon carboy (with ~5.25 - 5.5 gallons of brew) set up with a growler airlock. I know oxygen isn't going to go back into the carboy, but will this setup be fine to just leave like this? The image was taken right after aeration and pitching - it looks different now.

 

[Yooper]

Yes that's fine. You can dryhop right in the carboy, also, if you're dryhopping. Once the beer clears a bit you can rack right to the keg.

 

[Rivenin]

^^^^ yep. what yooper said
for the majority of us that do not do a secondary, we wait until the beer clears up before doing anything with it (usually around a month or so).
if you want to dry hop, my rule of thumb is about 2 weeks or so after it's done (when the krausen has dropped).

and that is setup like most of us with a blow off, well i use a deep cup lol, but that works just as long as it's deep enough to hold the tube and not fall out.