just 1 carboy

[none111]

i have 1 carboy just wanted to know is i could scifer beer out of carboy into bucket then clean carboy then scifer beer back in carboy for more seddling or would i just be wasting time?

 

[WAGNER BREWING]

What type of beer is it? Not a bad idea, other than a couple of thoughts. If you siphon the beer (which is better than pouring) into the bucket and then again into a carboy, its exposing it to air (not a lot) but runs the risk of it getting infected, but on the bright side, the chances are rather slim. Another thing, if your carboy that you have is 6 - 6.5 gal, there is a lot of head space (air) in the top of it, which could, not will, but could cause bad juju. These are just some thoughts. Again I dont know your situation, because it might not matter. Good luck to ya, and all in all if you want to, go for it and Rock on!:rockin:

 

[none111]

the beer i`m making is a pale ale

 

[the_bird]

You probably could, although there is a risk each time you move the beer, plus leaving it out while you clean the carboy. Unless this is a really high gravity pale ale, you'd probably be ok simply leaving it in the primary for two, two and a half weeks, then bottling. You don't NEED to use a secondary, it's definately preferred, but I'd almost be inclined to forgo it if it means having to rack twice.

The better solution long-term is to drop $10 on a food-grade bucket to use as your primary fermenter, then reserve the carboy for use as your secondary (your clearing tank).

 

[RoaringBrewer]

Yeah, with the price of carboys ($20) and buckets ($10) so cheap, just invest in one or the other. If you ruin one batch of beer by taking this double-siphon method, you just lost $30 anyway...

 

[Bobby_M]

Of course, then you really get obsessed and start buying way too many carboys. I started with two buckets and a 5gal better bottle and I just ordered another 5gal and a 6gal better bottle so I can actually watch the primary ferment. It's a sickness!

Actually, I just think I'm psyched about lagers so they inherently eat up secondaries.

 

[RoaringBrewer]

Can you purchase 6.5 Gal. better bottles? I was considering this, if so... I like to watch the ferment too.

 

[dantodd]

Hi None,

As the bird said, secondary is not needed. This is especially true of an Pale Ale.

If you don't have a bottling wand I would strongly suggest your drop the $3 on one. They are a huge help. As long as you are at the LHBS you can also pick up an extra bucket w/ spigot for bottling. The bottling bucket is very good because you can incorporate your priming sugar well without aerating the beer and with the spigot you won't have to start/keep a siphon running while bottling. It also is a good thing to dry hop Pale ales, as long as you're at the store!

One final note. Don't suck on the hose to start your siphon. That is one of the easiest ways to infect a beer.

 

[Bobby_M]

I think the better bottles only come in 5 or 6gal, but I don't anticipate a problem since I'm going to use a blowoff instead of a traditional 3piece airlock. I really like to control the ferment temps and keep them at the low end so vigorous fermentation is unlikely.