Long term aging in primary after blowoff

[Rootski]

I have a few sours in the pipeline but don't have a ton of experience yet. Typically I have intended to let the beer remain in primary on the Roeselare. Last week I brewed a split sour/clean batch, added Roeselare to one carboy and 1214 to the other. The Roeselare carboy had closer to 5.5 gallons in a 6 gallon carboy since I missed my volume high (efficiency was higher than expected). Krausen came up and out a little, so I added some fermcap and it settled back down. I cleaned up the outside of the carboy and put the airlock back on. Active fermentation is beginning to settle down, but the krausen residue is blocking any vision into the carboy. I realize that this isn't a huge concern for the beer, but I'm wondering what everyone thinks. I would not be able to see a pellicle if one formed without removing the airlock.

I have a few thoughts:
Should I leave it like it is for a year?
Should I top off the carboy to the neck with the clean version of the beer?
Should I transfer to secondary for long term aging? I only have glass carboys free at the moment.

 

[Brett3rThanU]

I'm interested in hearing this as well. I have a split 10 gallon batch that's in the same situation and originally planned to just leave it for a year, however ended up racking 1 off the better bottle into a 5 gallon glass carboy because I needed the Better Bottle. From what I've read it's fine to leave as is.

 

[sweetcell]

i would top up with the 1214 half. this should help dissipate the gunk on the walls and will push the level up to the neck of the BB which appears to be relatively clean.

you'll be fine even if you can't see inside. give the beer enough time (9-12 months, or more), then go by taste and hydrometer readings.

 

[Rootski]

i would top up with the 1214 half. this should help dissipate the gunk on the walls and will push the level up to the neck of the BB which appears to be relatively clean.

you'll be fine even if you can't see inside. give the beer enough time (9-12 months, or more), then go by taste and hydrometer readings.

I was leaning towards topping up too. I'll wait until bottling day of the clean beer in 2 or 3 more weeks. The problem is, the 1214 batch is only about 2 or 2.5 gallons so I'm stealing clean beers that I was pretty excited about. Oh well, if it's awesome I'll have to make it again.

 

[Brett3rThanU]

Sorry to piggy back on your thread, but I was under the assumption once fermentation completes there's just co2 in there so assuming you don't open it, why would you need to top it off? Should I really be doing my sours with a completely full Better Bottle + fermcap?

 

[Rootski]

I think my beer would turn out fine if I left it just like it is and didn't touch it for 9-12 months, and I might end up doing just that based on further feedback here. My issue is really just cosmetic with the crud that stuck to the carboy. I'd like to see the pellicle if one forms, but I know it's not required.

 

[sweetcell]

Sorry to piggy back on your thread, but I was under the assumption once fermentation completes there's just co2 in there so assuming you don't open it, why would you need to top it off? Should I really be doing my sours with a completely full Better Bottle + fermcap?

just like with clean beers, there is raging debate about secondary vs. no secondary. there are benefits and drawbacks to both approaches, and folks make very good beer with both.

the issue is that bung + air lock is not a perfect seal. immediately after primary fermentation there is almost only CO2 in there but over many months of aging O2 will get in. more headspace = more room for O2, also headspace = wider surface area for O2 to interact with the beer.

proponents of aging in primary point out that anything that you do to deal with the above issue (topping up, racking to smaller secondary, etc) will result in exposure to O2 and that could cause more issues than just leaving it in primary. my opinion on this (and Tonsmiere's too) is that the exposure during racking is of a short duration. O2 does its damage over the long haul. toss in a small spoonful of sugar when going to secondary, that will create more than enough CO2 to purge.

Should I really be doing my sours with a completely full Better Bottle + fermcap?

easier way of filling a secondary is to do primary in a 6.5 gal carboy (or bucket), then rack to a 5 gal carboy for secondary.

alternately, do primary in 2 different carboys, then rack one carboy into the other for aging.

 

[Rootski]

I came up with a solution to the cosmetic problem. I slowly and gently tipped the carboy and then tipped it back. Since the crud hadn't had time to dry out yet, some of it fell back down. I still may top up since I have a clean version of the beer.

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