Possible Oxidation Issue in Secondary!!!

[JimE]

Hopefully I don't have a problem. Here's the poop. Sunday morning I was still having some bubbling in my airlock, about every 5 minutes. I wanted to put this in a secondary. Unfortunately I splashed just a little bit when racking. I checked the gravity; it was 1.010. That is the estimate OG for the Northern English Brown Ale (AG).

The carboy has about 1/2 to 1 quart of airspace. 6 hours later I saw no fermentation action in the carboy. I was concerned about oxidation, so I added 1.5 Tbs of DME (yep, risk of infection with that). This morning I can see CO2 bubbles on the surface and some airlock action. Also the heat from fermentation has caused a little fogging in the carboy. So I now have no O2 in the airspace, only CO2.

Do you think I have a significant oxidation issue?

 

[slowbie]

Short answer: RDWHAHB

Long answer:

You didn't need to add the DME. A small amount of splashing when racking is difficult to avoid. And the headspace was nothing to be concerned about for something that (presumably) isn't going to be in secondary for very long. I made an English pale ale that was in secondary for two weeks with over a gallon of headspace and it has no signs of oxidation. Headspace is more of an issue if you have a barleywine or something similar that is going to bulk age for months.

Honestly, the DME is a much bigger issue, but people have gotten away with much worse with no ill effects, so I wouldn't worry about it because chances are very good that you're fine. At this point you have the alcohol and the hops working against many possible infections.

 

[malkore]

Yeah, no need for the DME.
And why are you gauging fermentation by the airlock? Hydrometer is the ONLY method of knowing if something is fermenting.
I've had mead in secondary for 6 months burp the airlock. Doesn't mean it fermented anything. It just means trapped CO2 was released via the airlock, which is the airlocks ONLY FUNCTION.

it really sounds like you are rushing the beer to secondary when you don't need to. definitely need to RDWAHAHB

 

[JimE]

Yeah, no need for the DME.
And why are you gauging fermentation by the airlock? Hydrometer is the ONLY method of knowing if something is fermenting.
I've had mead in secondary for 6 months burp the airlock. Doesn't mean it fermented anything. It just means trapped CO2 was released via the airlock, which is the airlocks ONLY FUNCTION.

it really sounds like you are rushing the beer to secondary when you don't need to. definitely need to RDWAHAHB

I alway rely on the hydrometer to tell if fermentation is complete. I needed my primary so I had to move the beer. That was rushing it. Since the hydro read about what was supposed to, I went ahead and racked. I'm leaving the beer in the secondary for a couple of weeks, and I check the hydrometer again then.

 

[pkeeler]

Racking to the secondary will usually cause enough CO2 to come out of solution to purge the airspace in a secondary fermenter.

While an airlock bubbling is not as accurate as a hydrometer, it is perfectly fine for judging when primary fermentation is substantially done (collapse of the krausen being another). The only thing that could mess you up there is a quick drop in temp., which would reduce CO2 bubbling and yeast activity for awhile.

As long as you get your racking hose to the bottom of the secondary, oxidation will not be an issue. Just don't splash it in.

 

[liquiditynerd]

+1 on patience, heres to hoping you splashed some yeast in there to clean up it up some. I just bottled a light amber (LME) that sat in the 2nd and started bubbling a month later after it warmed up a bit. Post back some results when you get a taste!

 

[JimE]

As long as you get your racking hose to the bottom of the secondary, oxidation will not be an issue. Just don't splash it in.

Yeah, that's the rub in this case. I stepped out of my routine. Nomally, I rack with the primary on the counter into a bottling bucket/secondary that is on a chair. I forgot about that this time and racked to the carboy that was on the floor. It splashed for the couple of seconds it took me move the carboy into the chair.

I tend to be a perfectionist (how stupid is that), and I just got a little frustrated. In an effort to relieve that frustration and relax, I took 8 homebrews over to my neighbors to share. Had a good time, and I'm running a little slow this morning.

 

[conpewter]

You'll be fine, a bit of spashing happens but won't affect the batch. I wouldn't do the DME again, as mentioned not needed and it is a possible infection source (though probably unlikely). You are good to go. Oh btw I think you meant FG (Final Gravity) not OG (Original Gravity) as I don't think I want to drink a beer with an OG of 1.010 (isn't that what Bud Select 55's OG is? j/k)

 

[JimE]

You'll be fine, a bit of spashing happens but won't affect the batch. I wouldn't do the DME again, as mentioned not needed and it is a possible infection source (though probably unlikely). You are good to go. Oh btw I think you meant FG (Final Gravity) not OG (Original Gravity) as I don't think I want to drink a beer with an OG of 1.010 (isn't that what Bud Select 55's OG is? j/k)

Yep I'm not a fan of that light of a beer!