Question about Secondary Fermentor

[boomtown25]

I am planning on doing my first batch of beer (Caribou Slobber) and have several questions:

1. I have done plenty of wine making so I have three 6 gallon carboys. The recipe calls for a 5 gallon carboy for the secondary fermenting vessel. I know that with wine, you want as little oxygen touching your liquid or it will ruin. will the extra area in my 6 gallon carboy ruin the beer or will I be fine using a 6 gallon carboy instead of the called for 5 gallon carboy?

2. Would I be better off just buying a 5 gallon carboy?

3. I am planning on buy a kettle. Will a 22 quart do just fine or will I be shooting myself in the foot only to turn around and buy a 7 gallon kettle for my next brew?

4. Any advice on a specific charging sugar or procedure to charge the bottles?

5. Can I freeze two gallon blocks of ice in sanitized tupperware and pour into the wort to cool it and then top off to 5 gallons after with water, or will this cool too fast or injury the wort in any way? (I figured this may be a quicker way to cool my wort while adding the necessary water to top off to 5 gallons.)

Thanks in advance!

 

[Gunfighter04]

1. your statement about o2 is correct, less headspace in the secondary is the best. If you have a co2 tank you can lay in a bed of co2 , or if you transfer before fermentation is complete, a co2 bed will build

2. Probably

3. Bigger is better.

4. use a priming calculator. http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

5. Many use that procedure with good results. getting the temp down as quickly as possible is best. (search the forums for "cold break" this will aid in clear beer, among other things

Now that I've answered the question, let me state. Unless you are dry hopping or adding something post-fermentation. Skip the secondary. and let it go 3 or 4 weeks in the primary then bottle.

 

[onipar]

I can answer some of your questions. I'm not sure about the first one (I have never gone secondary yet), but I've heard people say that it's a good idea to have as little headspace as possible in the secondary. I'm not sure if this is just a "good idea" or required.

If you *know* you'll eventually be going all grain, you may want to just bite the bullet and get a 8-10 gallon pot. If you're not sure yet, maybe getting a smaller pot would be okay for now. You can always use the extra pot too.

By charging, do you mean the sugar primer? Early on, with 5 gallon extract brews, a 5ounce package of corn sugar is used to bottle-carbonate. You first dissolve it in boiling water, then let it cool a bit. Then you pour it into your bottling bucket and rack your beer on top of that, so it mixes the sugar up without you having to stir (which would oxygenate it). Some say that a very very careful stir is a good idea to make sure the sugar is completely mixed in, others will say racking on top of it is enough to mix it in.

I've been told not to add ice to my wort to cool it down because there could be bacteria in the ice. But then, when doing a partial extract boil, I end up adding up to 3 gallons of my well water *anyway,* which is basically the same thing as adding some ice. Again, some will say not to do it, but if you're adding tap water anyway, I don't see why it matters. EDIT: Of course if you're using bottled water, that's another story.

Conversely, when you start doing full boils, you'll just use a wort chiller.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[lee_smn]

1. The extra head space will not ruin the beer, but oxidation could lead to off flavors.

2. Yes, but if you can't afford it right away don't freak out.

3. I would buy at least an 8 gallon pot, this will allow you to do full boils and can serve as hlt down the road. The five gallon kettle i bought at first rarely got used after i bought my keggle.

4. Boil a cup of DME in a quart of water (use calculator for exact amounts for style). Cool down, pour into sanitized bottling bucket, rack on top of that to mix it well, then bottle.

5. Sorry i'm not sure I can answer the last question.

 

[boomtown25]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like for now:

1. I will skip secondary fermentation
2. Buy a 7 gallon stainless steel pot
3. Use ice to cool wort and add water to wort
4. Use the 5 oz corn sugar with the kit per the instructions and pitch in my bottling bucket before I bottle.

One last question:
1. What technique is easiest to use when bottling? For instance, with wine, I have a wand that opens at the bottom when I press into the bottle. I usually fill to top and when I remove wand liquid drops about an inch from top. Is there an easier more effective "uniform" pour in the beer world?

 

[Gunfighter04]

Buy a bottling bucket, or just get a spigot if you have a 5 gal plastic pail. When you get ready to bottle. disolve your priming sugar into a small amount of water. Once it cools put it into the bottling bucket and rack from your primary into the bottling bucket. Use a piece of tube and connect it from the spigot to the racking cane. Fill the bottle completely. Once you remove the racking cane the correct amount of headspace will remain. Cap and wait patiently for the carbonation faeries to visit.

 

[cactussam]

One last question:
1. What technique is easiest to use when bottling? For instance, with wine, I have a wand that opens at the bottom when I press into the bottle. I usually fill to top and when I remove wand liquid drops about an inch from top. Is there an easier more effective "uniform" pour in the beer world?

This is pretty much how it's done in the beer world as well. Older methods include crimping a hose when the beer reaches the top of the bottle, but that's too much of a PITA if you ask me. Don't worry, it's ok to have a little room at the top of the bottle