Racking to 6gal secondary?

Sol · Nov 28, 2009

Hey guys. I'm planning to rack my first batch to secondary on Monday. I realized now that I may have screwed the pooch. I used a 5gal carboy for my primary and the secondary is 6 gallons. Obviously I switched the two. I've heard that minimizing head space in the secondary is important and don't want to expose the beer to too much O2.

I suppose I have 3 options:

Rack to 6gal bucket and keep my fingers crossed
Get a second 5gal carboy (I'll probably want another eventually anyway)
Rack to a 5 gal bottling bucket for secondary, then back to another vessel to clean the bottling bucket on bottling day and then back to the bottling bucket again

Thoughts? Any other options I'm not thinking of?

Thanks!

Revvy · Nov 28, 2009

4) Do what many many of us do and skip secondary all together and opt instead for the long primary....I leave mine in primary for a month, then bottle. I have found my beer is much better for doing that.

Sol · Nov 28, 2009

Thanks Revvy. I'm kicking myself for not listing that as an option. I was sure I'd be hearing it!

I guess I've just been a little obsessed with clarity and keeping as much sediment out of the bottles as possible, but that's probably me being silly. I'd much rather have better beer.

Well, hell! If I skip the secondary, I've got an empty 6gal primary and plenty of ingredients to get started on the next batch. More in the pipeline! Woot!

JuanMoore · Nov 28, 2009

I agree with Revvy, just leave it in there for another week or two and then bottle.

Nurmey · Nov 28, 2009

+1 to what Revvy says.
If you really want to secondary, it is not a problems using a 6 gallon. You will knock the CO2 out of suspension when you rack and it will re-blanket your beer with its protective layer.

Revvy · Nov 28, 2009

Sol said:
T
I guess I've just been a little obsessed with clarity and keeping as much sediment out of the bottles as possible ...

And then why do you think I do it???? Could that be the very reason I do so?

Leaving it in primary for a month with allow the yeast to clean up after itself, and it will compress the yeast cake, which will make for extremely clear and crisp tasting beer.

I have had the term "Jewell-like appearance and clarity" applied to some of my beers from BJCP judges in contests. Think a judge would use those words if my beer were cloudy?

Sol · Nov 28, 2009

Thanks guys. Thinking too far ahead here, but if I'm going to rack straight from the primary to the bottling bucket, how long do I need to let the primary sit after moving it? My brew op has been relegated to the rarely used guest bathroom by SWMBO and I'll need to move it to my bar downstairs to bottle.

Nurmey · Nov 28, 2009

If you move it carefully, it's fine to rack to bottling bucket right away. If you jostle it around, overnight will do it. One nice thing about leaving it in the primary for a month is the yeast cake gets really compacted and doesn't move.