Secondary Fermentation....

[anti-bud]

Is it ok to rack my beer from my primary into another plastic pale for secondary fermentation, instead of into a carboy? Sorry, i feel like a chump asking.

 

[GloHoppa]

the only stupid question is the one not asked. im a newb so take my .02 with a grain of salt but i would think its fine if its not the bottling bucket. the spigot might not be 100% airtight, but if it is another bucket it should be fine to rack to secondary.

what do you want to rack?

 

[Joker]

Plastic or glass, bucket or carboy it doesn't really matter. The brew doesn't care about the container. The head space is more important than the material that is why most drop to a 5 gallon vessel for secondary.

 

[anti-bud]

the only stupid question is the one not asked. im a newb so take my .02 with a grain of salt but i would think its fine if its not the bottling bucket. the spigot might not be 100% airtight, but if it is another bucket it should be fine to rack to secondary.

what do you want to rack?

i'm doing an amarillo pale ale. mainly for my situation it will be easier to use a pale for seconday because my sink faucet cant take a jet bottle washer adapter. just for cleaning purposes, a pale makes more sense for me.

 

[TheJadedDog]

You really don't even need a secondary for a pale ale but since you're asking, I'd suggest a 5 gallon carboy; this will reduce the headspace and the beer will be in a non-oxygen permeable vessel.

 

[Orfy]

Is there a reason why you are expecting a secondary fermentation.
Did it not finish in the fermenter?

 

[CBBaron]

Is there a reason why you are expecting a secondary fermentation.
Did it not finish in the fermenter?

I think it is because most sources call it a secondary fermenter when you transfer your beer into another container for clearing and aging. Common terminology problem for many brewers.
A secondary is not needed and I would not recommend it if you are using a bucket. Buckets have too much head room and often are not completely air tight. Leaving it in the primary the headspace is filled with CO2 from the fermentation but once you transfer there is not much CO2 left to protect the beer. The small head space available in a carboy minimizes the O2 in the container.

Just leave the beer in the primary for 3 weeks then transfer to a bottling bucket and bottle.
Craig

 

[anti-bud]

I think it is because most sources call it a secondary fermenter when you transfer your beer into another container for clearing and aging. Common terminology problem for many brewers.
A secondary is not needed and I would not recommend it if you are using a bucket. Buckets have too much head room and often are not completely air tight. Leaving it in the primary the headspace is filled with CO2 from the fermentation but once you transfer there is not much CO2 left to protect the beer. The small head space available in a carboy minimizes the O2 in the container.

Just leave the beer in the primary for 3 weeks then transfer to a bottling bucket and bottle.
Craig

ahhh!! this is so frusterating! when i bought all my equipment, why did they tell me i NEEDED a carboy!

 

[Orfy]

My advice to you.

Go the classic route of fermenting in the bucket until it hit expected FG. (Probably a week)
Rack to a secondary conditioning vessel for as long as you can wait (preferably 2 weeks minimum) the bottle.

Until you have enough knowledge/experience this is what most have recommended in the past.

It's not what I do but I do lots of things different to the majority of brewers.

If you don't want to buy a carboy then just leave it in the primary for at least 2 weeks after fermentation stops then bottle. (You'll need a bottling bucket)

Now if I personally was in your situation I would buy a 6.5 gallon carboy to use as the fermenter and use the bucket for bottling and occasional secondary. I would not worry about head space.

 

[DeathBrewer]

yeah, i'd say leave it in the primary for 2-3 weeks then got straight to bottle/keg. you don't need a secondary in most situations and a bucket will give you a lot of headspace you probably don't want.

 

[Futureman]

Suppose your primary has a good deal of headspace? For example, I am using the Cooper's fermenter. I like it because the clear top enables me to monitor what's going on, and the tap enables me to channel the beer to a secondary fermenter should I choose to do so.

Still, I am interested in leaving the wort in the primary as long as possible. To what extent should the headspace (which is significant in a Cooper's fermenter) be a concern?

 

[user 53515]

If you really want to rack to a 6 gallon (or bigger) vessel, sanitize some marbles and rack on top of them. They will eat some some of the headroom. I've also heard that dropping in some dry ice will create a nice CO2 blanket.

 

[Pappers_]

If you really want to rack to a 6 gallon (or bigger) vessel, sanitize some marbles and rack on top of them. They will eat some some of the headroom. I've also heard that dropping in some dry ice will create a nice CO2 blanket.

This post should win an award for originality. But, I think this isn't great advice for a new brewer.

Anti-Bud, I'm with the advice above - rack to your five gallon carboy or leave it in the primary. Either will work and are better than racking to a bucket with too much headroom.