Secondary Fermentation

[James0816]

When transferring to the secondary fermenter, do you back fill with water to keep the O2 level/space down? Just curious as I have my first small batches sitting in the primaries now.

 

[day_trippr]

If you mean dilution, definitely no...

 

[kh54s10]

Don't even do a secondary. It is unnecessary. You definitely do not want to dilute your beer unless there is some reason like very high OG.

 

[James0816]

ok, i was just reading about less contact with O2. if moving over to a second, there will be more air space.

 

[day_trippr]

What are you brewing that makes you believe a "secondary" vessel is a good idea?
It almost always isn't....

Cheers!

 

[specharka]

When transferring to the secondary fermenter, do you back fill with water to keep the O2 level/space down? Just curious as I have my first small batches sitting in the primaries now.

As others have already stated, there’s no need for a secondary fermentation vessel for most beers. Additionally, water contains dissolved oxygen (about 8 ppm from tap water) and I cannot fathom a method to introduce additional water without resulting in oxidation.

 

[S-Met]

There are tons of threads asking the same question. I just did a search and ot brings up at least 7 pages of responses. The link below is recent and relevant.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/secondary-no-secondary.645938/

The question to ask is, "why?" On a home-brew scale, there are a few instances that its a benefit but usually only for those specific instances. What recipe are you making, and why are you doing secondary?
If it is a standard ale of some sort and your reason is because the kit instructions say so, then skip the secondary. The risks of contamination and oxidation are greater than most any benefit of the transfer.

 

[James0816]

Thanks guys. Making mead and some fruit mead.. my first batches and still learning..

 

[Yooper]

Holy cow- this is the mead forum. It ain't beer, and you definitely WANT to do a secondary. Often beer doesn't need or use a secondary, but it would be a mistake to not rack your mead when needed.

Now, to fill the headspace is an issue. If you water down your mead, it will be watered down. What I do is make a larger batch at the beginning, and save some in a beer bottle/growler/wine bottle with a stopper (they make them all sizes) and an airlock and use that for topping up, or you can use some finished mead. Since it's a first batch, that isn't an option so the idea would be to go to smaller containers as needed. Luckily, mead isn't as susceptible to oxidation as wine is, but it is not immune so ideally you would use sulfites when racking and try to keep it topped up as much as is reasonably possible.

 

[Shine0n]

I had to backtrack and make sure I was in the mead section, kinda messed me up. lol
Yooper, why the sulfites when racking? Just curious is all, I've not used them before but I see it on the labels of the local meadery in Richmond.

 

[kh54s10]

I even looked to see if it was a beer and still missed that it is in the mead forum.

 

[Maylar]

I had to backtrack and make sure I was in the mead section, kinda messed me up. lol
Yooper, why the sulfites when racking? Just curious is all, I've not used them before but I see it on the labels of the local meadery in Richmond.

Sulfites act as an antioxidant and also assist potassium sorbate when stabilizing (preventing re-fermentation of sweetener sugar). Used often with wine, mead, cider.

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Sulfites act as an antioxidant and also assist potassium sorbate when stabilizing (preventing re-fermentation of sweetener sugar). Used often with wine, mead, cider.

Has anyone tried Ascorbic Acid as anti-oxygenation? Does it work? We're chatting about this on the NEIPA thread for highly hopped beers. Just curious..