Secondary Fermenter Questions

[riley484]

Hello,

I'm still on my first batch (Red Ale) but decided after some more research to use a secondary fermenter after the initial brew. I bought a 5 gallon plastic carboy and moved the beer from the primary fermenter to it after about 5 days. When I move it with the siphon, I probably left too much beer with the sediment, so my secondary fermenter has about 3/4 gallon of air space in it.

I moved it and airlocked it 2 days ago.

My question is, will the additional space in the secondary fermenter matter?

I was told that I should have little to no air space in the secondary fermenter.

Thanks for any responses.

 

[TexLaw]

Frankly, I expect you will be just fine. Usually, the beer gasses out some CO2 when you rack, so that should take up the space in your secondary. RDWHAHB.


TL

 

[riley484]

Thanks for the response. I'll leave it as is.

I didn't rack enough of the primary, but another learning for my next batch.

 

[everfrost]

Frankly, I expect you will be just fine. Usually, the beer gasses out some CO2 when you rack, so that should take up the space in your secondary. RDWHAHB.


TL

+1 to this. You should be fine with no worries.....we all learn things by trial and error sometimes....thankfully, most things really won't affect the finished product all that much.... Indeed, RDWHAHB!

 

[Eepa]

Looking at forum post and stuff i have read it says to transfer to the secondary fermenter after about a week being in the first. I also know that some of you like to just leave it in the first fermenter for the whole process. I usually transfer to the second fermenter, mostly out of habit and following the directions, however this IPA batch took almost a full 3 days to start fermenting in the primary and it has now been about 10 days since i've pitched the yeast.
My question is would now be a good time to start the second fermentation process even though there is still noticeable fermentation going on, bubble action? I really want to transfer it, mostly to clean up my brew, because by now its really murky.
What do you guys think??

 

[Troubs]

Eepa: I know I'm new but I feel pretty confident answering this one.

Let it sit. You want to make sure that fermentation has completed before racking to a secondary. Give it a few days and take a gravity reading. Then give it a few more days and take another. If the gravity hasn't changed then its probably safe to rack to a secondary. If it has changed, give it a few more days and check it again. The secondary's purpose isn't for more fermentation but for clearing, so you want to make sure that all the fermentation is done before transfering

 

[everfrost]

What do you guys think??

Let your hydrometer guide you Hoppergrass...

 

[STAD]

Let your hydrometer guide you Hoppergrass...

word....

Also, if you want the beer to clear, just let it sit longer in the primary. You know me, I'm not a big fan of secondaries. I racked to a secondary the first time, and the beer was great. I haven't racked since, and the beer is still great. Honestly, the only time I will be racking to a secondary is if I make a really big beer (high OG) and I need to store it somewhere for a long period of time, or if I need to use the bigger carboy because I want to brew again. Let it sit, you'll be fine. Or rack it after you get a constant FG reading, you'll be fine.

 

[syd138]

My question is would now be a good time to start the second fermentation process even though there is still noticeable fermentation going on, bubble action?

I would say no

I generally wait 3 weeks before I rack to the primary. I figure its better to be safe than sorry.

Don't be impatient

 

[everfrost]

I generally wait 3 weeks before I rack to the primary.

Dang, that's a helluva long time in the kettle....hahaha Sorry, I had to....I know what you meant...

Chad

 

[beerthirty]

It is not actually a secondary fermenter. All fermentation should be complete before racking to the secondary or clearing tank. As others above have said it is not necessary for clear beer. Cold crashing does wonders for clearing the beer and compacting the cake so little is yeast is picked up when racking to keg or bottling bucket.