Secondary headspace and oxidation

[Bluedog]

So after racking to secondary and having all this headspace I was paranoid about, I decided the next day to just bottle and hope for the best.

Today was exactly 2 weeks to the day that I bottled so I decided to sample one to make sure carbonation was ok and to see how its progressed.

The carbonation was PERFECT and the taste was amazing. I was fully expecting a measure of "green" to the taste but quite frankly it was outstanding. I figure in another month this beer is going to be awesome. :rockin:

What you've done is no different than someone opening the lid of a primary bucket to check gravity when fermentation slows. people do that everyday and then repeat it 2 or 3 times over the course of days to weeks to make sure they've hit terminal gravity. Why would this situation be any different?

 

[donshizzles]

What you've done is no different than someone opening the lid of a primary bucket to check gravity when fermentation slows. people do that everyday and then repeat it 2 or 3 times over the course of days to weeks to make sure they've hit terminal gravity. Why would this situation be any different?

Okay.......not sure what your point is but was just throwing it out there that despite me being paranoid about oxidation from too much headspace in the secondary, I just bottled it right away and it worked out.

 

[Bluedog]

Okay.......not sure what your point is but was just throwing it out there that despite me being paranoid about oxidation from too much headspace in the secondary, I just bottled it right away and it worked out.

No offense meant there pardner.

 

[raouliii]

.....
If CO2 blanketing correctly, it's only meant to be a barrier between the beer and the O2 above the beer while filling. Then, the O2 gets pushed out when the tank is full... in this context, it really does look like a blanket....

I believe the point of a few of the previous posts is that it doesn't work this way. No matter how slowly you inject co2, it will readily mix with the existing air. There is no layering or separation. It becomes an issue of increasing the co2/air ratio which reduces the o2 to an acceptable level. Keg "purging" works the same way.

I believe co2 in a primary is a little different issue. During the yeast lag phase most of the o2 in the headspace is consumed by the yeast and the co2 produced by the yeast dilutes any o2 left. Thereby protecting against oxidation. Opening the primary allows air back in that readily mixes with the headspace co2.