secondary question

[rtyler8140]

I have an Irish red that will have been in my primary for 2 weeks this Saturday. I have a 5gal glass carboy that is open now. I want to brew a blue moon clone this weekend. Should I rack the Irish red to the caraboy or can I get away with using the carboy as a primary by using a blowoff tube? Thanks in advance.

 

[rklinck]

Using the 5 gallon carboy as the primary will result in you losing a lot of beer. This is probably one of the only times us anti-secondary folks would recommend transferring. I would rack the red to the carboy to free up the bigger fermenter.

 

[rtyler8140]

For the anti-secondary folks, would you suggest just waiting another week or 2 until the red is done and then brew againg, or rack now and brew immediately?

 

[RM-MN]

For the anti-secondary folks, would you suggest just waiting another week or 2 until the red is done and then brew againg, or rack now and brew immediately?

NO!

What I'd recommend is leaving the red until it is done and buying another fermenter now to start your next brew in. With only one primary fermenter you will always feel pressured to move the beer to secondary before it is ready so you can free up a fermenter. Go buy a bucket fermenter, they're pretty cheap and last a long time if you take care of them. They are sturdy and a bit flexible so they don't shatter if you bump, drop, or pour hot water in them and they have a nice handle for moving them around. I have beer in 3 fermenters now and have 2 more that I could use. No pressure here to move any beer.

 

[ZombieBrew83]

NO!

What I'd recommend is leaving the red until it is done and buying another fermenter now to start your next brew in. With only one primary fermenter you will always feel pressured to move the beer to secondary before it is ready so you can free up a fermenter. Go buy a bucket fermenter, they're pretty cheap and last a long time if you take care of them. They are sturdy and a bit flexible so they don't shatter if you bump, drop, or pour hot water in them and they have a nice handle for moving them around. I have beer in 3 fermenters now and have 2 more that I could use. No pressure here to move any beer.

+1. Unless you hate making beer, buying a couple more bucket fermenters is the best thing for you at this point.

You will learn and progress so much faster if you brew more frequently.

 

[BrewMasta]

Personally I would likely rack the beer to the secondary, I find that most of my fermentations are done and cleared within two weeks. If you can't afford another glass carboy right now ( im not a bucket dude at all) and you don't have a hydrometer to check the FG It would not be the end of the world to rack it. I know the feeling of wanting to brew and having your fermenter tied up, so I would + 1 the motion to buy another fermenter ASAP if you can spring for it. If not go ahead and rack it, your Red is likely done fermenting anyways, then have fun brewing. It's important to get a bunch of fermenters to get your pipeline going, that way you never need to rush any brews. I have two glass carboy fermenters, two glass secondaries, and one Ale Pale fermenter ( that I hate) but I keep it around as a sanitizer bucket or in a worse case scenario as a fermenter.

 

[rtyler8140]

I have 3 primarys going right now, just hate the sight of the empty carboy. I think I will do a batch of cider in that and wait for the red to finish. Thanks for all the input.

 

[rklinck]

I have 3 primarys going right now, just hate the sight of the empty carboy. I think I will do a batch of cider in that and wait for the red to finish. Thanks for all the input.

I'm impressed that you have built up such a good pipeline in 2 weeks! Reminds me of when I started. Where are you in VA?

 

[rtyler8140]

I'm impressed that you have built up such a good pipeline in 2 weeks! Reminds me of when I started. Where are you in VA?

Thanks. I can't wait to start tasting some of my work. I'm in Lynchburg.

 

[Yooper]

If the Irish red is two weeks old, and it's clearing, it's probably ready to bottle. That sounds like it would work- bottle it and you have a fermenter free to brew.

 

[grem135]

I hate the site of an empty carboy too, so I stuck it back in the box it came in until I need it for long aging. Thinking of doing a Belgian strong ale our something like that.

 

[rklinck]

Thanks. I can't wait to start tasting some of my work. I'm in Lynchburg.

I'm sure it seems way out in the distances, but the greatest feeling is when your pipeline is built up. When you get to the point that you are having to slow down your brewing because you don't have room to store anymore packages beer, you will be in heaven. Considering that you already have three fermenters going, you will be there before long.

 

[RM-MN]

I'm sure it seems way out in the distances, but the greatest feeling is when your pipeline is built up. When you get to the point that you are having to slow down your brewing because you don't have room to store anymore packages beer, you will be in heaven. Considering that you already have three fermenters going, you will be there before long.

Oh, you've seen my basement, have you? I think when the brewing season is over for me next month I should have over 300 bottles full of various kinds of beer.

 

[grem135]

Brewing season over? Is that possible? NOoooooooooooooooooooooo say it isn't so.

 

[Evan_L]

More buckets ftw! You will eventually have want or need for more anyway.

 

[GrogNerd]

I'm with Yooper, go ahead and bottle.

2 weeks is plenty time and if this is one of your first batches, I can understand wanting to hurry it along. it should still be decent beer, just not as good as it would be by waiting at least another week.

so, as long as you're racking, I would say do it for bottling

but definitely plan on getting another fermenter in the future

 

[progmac]

If the Irish red is two weeks old, and it's clearing, it's probably ready to bottle. That sounds like it would work- bottle it and you have a fermenter free to brew.

This was my first thought to. Maybe cold crash it outdoors (virginia is fairly cool right now, right?) for 24 hours and then bottle and brew on the same day.

 

[GrogNerd]

This was my first thought to. Maybe cold crash it outdoors (virginia is fairly cool right now, right?) for 24 hours and then bottle and brew on the same day.

don't think 24 hours is necessary is it? I left my last batch overnight in the high 30s and it cleared up awesome.

24 hours outside I would worry about sunlight & daytime to nighttime temperature swings

 

[rklinck]

Oh, you've seen my basement, have you? I think when the brewing season is over for me next month I should have over 300 bottles full of various kinds of beer.

I'm not to the point of saying that brewing season is over for me, but I have had to throttle down because I have to beers that are ready for packaging that are sitting in fermenters waiting for kegs to free up. I will call this their semi-cold conditioning period because they are stowed in a basement closet that hovers around 50 degrees.

EDIT: And I should mention that the result of this situation is that I feel compelled to drink from the kegs that are closest to empty to make room. Ah, it's nice to have such "first world" problems.

 

[progmac]

don't think 24 hours is necessary is it? I left my last batch overnight in the high 30s and it cleared up awesome.

24 hours outside I would worry about sunlight & daytime to nighttime temperature swings

whatever works! and good point about the sunlight.

 

[RM-MN]

Brewing season over? Is that possible? NOoooooooooooooooooooooo say it isn't so.

I have farm work to get to as soon as the snow melts down some which I expect it to do in March up here in northern Minnesota. I want the last brew bottled before that happens. It's OK, I'm not a big drinker and I'll still have beer left when the weather cools again in October and I can start the brewery up again. :rockin:

 

[bigelowsbest]

EDIT: And I should mention that the result of this situation is that I feel compelled to drink from the kegs that are closest to empty to make room. Ah, it's nice to have such "first world" problems.

+1 I recently had to kick a couple of kegs to make room for finished batches so the fermenters could be freed up for yet more beer. Doing growler fills and taking them to work (I work at a brewpub so everyone is always down to taste new beers) helped make a dent in the two kegs I had to empty out

 

[rtyler8140]

So thanks to the advice I received, I filled up the empty carboy with another batch of cider. I will wait another week and bottle the red. Once I bottle that, I will brew my blue moon clone. 4 primarys going in 2 weeks.....I need to find more bottles. haha