Some No0b Questions

[Oakkin]

Bought my very first kit last Monday. I purchased all the used materials I need to home brew on our local Craigslist type site. Still need a large pot to cook in but the first kit I bought is just a brew in a bag type deal called The Brew House (pale ale). This made the most sense as from what i can tell it's the simplest and therefor best way to start learning.

The kit calls for 3-5 days in a primary fermenter, which for me is a large bucket with a lid (i left the lid sort of loosely on top). I have two 5 gallon glass carboys as well. Tonight i'm going to siphon into one of the carboys (this is the 4th day of it sitting in the primary) and then leave it in the secondary for the 14 days it calls for before bottling.

After, i'm supposed to add the dextrose and then leave in bottle for 2 more weeks.

If anyone can provide guidance on the following i'd appreciate it:

1. The next time I do a kit should I use one of the glass carboys as a primary fermenter rather than my plastic bucket? I have an airlock for the carboys and like i said my bucket only has a lid.

2. Most of the things I have been reading have said there isn't a need to move to a secondary fermenter, rather you can just leave it in the primary and then bottle when ready for that step, but why does the kit call for it to be moved?

3. I keep reading about oxygen potentially spoiling the beer, but how are you supposed to avoid exposure to oxygen when moving to a secondary fermenter. Also, at the stage where i add the dextrose the instructions say to move the brew back into the primary fermenter and stir in the priming sugar, then get the brew into the bottles. This seems like a lot of movement for the brew and therefor a lot of exposure to oxygen no?

thanks!

 

[A_McG]

Welcome to brewing, I'll do my best to answer these.

1. No, do not use a carboy as a primary fermenter. There are brewing buckets with drilled gasket holes for using an airlock. You could alternatively drill and gasket yourself. Leaving the lid kind of on is a bad idea and could very well ruin your brew.

2. Moving to secondary is to age out high gravity beers and to clear the sediment. Most brewes on have stopped using the secondary (I still do) as moving the beer can potentially spoil a batch and the risk may not be worth the reward. Anytime you move (rack) your beer you need to use a siphon hose, don't just dump it, always fill from the bottom up.

3. When adding sugar for bottling stir gently and let it sit for 5-10min and come together. As long as you don't splash it around and santize everything it will be fine.

I recommend watching some YouTube videos. Just search beginner beer making. There's so much a video will say that writing cant

 

[thekraken]

What's wrong with using the carboy to primary?

 

[Oakkin]

Welcome to brewing, I'll do my best to answer these.

1. No, do not use a carboy as a primary fermenter. There are brewing buckets with drilled gasket holes for using an airlock. You could alternatively drill and gasket yourself. Leaving the lid kind of on is a bad idea and could very well ruin your brew.

2. Moving to secondary is to age out high gravity beers and to clear the sediment. Most brewes on have stopped using the secondary (I still do) as moving the beer can potentially spoil a batch and the risk may not be worth the reward. Anytime you move (rack) your beer you need to use a siphon hose, don't just dump it, always fill from the bottom up.

3. When adding sugar for bottling stir gently and let it sit for 5-10min and come together. As long as you don't splash it around and santize everything it will be fine.

I recommend watching some YouTube videos. Just search beginner beer making. There's so much a video will say that writing cant

Thanks for quick reply. I've watched a bunch of vids and read a bunch on here. I do have an auto siphon and hose which i intended to use. Guess i might invest in a proper primary fermenter.

When it's time to add the sugar i will need to siphon it back into my primary in order to stir it in correct? The carboy doesn't have room for that right?

 

[A_McG]

What's wrong with using the carboy to primary?

There's no rule against it, but cleaning it would be a real pain. I suppose if it's the only airtight vessel available it would be better than nothing.

 

[A_McG]

Thanks for quick reply. I've watched a bunch of vids and read a bunch on here. I do have an auto siphon and hose which i intended to use. Guess i might invest in a proper primary fermenter.

When it's time to add the sugar i will need to siphon it back into my primary in order to stir it in correct? The carboy doesn't have room for that right?

I didn't catch that you had a siphon, awesome! Generally most people are racking into a bottling bucket with a spigot on it. I think you could autosiphon right from the carboy into the bottles, might be a pain tho. Never tried it myself

 

[Oakkin]

I didn't catch that you had a siphon, awesome! Generally most people are racking into a bottling bucket with a spigot on it. I think you could autosiphon right from the carboy into the bottles, might be a pain tho. Never tried it myself

Would i be able to mix the dextrose into the brew while in the carboy tho you think?

 

[A_McG]

Would i be able to mix the dextrose into the brew while in the carboy tho you think?

If you have something thin enough to get in the opening to stir it a little you could. Does your kit say to mix the dextrose in water first? You should mix it with 2 cups of water and stir and heat till fully dissolved

 

[Oakkin]

If you have something thin enough to get in the opening to stir it a little you could. Does your kit say to mix the dextrose in water first? You should mix it with 2 cups of water and stir and heat till fully dissolved

It says to mix it with 1 cup of boiled water.

 

[A_McG]

It says to mix it with 1 cup of boiled water.

That should fit in the carboy, if you don't have a bottling bucket it's worth a shot if you have the headspace. No sense siphoning into a bucket if you have to siphon again into bottles

 

[bleme]

If OP is transferring to the carboy after just 4 days, they are going to have a lot of sediment in the carboy and really don't want to be stirring that back into the beer.

I would transfer to a clean/sanitized vessel and stir in the priming solution OR add the solution to the bottles directly and fill directly from the carboy.

Do you have a bottle filler?

 

[Oakkin]

If OP is transferring to the carboy after just 4 days, they are going to have a lot of sediment in the carboy and really don't want to be stirring that back into the beer.

I would transfer to a clean/sanitized vessel and stir in the priming solution OR add the solution to the bottles directly and fill directly from the carboy.

Do you have a bottle filler?

Gotcha. i'll siphon back into the bucket to stir in solution. I have a plastic bottle filler with the spring tip thingy. sort of like this pic.