Splitting up wort for secondary fermentation?

[mward43]

Up until this point none of my brews have really needed secondary fermentation, so pardon the noob question... I have a 3 gallon batch in primary, but all my carboys are 5 gallon and I know that the less headspace the better for secondary. So I was thinking of racking into three separate 1 gallon jugs for secondary. Does anyone see a reason why this could a bad idea?

 

[solbes]

How long are you going to secondary? I sometimes secondary for less than a week, to help the yeast settle post racking. A LOT of yeast will fall out of suspension in the first 24 hours. For periods lasting 1 week or less, I wouldn't worry at all about headspace. If you're talking 1-4 months, then you really need to fill well into the neck area.

Sounds like a pain, but I suppose your plan would work.

 

[AnOldUR]

Does anyone see a reason why this could a bad idea?

I sure hope not. Last December I ended up with four plus gallons of a Barleywine. For aging, I topped off a three gallon carboy and a one gallon jug. In the fall, I'll give the one gallon jug a try to see how it's coming along, but let the three gallon ride for a year or more.

 

[KingKlong]

I split my last batch at secondary. A pale ale. I wanted to try adding jalapeno at secondary, but since I was unsure of how it would turn out so I only did half. I also put each half in way to big a bucket apparently. 2.5 gallons in a 6 gallon bucket. Both halves turned out good though.

 

[mward43]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I went ahead and split it up last night, no turning back now.

 

[dcp27]

So I was thinking of racking into three separate 1 gallon jugs for secondary.

I did exactly that with an imperial porter a few years ago and a barleywine prior to that, both turned out great. i'd consider taking advantage of it being separated and adding something to one or two of the jugs (fruit, spices, oak, brett, etc)

 

[mward43]

i'd consider taking advantage of it being separated and adding something to one or two of the jugs (fruit, spices, oak, brett, etc)

Great suggestion! This was a pretty basic Pilsner recipe so I think I could have some fun with experimentation at this point. Probably going to leave 1 of 3 jugs untouched and add some citrus and spice flavors to the remaining 2.