Top off in secondary?

[Throckmorton]

Hey everyone,

I just transfered my Irish Stout from the primary to secondary. Took a hydrometer reading (check) and took a sample (great). However there was a bit more trub on the bottom of the primary that I am used to seeing. While this in itself isn't a problem, it left a lot of headspace in the secondary. The beer only made it up to the point in the glass carboy right before the it starts to taper (shoulders of the carboy?) to form the neck. I would guess it would take 24 - 32 oz of water to fill up to the carboy neck. Would you top this off, or not bother? I'm leaning toward just leaving it as is.

Thanks!

 

[mmb]

Leave it. You really don't want to be watering down your finished beer. As it sits in secondary it will continue to off gas CO2 and since CO2 is heavier than O2 it will displace the O2 and blanket the beer.

 

[Jidas]

I would leave it be. First you don't want to dilute it. Second you run the risk of contamination (unless you boil it first i guess). The CO2 that is produced, even in the secondary, should be enough to "kick out" the oxygen on the top from when you transfer. If everything is sanitized well, it will be fine.

 

[Jidas]

I swear im not copying you mmb.. you posted while i was typing mine......good response though..

 

[Haterade]

I've never heard of anyone topping off the secondary.. that just seems like a bad idea. I would let it be. Worst thing is you'll get some oxidation but you probably won't even notice that for a few months.... maybe a few off flavors, again, worst-case. If I was doing a high abv tripel or something and it was going to secondary for a month or two, I might worry a bit, but a regular brew, I bet it will be awesome despite it.... my .02...

 

[Throckmorton]

Thanks guys. That was my thought as well. I'm only going to leave it in the secondary for 2 - 3 weeks tops before I bottle. Appreciate the quick feedback.

 

[Quikfeet509]

Crap. Wish I had asked this question several weeks ago because I added water to both of my batches in order to reduce the risk of oxidation in the secondary. It didn't help that one of my books had a picture with a glass carboy filled all the way up to the neck...


Sigh.

 

[mmb]

I've never heard of anyone topping off the secondary.. that just seems like a bad idea. I would let it be.

It is a very common practice with wine. You top off with a wine of the same style to present less of a surface area for oxidation as wine will be aging for months in the carboy.

Crap. Wish I had asked this question several weeks ago because I added water to both of my batches in order to reduce the risk of oxidation in the secondary. It didn't help that one of my books had a picture with a glass carboy filled all the way up to the neck...

Since most beer isn't going to be sitting for long in the secondary and will still be off gassing CO2 when you put it into the secondary you don't need to worry about oxidation issues all that much.

 

[Throckmorton]

Crap. Wish I had asked this question several weeks ago because I added water to both of my batches in order to reduce the risk of oxidation in the secondary. It didn't help that one of my books had a picture with a glass carboy filled all the way up to the neck...


Sigh.

I wouldn't worry about it that much. I've topped off the seconday in the past with no problems (after boiling and cooling the water of course). What prompted my question is that I had so much room in the secondary. Usually I only had about 12 oz of headroom... this time there was much more. Your beer should still be fine.