Topping off carboy?

[natural]

Hey,

I had a pamphlet form my LHBS and it was stating that when transferring to a glass carboy you should top it off with water. I have quite a bit of airspace in my glass carboy and my kit never mentioned anything of this. Is this a problem? I've never heard of anyone doing this until I started reading this pamphlet.

 

[logan3825]

They probably mean top off to 5 gallons.

 

[Legin]

If you are doing kits (or anything else) you just want to top-off to your desired batch amount. So if you are doing a 5gal batch, you would want to top-off to 5gal.

There is an argument about head space, which I've forgotten all of a sudden. But you most likely will never have to worry about it.

 

[littleScrapper]

i had the same issue with an IPA i just made.

my uncle came over to our place to help me out with racking. he told me that it is absolutely necessary to fill it to the top and leave as little space as possible..

after bottling, we tasted the beer and it was slightly watered down and thin. i really wish that we didn't top it off.

if you leave lots of head space at the top, there will be more oxygen in the carboy initially, which is a bad thing.. so i can see why you would want to top it off.
but to be honest, i think if you're clean and sanitary, there shouldn't be a problem. the oxygen will just escape the air lock when as the CO2 is released during the rest of the fermentation. you will still have a protective blanket of CO2 on top of your beer

now i make 5 gallon batches in a 6 gallon carboy and i just try to be as clean as possible. you will regret watering down your brew in the end..

 

[TipsyDragon]

after bottling, we tasted the beer and it was slightly watered down and thin.

that may just be green and uncarbonated beer taste. wait till you open the bottle before pointing the finger.


but as far as topping off after fermentation i wouldn't. if your worried about head space you have better options. I've heard of people putting a crap load of sanitized glass marbles (or similar objects) in the bottom of the carboy. also if you have access to a keging system take the CO2 and fill the head space of the carboy with it just before capping. short of that you can use a small block of dry ice. you can get it at most Ralph's. if you don't have one in your area do a yahoo local search for places that sell it. you wont need more than a pound. smash it up into small chunks. then before capping your carboy put a chunk in some warm water and pour the fog and only the fog into the carboy. its very high in CO2. keep pouring till you secure the carboy cap.

 

[Legin]

As far as I'm concerned it's unnecessary, as the beer from the primary when transferred to secondary will either purge the head space with the co2, or create a thin layer on top that will protect it. Maybe in extreme examples it might be necessary. But as for transferring a 5gal batch to a 6gal carboy, I would not worry about it.

 

[logan3825]

I don't think the oxygen at the start will hurt your beer. The yeast will just use it to multiply if it gets mixed with the wort.

My understanding on how yeast work is that they can either be aerobic or anaerobic. While working aerobically they produce more yeast and CO2. After the oxygen is used up they switch over to anaerobic and they produce alcohol and CO2. That is why you need a big starter for lagers but not for ales. Ales top ferment and can get to the air but lagers bottom ferment and cannot. Of course I may have my facts wrong here. If I am wrong, I would like to be corrected.

 

[TipsyDragon]

That is why you need a big starter for lagers but not for ales. Ales top ferment and can get to the air but lagers bottom ferment and cannot.

yea you are wrong on that point. the yeast get their oxygen from the wort. you need a larger starter for lagers because you are fermenting at a lower temp and the yeast aren't as active.