Transfer to secondary: how to avoid oxidation?

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GillesF

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Hi all

I'll be racking my Chimay Bleu clone tomorrow from my primary fermentor to "dame jeanne" glass fermentor.

I'll be using a silicone tube connected to the gasket to transfer the beer. Last time I did this, I noticed there was some air in the tubing. Does this affect the beer? And how can I avoid this?

Cheers
Gilles
 
Despite the rampant talk of how evil secondary usage can be, I have never encountered an issue doing it. And winemakers do it routinely.

Fill the secondary with hot water to rinse it; that will force out most of the oxygen that's just sitting in there. Sanitize it. Then rack with the tube exit point sitting on the bottom of the carboy, preferably flat and coiled lightly around the circumference such that the flow of liquid gently whirlpools around.

You can force the air out of the tubing in a similar fashion with water and/or sanitizing solution. I don't think it will make a bit of difference as any stray bubble will be forced out by the beer during racking.

Keep the flow gentle and keep the tube exit point submerged. The only part of the racked beer that gets minimally exposed to air is the surface, which continually rises as racking progresses, pushing out any stray air.
 
Fill the secondary with hot water to rinse it; that will force out most of the oxygen that's just sitting in there.

This won't do anything for the oxygen situation. You have to drain it, at which point it will immediately "fill" with air again.

Then rack with the tube exit point sitting on the bottom of the carboy, preferably flat and coiled lightly around the circumference such that the flow of liquid gently whirlpools around.

This is more important..... make sure your tubing reaches the bottom. You do not want any splashing. Gentle transfer.

The only part of the racked beer that gets minimally exposed to air is the surface, which continually rises as racking progresses, pushing out any stray air.

The other issue you can run into is if your tubing is not very snug around your spigot or around your autosiphon...... If it is even a tiny bit lose, you can suck O2 into the tubing and introduce a steady stream of O2 into your beer as it transfers. Get smaller tubing if needed. push the tubing on further. Kind of pinch the tubing with fingers if you need to get the seal formed as it starts to flow.

Also, although you may not have it currently, at some point if you keg and have CO2 handy, you can purge your secondary (or kegs, etc) with CO2 before transferring.
 
Knock on wood, never had an issue.
I have transferred using CO2 to push the beer up and out a racking cane. I always purge my secondary with CO2 first, and splashing at the start or swirling cant introduce air, only harmless CO2

The beauty of CO2 is, it's heaver than air so it wont "escape" easy.
 
I racked to secondary yesterday. Filled the glass fermenter almost completely, very little head space left. I avoided sucking in oxygen with the tubing as much as possible by making it a tight fit on the gasket.

So far so good. I'm pleased with the taste of the beer so far although it's in need of some aging. We'll see in a few months! :)
 
The other issue you can run into is if your tubing is not very snug around your spigot or around your autosiphon...... If it is even a tiny bit lose, you can suck O2 into the tubing and introduce a steady stream of O2 into your beer as it transfers. Get smaller tubing if needed. push the tubing on further. Kind of pinch the tubing with fingers if you need to get the seal formed as it starts to flow.
I've run into this before when transferring to my bottling bucket. I now push the tubing on so far that it is next to impossible to remove. Better than seeing all those tiny bubbles do naughty things to my tasty beer.
 
If your tubing starts sucking air, it could be stretched out from where it's connected to the spigot, autosiphon, etc. Just cut off a 1/2" or so & reconnect it. Use a little Starsan to wet it so it goes on easier.
 
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