Transferring from Primary to Secondary fermenter

[GRYMM]

Hey guys,
I am using a 6.5 gallon plastic bucket with no spigot as a primary fermenter. I am brewing a pretty standard IPA as my first beer. As I have been reading online, I have gotten a little worried about oxidation while transferring into the carboy. I do not have a spigot, so my intention was to simply take the lid off of the bucket, and siphon into the carboy. Do you think this will expose the beer to too much oxygen? I'll take any tips/advice. Thanks

 

[rifraf]

Nope, you should be fine to to that. I'd venture to say that most homebrewers don't have spigots on their fermenters.

Your other option is simply not to transfer to your carboy for secondary fermentation. It's really not needed*, you can just leave it in primary the whole time.

*this is one of the most commonly debated topics on HBT. Poke around and do some reading, lots of good info out there for you to make a decision. Personally... I only secondary if I'm adding fruit or oak/wood chips. Everything else including dry hopping is in the primary.

 

[mrkrausen]

From my experience you don't have to worry about oxidation just from siphoning from primary to secondary. Just make sure you're not opening up you vessel too frequently and that you don't do a bunch of splashing when you're transferring. I usually just start my autosiphon and set my lid back on top of my bucket. I'm not sure this actually does much but it makes me feel better and I know that nothing is just falling back into my precious liquid. Others may chime in differently but just transferring like that is nothing to worry about. Congrats on your first brew.

 

[patthebrewer]

It shouldn't if you just siphoning, since thats the way alot of homebrewers do it. Just make sure your siphon hose goes to the bottom of your carboy, and splashes as little as possible. As far as taking the lid off your bucket it should have layer of co2 on it since co2 is heavier than air it should stay were it is as long enough for you rack to secondary. Just try to avoid splashing as much as possible. I haven't used a bucket in a long time so maybe others can chime in.

 

[GRYMM]

Thanks for the info guys, much obliged. I have seen much of the debate on whether it is necessary to move to a secondary. I am mostly doing it to dry hop, add clarity, and remove the beer from the trub. As I am a newbie and this is my first beer, it will also be cool to actually see the beer at work in the glass carboy.

Any tips on dry hopping? I personally like very hoppy beer like hop devil or 90 minute dogfish. Which type of hops would you suggest?

 

[cluckk]

I've never dry hopped but have put stuff in during secondary, so the only advice I can give is to use a hop bag. Putting stuff in can be a lot easier than taking it back out when you're done.

As for the debate on secondary, I have done it for years and still do for various reasons and have never had an issue with oxidation. I read the articles and decided to stop using a secondary, but find that resisting the urge to stop doing something that I have had the habit of for years is easier said than done. So where am I on my decision to stop using a secondary? I racked one into secondary yesterday and will likely do another this weekend. We old dogs can learn new tricks, it's getting us to give up the old tricks that's nearly impossible.

 

[whoaru99]

Any tips on dry hopping? I personally like very hoppy beer like hop devil or 90 minute dogfish. Which type of hops would you suggest?

While I could be wrong, I don't believe you're going to get that sort of hop character/effect from just dry hopping.

 

[rifraf]

Dry hopping gives you the aroma of the hops but not bitterness. If the beers you like are very bitter, you need to add more hops at the very beginning of your boil, not during dry hopping.

 

[logan3825]

Thanks for the info guys, much obliged. I have seen much of the debate on whether it is necessary to move to a secondary. I am mostly doing it to dry hop, add clarity, and remove the beer from the trub. As I am a newbie and this is my first beer, it will also be cool to actually see the beer at work in the glass carboy.

Any tips on dry hopping? I personally like very hoppy beer like hop devil or 90 minute dogfish. Which type of hops would you suggest?

You don't need to secondary to add hops. You can just throw them in or sanitize a bag, put them in that and throw it in.

You may get a little better clarity by using a secondary. You can get good clarity by just leaving it in the primary also.

You really don't need to worry about removing the beer from the trub. That is one of those things you may have had to do years and years ago because of yeast health. Nowadays you get healthy better yeast than you used to.

You are not going to see much happen in a secondary. All the fermentation should have taken place before you move it to a secondary. If it hasn't, you have moved it to soon.