Would this work?

[texasgeorge]

I don't see why it wouldn't, but I figured I'd ask the "pros".

I bought a 6.5 gallon carboy to use as a secondary (for now, before it graduates to a primary when I retire my plastic bucket and buy a couple 5 gallon carboys). Long story short, I had to use it as a primary because my plastic primary smelled like a dead skunk when I went to transfer my cooled wort. Probably because I didn't clean it well after my last batch, but I digress...

What I'm wanting to do is to transfer from the 6.5 gallon into my priming bucket (with lid and airlock of course!!) for just long enough to clean and sanitize the carboy and transfer everything back to the carboy for secondary fermentation. I don't see why it would be a problem, but as a noob I just wanted some reassurance.

 

[Pumbaa]

no










































ok I'll quit screwing with ya
yeah you should be fine man, just make sure to keep everything clean and watch out for excesive splashing cuz oxidation sucks

 

[fa1321tx]

You should use a smaller carboy for your secondary because there will be too much head space in a 6.5 this exposes your beer to oxygen and could effect your brew.

 

[Kaiser]

no

Pumbaa is just drunk.......like me.



yes it should work, The concern is only that the larger head space may not be flushed by the limited amout of CO2 that is produced during secondary fermentation.

Kai

 

[Ize]

I'll 3rd the drunk...

What's the hazards of leaving it in the primary at this point? Letting it really settle and then bottle? (Sig looks like it's an IPA)

EDIT: Crap, I reread your reply Kai, and now I feel like an idiot...

Ize

 

[PT Ray]

I might just opt to skip the secondary and go from primary to bottles. I have just done a couple milds this way with no ill effects but the lower gravity (1.038) was in my favor in that it finishes and clears more quickly. I did a red ale with a 1.054 gravity from primary to bottles but noticed more sediment in the bottles and not as clear of a product but otherwise was just fine. If you want to settle out the extra sediment just do so in the bucket and then bottle.

 

[texasgeorge]

My main reason for wanting to go to a secondary was to dry-hop... yes it is an IPA. I'm still kicking that around though, and it wasn't in my original recipe or plans (modified the recipe slightly from the AHS recipe). My hop schedule during the boil was 1 oz Magnum at 60 min, 1 oz of Tettnang at 15 minutes, and 1 more oz of Tettnang at 5 minutes. I was thinking either more Tettnang or Willamette. Anyone else have a better suggestion? And could I do this with just the primary? I certainly have no problems leaving it there for 2 weeks then bottling. I just think another shot of hops simply would kick some tail in this brew.

 

[tnlandsailor]

Don't worry a bit about the added head space in your secondary. This is "4th decimal place fretting". There will be a small amount of fermentation that happens during the secondary, your wort will drop another point or two and this should put enough CO2 over the surface of the beer to guard against the oxidation potential. Your real concern regarding oxidation is rough handling during transfer.

Prosit!