Secondary Carboy Size

[ursinaa]

Hello, I am new to home brewing and have a question. I am going to brew
Bourbon Barrel Old Ale kit from Midwest Supplies. The directions recommend a secondary fermentation time of up to 6 months. As for as fermenters go, I have a couple 6 gallon buckets and a 6.5 gallon glass carboy. From what Midwest supplies recommend I should use a 5 gallon glass carboy for my secondary because there will be the least amount of head-space to help reduce oxidation. They also talked about getting a can of inert gas to fill the head space. I contacted another home brew supply shop and they said that I need not worry about the carboy size, because the wort will produce enough CO2 to blanket the wort and prevent oxidation. A 5 gallon glass carboy at my local home brew shop is 35.50 after tax, so it is not crazy expensive, but I could also use the 35 bucks for something else.
Thoughts, opinions, and/or experiences would be great!
Thanks is advance,
August

 

[thadius856]

I seriously wouldn't worry about it. I secondary my 5 gallon batches in 6 gallon carboys all the time.

If you want to flush out the oxygen, it's easier to use a ball lock keg. If you can snag one up for $40 or $45, you'd be in much better shape. If you could find somebody with a kegging setup to help you seat the lid, you could leave it at pressure while it ages.

Aging 6 months in FL is going to be difficult because you won't want to go above 75F regularly for that period of time. Any ideas as to how you'll do this?

 

[Yooper]

I'm a winemaker, and I have experienced oxidation first hand with a carboy with too much headspace in three months.

I would never recommend a bucket for a secondary at all (headspace is way too wide) but if you want to age something in a carboy, the carboy should be matched to the batch size. If you can't do that, I'd suggest bottling and aging in the bottle.

 

[Varmintman]

Never seems to fail that whenever a infection is posted with a picture there is a ton of headspace. Not sure if this can be proved but I am not going to take any chances and fill mine up into the neck

 

[ursinaa]

Aging 6 months in FL is going to be difficult because you won't want to go above 75F regularly for that period of time. Any ideas as to how you'll do this?

I bought a chest freezer off of craigslist and a Johnson control.

 

[thadius856]

Good to hear.

Let me know if you end up with a corny keg and have any questions.

 

[adiochiro3]

Had the same question/concern about bulk aging in a secondary. What about introducing liquid nitrogen into the bottom of the fermenter and racking onto that to fill the headspace?

 

[thadius856]

You could probably rig up a way to purge using a carboy cap.

Liquid nitrogen? Uhhhh... wouldn't that temperature change shatter a carboy?

 

[adiochiro3]

Liquid nitrogen? Uhhhh... wouldn't that temperature change shatter a carboy?

I suppose if I dumped a whole lot in there, yes. I'm talking about dribbling a small amount on top of the wort after the carboy is full to push out ambient air as it phase-changed to gas. It wouldn't take much, and the LN wouldn't contact the glass.

 

[thadius856]

Seems a lot easier to bulk prime like you're bottling then cap the carboy.

 

[zeg]

If you insist on cryogens, I'd add them *after* racking in some of the beer to avoid any risk of shocking the glass. You could also do it with food grade dry ice, something I've considered. Another option would be to boil the LN2 or dry ice in a separate container like a 2-liter bottle with a bit of tube fit to the top and use that to pour the gas into the headspace. (Think of it like squirting from a low pressure CO2 or N2 cartridge.)