Dry-hopping in a secondary with a headspace

[trentar]

Hello everybody,

I am planning to do a light dry-hopping of a Pilsner, which I will have for a month in the primary next week. Since the fermentation is done and I would like to separate the trub from the beer I am planning to do a racking to a secondary vessel, which would be just another fermentor which is designed for primary fermentation. So I have two plastic fermentors for 30 liters (8 gallon) of space, and I am having 19 liters (5 gallon) of beer fermenting. I am planning to put 20 grams of hops into the bottom and than rack beer onto it for three days. Since I will not fill the fermentor to the top, I am concerned, that that extra 11 liters (3 gallon) of headspace will be two much oxygen and beer will oxidize. I am also planning to put a bit of extra sugar in it to restart the fermentation and gas out the extra oxygen, I just don't know how much to use it.

Any suggestions?

 

[Jag75]

Just moving to a secondary could cause oxidation. It would have been better to add the hops right to your fv then package a few days later.

 

[brewdude88]

I would not dry hop or secondary at this point.

Pilsners are hard to hide any amount of oxygenation, and it may already be oxidized after being in plastic for that long without active fermentation.

If that picture is of the pilsner, it is far gone on the oxygenation front!

 

[trentar]

I would not dry hop or secondary at this point.

Pilsners are hard to hide any amount of oxygenation, and it may already be oxidized after being in plastic for that long without active fermentation.

If that picture is of the pilsner, it is far gone on the oxygenation front!

Thank you, no, it is not a pilsner, it is something I made before, I think IPA, which I have transfered to a bottling bucket.