First batch

[beerclone]

I bought my kit and am planning my first batch. The kit included a bucket and glass Carboy. I have seen other threads related so I am just curious.

I was planning to use the carboy as the primary and the bucket as my secondary since the bucket has a spigot and will be easier to bottle from. Does this sound feasible? Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Tonyctitan]

You probably want to use a blowoff tube other than that I don't see why not but I've only brewed two batches myself.

 

[Sledge_Hammer]

I bought my kit and am planning my first batch. The kit included a bucket and glass Carboy. I have seen other threads related so I am just curious.

I was planning to use the carboy as the primary and the bucket as my secondary since the bucket has a spigot and will be easier to bottle from. Does this sound feasible? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Hey Beer,I would just use the carboy as your primary and forget about a secondary for now,Use the bucket for priming/bottling.
If you really want to do a secondary,go bucket,then carboy,then use the clean bucket to prime/bottle from,that way you dont carry sediment over to your bottles/kegs.

P.S.+ 1 on using a blow off tube when using a 5 gal. carboy

 

[beerclone]

Thanks for the advice. A question on the blow off tube, how does this work with the airlock?

 

[Sledge_Hammer]

I use a 3 or 4 ft. piece of 1 in. tubing,shove one end in the neck of the carboy, then submerge the other end in a bucket of bleach water,it will act as an air lock.

 

[grem135]

I use starsan in the blowoff bucket. Bleach gets no where near my brewing stuff.

 

[oakbarn]

You get a rubber stopper and put a hose though it. It just hast to come out the bottle side. The other end goes into a plastic jug (I like the 1 gallon ones that water come in). We use Starsan but you could use just plain water.


Important. You must clean and sanitize everything. We clean and Sanitize, Sanitize, and Sanitize. Oxyclean Free is a great cheep cleaner you can get from Walmart. Use Idophor or Starsan for Sanitation. Bleach will sanitize, but if not thoughly rinsed, can cause off flavors.

 

[Sledge_Hammer]

I use starsan in the blowoff bucket. Bleach gets no where near my brewing stuff.

This will work too !

 

[Yooper]

I bought my kit and am planning my first batch. The kit included a bucket and glass Carboy. I have seen other threads related so I am just curious.

I was planning to use the carboy as the primary and the bucket as my secondary since the bucket has a spigot and will be easier to bottle from. Does this sound feasible? Any suggestions are appreciated.

As was mentioned, the bucket with the spigot isn't a secondary- it's a bottling bucket I think.

You don't want to secondary in a bucket- the wide headspace is fine for primary when c02 is being produced, but once fermentation slows down the beer is susceptible to oxidation and infection from oxygen.

You also don't want to secondary and bottle from the same vessel. here's why- the whole point of a clearing vessel, if using, is so that the yeast and suspended solids settle out. When you go to bottle, you add a priming solution so that the beer will carb up in the bottle. That needs to be mixed into the beer.

If you gently stir as to avoid oxidation, you'd still stir up all the crap on the bottom that you moved the beer to avoid in the first place!

It's better to ferment the beer out until clear, then add your priming solution to the bottling bucket and then rack the beer into the solution so it mixes up well, and then immediately bottle.

 

[beerclone]

Thanks again for the advice. I guess I forgot about the priming before bottling. Makes perfect sense now. My carboy is actually 6.5 gal so will I be ok without the blow off tube? Or should I still use one to be safe?

 

[Yooper]

Thanks again for the advice. I guess I forgot about the priming before bottling. Makes perfect sense now. My carboy is actually 6.5 gal so will I be ok without the blow off tube? Or should I still use one to be safe?

It won't hurt! I never need one, but I ferment on the cool side of the yeast strain's optimum fermentation temperatures, and I use a big bucket with lots of headspace.

If you have only 1.5 gallons of headspace, and/or the fermentation temperature of the beer goes over 65 degrees, you may find you really need one and it's better to be safe than sorry!