| Ok, so I decided to rack to the secondary and this was a bit more of a trying experience. i guess live and learn they always say... so while i was complaining of no bubble during fermenting, i got some during racking. not many, but the tube i stuck in the secondary kept curling upwards and not staying under the top of the liquid so it splayed out a bit against the side. in addition, tiny bubbles seemed to build up in the tube. not too many, but by the time i was through 5 gallons there was a little group of bubbles churning at the top of the tube. is this normal or am i just a failure at racking. note, if i do this again i will buy different equipement. the racking tube is not as long as my bucket, and since i did it through the lock hole, i was having a hard time keeping it pressed to let liquid through. also, it seems it would be better to have a solid tube on the secondary side as well. this would make it easier to keep against the bottom / under the liquid.
two more quick questions for people...
all my beer only filled up the 5 gal carboy to just into the curved part meaning there is a good 4 inches or so of space up to the stopper. granted most of it is angled so its less volume than the bucket, but on that other how to brew site i know he mentioned that one reason for using a 5gal secondary was that you can reduce that air volume. what should the level normally be in the secondary?
also, i almost broke all my fingers trying to get the lid off my plastic bucket... is that normal? is there a trick to it? i guess its great in that i know its sealing, but the wrestling match i had with it was almost enough to convince me to go to a glass primary..
thanks,
Mike  |