Racking 5 gal to 6.5 Gal Carboy

#1 (**permalink**) 11-04-2006, 09:30 AM

Plans to rack to secondary either today or tomorrow.

Question? Is it OK to rack 5 gal brew to 6.5 gal glass carboy? Of course
the secondary will have an airlock.
Will the headspace in secondary cause issues during the conditioning phase
of the "California Common/Steam Beer"?
Thanks

BierNewbie · #2 (**permalink**) 11-04-2006, 09:47 PM

If in doubt about oxidation from the headspace then purge it with CO2. If you don't have any CO2 then rack a little early so there will still be some CO2 produced to displace the air. Should be fine to do that.

#3 (**permalink**) 11-05-2006, 11:02 PM

On Sat, 04 Nov 2006 14:43:06 GMT, "Scott S." <streiker@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>Plans to rack to secondary either today or tomorrow.
>
>Question? Is it OK to rack 5 gal brew to 6.5 gal glass carboy? Of course
>the secondary will have an airlock.
>Will the headspace in secondary cause issues during the conditioning phase
>of the "California Common/Steam Beer"?
>Thanks
>[/color]

The problem that would come to mind, is oxidation. What I would do.
Take precautions against it, don't splat, and once you get the air
lock on, give it a swirl. This should help expell the air with the
CO2 coming out of solution.

Just guessing....

tom @ [url]www.WorkAtHomePlans.com[/url]

#4 (**permalink**) 11-06-2006, 05:02 PM

Scott S. wrote on 11/4/2006 9:43 AM:[color=blue]
> Plans to rack to secondary either today or tomorrow.
>
> Question? Is it OK to rack 5 gal brew to 6.5 gal glass carboy? Of course
> the secondary will have an airlock.
> Will the headspace in secondary cause issues during the conditioning phase
> of the "California Common/Steam Beer"?
> Thanks
>
>[/color]
No problem. There is another post in rec.crafts.brewing that is
discussing this now. In summary, Oxidation is a fear you shouldn't
bother yourself with. Just try to reduce splashing when transferring to
secondary and you will be fine.

I use a 6.5 for my 5gal batches with no issues.

Jim

BierNewbie · #5 (**permalink**) 11-06-2006, 09:10 PM

I usually primary in a 6.5 then transfer to a 5. The 6.5 allows plenty of room for yeast foam (kreusen) when they are really active. Then for the secondary the yeast are not doing too much work and don't need the extra headspace.