Secondary Fermentor

[beerdrinker]

Ok, I am thinking of doing secondary fermentation, on my next batch, for the first time. However I only have 2 plastic pails and a 6 gallon glass carboy. I currently use the pails for primary fermentation, and only recently stole the glass carboy from my dad. We used to make wine, but he's 'retired' from that hobby, so I took the carboy back with me the last time I visited.

So... the main question here, will the extra headroom have a negative impact on secondary fermentation? Should I make 6 gallon batches to remove this concern of extra headspace with 5 gallon batches?

[Bugeater]

The extra headspace really won't make much difference, if any at all.

I seldom do a secondary anymore. If the beer in primary is really cloudy, I may do a secondary to help clear it up. I also do a secondary if I need to reuse the yeast cake before the first beer is done.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[Pseudolus]

I think the only issue would be that there would potentially be more exposure to oxygen because of the greater headspace and exposed surface area. If the beer is totally done fermenting, then it won't be putting off any CO2 that would form a protective blanket. So you'd be slightly more at risk for things like oxidation and mold growth.

[beerdrinker]

ok... so I'm probably safest ignoring secondary fermentation, and just going primary fermentation only?

[Pseudolus]

Yep. Secondaries might help you with a little bit of clarity and in keeping extra yeast and junk out of your keg or bottles, but is not something I've found really necessary. I'll do one for a really big beer or if I want to add fruit or spices or hops after fermentation, but otherwise I'll just do a longish primary (~2 weeks) and then go straight to the keg.

[beerdrinker]

well... that means that I can make my glass carboy my main fermentation vessel, and I'll look to add a spigot to one of the pails for a bottling bucket. Although, with my keg system arriving around the 19th, I may have little need for a bottling bucket

[Spidey]

I'll be the heretic in this thread and say that I often, almost always, do a secondary fermentation. Here are a couple instances where I would argue a secondary fermentation is needed more so:
1) dry hopping- Much of the aroma gets "boiled off" by a really good krausen, so you're better off dry hopping in secondary to get the most out of it. Dry hopped beers also need a little more time to mellow, and you don't want to leave the beer on the primary yeast cake for longer than a month (autolysis = yuck).
2) belgian styles- These beers almost always taste better after aging a couple of months. Again, I don't like leaving a belgian beer that I spent so much time and money on aging on top of a 3" yeast cake. I keep it in primary for a month to get the FG down as low as possible, then transfer to secondary for at least another month or more. The taste is oh so much better!
Regarding your dilemma, flush the carboy with CO2 if you own a tank. This will GREATLY help in preventing oxidation. As long as you're careful with your siphoning (and I mean NO bubbles, splashing, etc) I'd guess that you should be okay. All that said, if a month in primary is long enough for whatever you're brewing, then just skip the secondary.

[crazymonkey15]

belgian styles- These beers almost always taste better after aging a couple of months. Again, I don't like leaving a belgian beer that I spent so much time and money on aging on top of a 3" yeast cake. I keep it in primary for a month to get the FG down as low as possible, then transfer to secondary for at least another month or more. The taste is oh so much better!

So why not just put it in the keg after primary and then let it sit like you would in your secondary? When it's done there's no need to transfer it over; you can just chill it and drink it.