Quick -- HELP!!!!

[rook]

I just went to rack from my primary (a 5.5 gallon brewbucket) to my secondary -- which i just realized must be a 7 gallon glass carboy. So that means that i have like 7-8 inches of space. I know that oxygen is the enemy of the brew at this point so should i clean out the brewbucket and rerack it back to the bucket? The book i have (Homebrewing For Dummies -- fitting, i know) says to add water to bring up the volume to the top of the carboy. The problem is that there is so much head space here that it will totally water down the brew if i do that. Does anyone know if this is going to expose my brew to the negative effects of oxygen?

Also, i know that i am posting this late and that i will likely not get a response before the morning. Assuming this happens and i have decided to keep the brew in the carboy -- will the damage already have been done?

Any help wahtsoever would be greatly appreciated.

[rook]

since it was too late to get any response i decided that it was best just to bottle the beer and let it bottle condition rather than do a secondary ferment. However, the beer was exposed to the 6-7 inches of headroom in the oversized carboy for like an hour an a half while i prepared everything for bottling. Does anyone think that the exposure to the oxugen will have an adverse affect on the brew? Thanks.

[noby]

hey rook,
there would have been no problem in your secondary, even with 6-7inch head space. As it is still fermenting, and producing CO2, this would have soon created a blanket of CO2 on top of your brew.
What I would be more worried about is bottling straight from primary, if fermentation wasn't complete.
To avoid exploding bottles, I would chance siphoning from the bottles back to your secondary; although, maybe someone else here would have a better suggestion.

noby.

[sallad]

did you note OG and FG? how long was it in primary? i wouldn't take it out of the bottles now. probably you'll be fine, maybe your brew will be a little over carbonated. try one every few days and when its good to go, put the whole batch in the fridge to stop further fermentation.

[MARK123]

I have done 2 gallon batches in 5 gallon plastic secondary's with no problem. But the 5 gallon glass is the best for 5 gallon batches.
That 7 gallon glass would make a great primary!!

[rook]

#@$#@!!!! It looks like i jumped the gun then, huh? Well i couldn't take a hydrometer reading b/c my hydrometer broke and my LBHS isn't open until this weekend. THe brew had been fermenting for a week. But the airlock was almost completely still and had been for approx 2 days. So i'm pretty sure the fermentation was complete. But assuming it wasn't, is refrigerating the bottles the only way to prevent exploding bottles? Also, how effective is it (my wife would probably rather they explode in the storage unit than in the fridge). Also, in the future, that much headspace isn't a problem? Or should i buy a 5 gallon carboy? Also, i am at work right now, and have to be here for the next several hours. Is the danger of bottle bombs great enough that i should rush home before lunch?

[Tweek]

Originally posted by rook
#@$#@!!!! It looks like i jumped the gun then, huh? Well i couldn't take a hydrometer reading b/c my hydrometer broke and my LBHS isn't open until this weekend. THe brew had been fermenting for a week. But the airlock was almost completely still and had been for approx 2 days. So i'm pretty sure the fermentation was complete. But assuming it wasn't, is refrigerating the bottles the only way to prevent exploding bottles? Also, how effective is it (my wife would probably rather they explode in the storage unit than in the fridge). Also, in the future, that much headspace isn't a problem? Or should i buy a 5 gallon carboy? Also, i am at work right now, and have to be here for the next several hours. Is the danger of bottle bombs great enough that i should rush home before lunch?

I wouldnt rush home. Though it is possible that you may get a couple that will blow on ya if they are still going hard. Chances are you are fine. In my experience it really takes an infection to blow a bottle, that bottling a little underfermented will just give you a more carboanted beer. Did you add priming sugar? or did you just bottle? Either way you will prob be fine. Just keep an aye one em. Maybe when you get home if they are in case boxes, put a couple of garbage bags around them so if they do go the mess will be contained.

And yes I would go out and buy a 5 gallon carboy for your secondary. It is a nice tool to have.

In the future and for anyone else that amy need to rectify a similar problem, you can get any object that will sink and fit in the carboy, and when I say any object one needs to use some common sense, and sanitize it so it wont infect your beer, then put it in unitl you get enough displacement to bring it up to a decent level. Some people keep some marbles around just for this purpose. Those are nice because they have no crannies for germs to hide and they are easily cleaned and sanitized.

[rook]

thanks much tweek. Yeah, i added the priming sugar but i swear there has been no action in the airlock for the last two days. the marbles and garbage bag ideas are clutch. Thanks again.

[Salpta]

Some people keep some marbles around just for this purpose. Those are nice because they have no crannies for germs to hide and they are easily cleaned and sanitized.

Marbles... Now there's a good idea!

[bierboy]

Rook-
Relax and don't worry. If you were doing an ale and went a week for primary you will be fine. Odds are a lager would be fine also. As for the head space, don't worry. Oxygen is the enemy of beer but it takes a while before it is noticable (like months). Odds are that you will have the batch emptied before you notice any oxidation.

[burritosandbeer]

word of caution on marbles!!!

dropping glass marbles onto the glass carboy could cause some chipping... broken glass in beer would not be my idea of a treat...

[Tweek]

Originally posted by burritosandbeer
word of caution on marbles!!!

dropping glass marbles onto the glass carboy could cause some chipping... broken glass in beer would not be my idea of a treat...

Aye, it is probabally best to hold the carboy at an angle and let the marbles roll down to the bottm. With all the beer in there there are not going to gather much speed anyways, but better safe than sorry.

[rook]

I guess those who were worried about overcarbonation were corrrect. On Suday I decided to take a bottle out and
open it to try it. It was way too over-carbonated and shot beer all over my kitchen. so i took the whole batch and put it in the fridge. what should i do now?

[Tweek]

Originally posted by rook
I guess those who were worried about overcarbonation were corrrect. On Suday I decided to take a bottle out and
open it to try it. It was way too over-carbonated and shot beer all over my kitchen. so i took the whole batch and put it in the fridge. what should i do now?

Getting it cold, will relieve some of the pressue, that is more of the gass will dissolve into solution making it not so volatile when opened. If it was enough to spray down your kitchen however chilling it down is not going to fix the problem. I guess some guys may go through the trouble of opening them and then recapping them, my advice would be to go get yourself a pitcher and very carefully open your beer when you want one. pour a few in the pitcher and just wait for it to settle enough to pour good pints.


cheers.

[stronk]

http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2911&highlight=bombs

check this out before you decide not to recap.

[rook]

oh crap, man. i just read the prior thread posted by stronk. well, i will carefully open them outside tonight and then try recapping them. the geyser effect is a pretty accurate desciption of what happened when i opened the bottle on sunday. the beers are at my mom's house because she has a big fridge that she never uses and now i'm scared shitless because she has a jag parked right in front of the fridge. at least they are in the fridge and not soaking up the unseasonable warmth we have been enjoying over the last few days here in socal. wish me luck.

[rook]

ok, so i opened each bottle (which had been in the fridge for 3 days) since they were so overcarbonated and let them sit for a minute or two and then recapped them. Surprisingly, there was no geyser effect. in fact, it was a more intense (sssst) noise than usual when i cracked 'em open, but really nothing like the geyser when i opened the bottle on Sunday. so now i have them recapped and back in the fridge. They only got three days at room temp outside of the fridge. Should i pull them out of the fridge and let them sit at room temp (approx 70 here in socal), or should i keep them in the fridge? In total they have had 4 days in the fridge and 3 days out. thanks.

BTW, I took a pull off of one yesterday and it's not too bad at all (just needs to bottle condition a bit more).

[Tweek]

Originally posted by rook
ok, so i opened each bottle (which had been in the fridge for 3 days) since they were so overcarbonated and let them sit for a minute or two and then recapped them. Surprisingly, there was no geyser effect. in fact, it was a more intense (sssst) noise than usual when i cracked 'em open, but really nothing like the geyser when i opened the bottle on Sunday. so now i have them recapped and back in the fridge. They only got three days at room temp outside of the fridge. Should i pull them out of the fridge and let them sit at room temp (approx 70 here in socal), or should i keep them in the fridge? In total they have had 4 days in the fridge and 3 days out. thanks.

BTW, I took a pull off of one yesterday and it's not too bad at all (just needs to bottle condition a bit more).

The cold is probabally keeping the gas in solution. If you want go ahead and pull one or two out and see what happens. It is possible that you just infected that one bottle and that the rest of the batch is fine. However you wont know this for sure until the last bottle is gone, so proceed with caution. If they are carbonated, which it sounds like they are and you dont have to pull them out of the fridge I would just drink them from there. Pull em out as you need them.