Racking

[eclessia]

After months of threatening I finally got my arse in to gear over the weekend and started brewing again.

So I've got two brew's on the go and I'm hoping to do one a week for the next few weeks, but I haven't yet bought any bottles or keg.

So I thought I'd ask the experts for some advice before I go out and buy new gear.

My plan was to transfer my brew's to 20L cubes to let them secondary ferment/age for a month or two before transferring them to 19L cornelius kegs.

I'd then tap them through the Keggerator - at which point I'd sample a few and bottle the rest.

But I thought I should check if this is the best plan of attack? I don't have a lot of space and can't really be bothered bottling large quantities, so I thought racking them in something like these (http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=2939) until I'm ready to keg and drink is the way to go.

Can anyone see any problems with that approach?

Any advice to avoid ruining the brew during transfer?

Thanks in advance.

Mat

 

[loikar]

Sounds ok.

Keep it clean and sanitised and everything should be fine.
Make sure you squeeze as much air out of the cube as possible before sealing (as long as fermentation is complete)

 

[peas_and_corn]

Use any container, it doesn't matter. Just make sure you sanitise thoroughly.

That said, the benefits of transferring to a second fermenter are overstated.

 

[eclessia]

Awesome thanks guys.

I'm mostly looking for a storage solution to free up my primary fermenters to continue brewing, rather than necessarily improving the brew.

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[felten]

brew in your cubes

 

[super_simian]

You can buy "fermenters" from Bunnings for roughly the same cost as cubes, so why bother the potential risk of racking? Unless there is a size/shape issue i.e. For CC/lagering, perhaps a round fermenter won't fit in the fridge etc.

 

[michael_aussie]

You can buy "fermenters" from Bunnings for roughly the same cost as cubes, so why bother the potential risk of racking? Unless there is a size/shape issue i.e. For CC/lagering, perhaps a round fermenter won't fit in the fridge etc.

+1
racking risks oxidising or an infection.
some here use a CO2 bottle to put a new CO2 blanket on the beer in the secondary.

unless you know what you are doing you could ruin ur beer..

get yourself a 2nd fermenter .. 23 litres is around 3 slabs. if you currently drink more than a slab a week, you will struggle to keep up with only one fermenter.

 

[katzke]

Get 3 or 4 fermenters and leave the beer set for 3 or 4 weeks. If you want to transfer to a keg to taste and give time to bottle great.

This will work for most if not all your brews.

 

[eclessia]

Thanks for the advice.

After a few conversations with more experience brewers and your posts above, I've decided to buy a third and fourth fermenter and let the beers set for longer rather than racking - it seems like more trouble and risk than it's worth.

I'm producing far more than I can drink at the moment - because I want the practice and I don't mind giving away what I don't need.