Unexpected racking

[Steve Bonine]

I did a stupid last night. We have both 5-gallon and 6-gallon carboys;
we use the 6-gallon for primary fermentation so we have plenty of head
space. Last night, not being at my sharpest, I sanitized two of the
5-gallon ones instead of 6-gallon. (We did two batches.) I realized
this just before we were going to pour into them, and I should have
taken the time last night to just sanitize the 6-gallon carboys, but
being tired, I decided to see if there was enough head space in the
5-gallon carboys.

No, there's not. So this morning I racked the two batches into
(sanitized) 6-gallon carboys.

My question -- and it's rather academic, since there's nothing I can do
about it anyway -- do you think that this little exercise had any effect
on the fermentation? I don't think so, as it had only been 14 hours
since the yeast was pitched, so even if I did introduce some extra
oxygen, I doubt that it will make any difference.

[Bart Goddard]

Post by Steve Bonine
My question -- and it's rather academic, since there's nothing I can do
about it anyway -- do you think that this little exercise had any effect
on the fermentation? I don't think so, as it had only been 14 hours
since the yeast was pitched, so even if I did introduce some extra
oxygen, I doubt that it will make any difference.

Just guessing: I think the yeast sucks up the oxygen pretty
early, as in during its reproductive stage, rather than its
pee-alcohol stage. If you used dry yeast, which gets going
pretty quickly, then 14 hours might have been enough time to
use up the oxygen, and get to the point where additional
oxygen is bad. If you used liquid yeast, and your starter
was poky, then perhaps not...?

I think I would have sanitized a 3rd 5-gallon carboy and just
borrowed a gallon and a half from each of the others. Then
consolidated back down to two carboys at secondary.

[Steve Bonine]

Post by Steve Bonine

Post by Steve Bonine
My question -- and it's rather academic, since there's nothing I can do
about it anyway -- do you think that this little exercise had any

effect

Post by Steve Bonine
on the fermentation? I don't think so, as it had only been 14 hours
since the yeast was pitched, so even if I did introduce some extra
oxygen, I doubt that it will make any difference.

Just guessing: I think the yeast sucks up the oxygen pretty
early, as in during its reproductive stage, rather than its
pee-alcohol stage. If you used dry yeast, which gets going
pretty quickly, then 14 hours might have been enough time to
use up the oxygen, and get to the point where additional
oxygen is bad. If you used liquid yeast, and your starter
was poky, then perhaps not...?

I used dry yeast, but I'd not say that fermentation was vigorous,
especially in one of the two batches. There wasn't much head space in
the carboy, so it didn't take a lot to cause an issue.

Post by Steve Bonine
I think I would have sanitized a 3rd 5-gallon carboy and just
borrowed a gallon and a half from each of the others. Then
consolidated back down to two carboys at secondary.

The two batches were not the same. I could have sanitized two
additional carboys and split both of them, but frankly if introducing
additional oxygen is an issue, it would have still been an issue for 50%
of each batch. I don't own enough carboys to keep them separate through
secondary, although that would have been an interesting experiment.

[Ecnerwal]

Post by Steve Bonine
My question -- and it's rather academic, since there's nothing I can do
about it anyway -- do you think that this little exercise had any effect
on the fermentation? I don't think so, as it had only been 14 hours
since the yeast was pitched, so even if I did introduce some extra
oxygen, I doubt that it will make any difference.

I would sincerely doubt it will have _any_ noticeable effect. Presumably
the batch is throwing CO2 like a futhermucker, leading to the urgent
desire for more headspace. As such, when you transfer it, it's going to
blanket itself in CO2 pretty much instantly, and loft any O2/N2 above
the heavier CO2, right out the neck of the carboy.

RDWHAHB.

[Steve Bonine]

Post by Ecnerwal

Post by Steve Bonine
My question -- and it's rather academic, since there's nothing I can do
about it anyway -- do you think that this little exercise had any effect
on the fermentation? I don't think so, as it had only been 14 hours
since the yeast was pitched, so even if I did introduce some extra
oxygen, I doubt that it will make any difference.

I would sincerely doubt it will have _any_ noticeable effect. Presumably
the batch is throwing CO2 like a futhermucker, leading to the urgent
desire for more headspace. As such, when you transfer it, it's going to
blanket itself in CO2 pretty much instantly, and loft any O2/N2 above
the heavier CO2, right out the neck of the carboy.

I see your point but I doubt that there was enough CO2 being produced to
effectively shield the liquid from oxygen as it was racked into the new
carboy. I left the impression with what I wrote that there was a
vigorous fermentation, which isn't really true . . . the issue was
caused more by the small amount of headspace in the carboy than by a
futhermucker of a fermentation. Even if it had been vigorous, the new
carboy was full or air and it would take a while for enough of the
fermenting liquid to create a buffer of heavier CO2.

I do really doubt that there will be any noticeable effect. Beer and
yeast are pretty forgiving, in spite of our desire to do everything
perfectly. I think there's probably more danger that I messed up the
sanitizing than a measurable effect from oxygen introduced at this point
in the process.

In a few weeks I will know.

[Tom Biasi]

Post by Steve Bonine
I did a stupid last night. We have both 5-gallon and 6-gallon carboys;
we use the 6-gallon for primary fermentation so we have plenty of head
space. Last night, not being at my sharpest, I sanitized two of the
5-gallon ones instead of 6-gallon. (We did two batches.) I realized
this just before we were going to pour into them, and I should have
taken the time last night to just sanitize the 6-gallon carboys, but
being tired, I decided to see if there was enough head space in the
5-gallon carboys.
No, there's not. So this morning I racked the two batches into
(sanitized) 6-gallon carboys.
My question -- and it's rather academic, since there's nothing I can do
about it anyway -- do you think that this little exercise had any effect
on the fermentation? I don't think so, as it had only been 14 hours
since the yeast was pitched, so even if I did introduce some extra
oxygen, I doubt that it will make any difference.

I have had to re rack many times for various reasons.
You risk infection and oxidation. I have never experienced any of these
and could not notice any problem at all.

[Robert Komar]

Post by Steve Bonine
I did a stupid last night. We have both 5-gallon and 6-gallon carboys;
we use the 6-gallon for primary fermentation so we have plenty of head
space. Last night, not being at my sharpest, I sanitized two of the
5-gallon ones instead of 6-gallon. (We did two batches.) I realized
this just before we were going to pour into them, and I should have
taken the time last night to just sanitize the 6-gallon carboys, but
being tired, I decided to see if there was enough head space in the
5-gallon carboys.
No, there's not. So this morning I racked the two batches into
(sanitized) 6-gallon carboys.
My question -- and it's rather academic, since there's nothing I can do
about it anyway -- do you think that this little exercise had any effect
on the fermentation? I don't think so, as it had only been 14 hours
since the yeast was pitched, so even if I did introduce some extra
oxygen, I doubt that it will make any difference.

I do my primary fermentation in an open pail with a sheet of plastic
loosely placed over top to keep the dust out. As long as I transfer
to the carboy while there's still some visible action going on, the
beer has turned out well. It's only when I've been really lazy and
left the beer in the bucket for over a week that I've had problems
with oxidation. So, I wouldn't be too worried if I were you.

Cheers,
Rob Komar

[Steve Bonine]

Post by Robert Komar

Post by Steve Bonine
I did a stupid last night. We have both 5-gallon and 6-gallon carboys;
we use the 6-gallon for primary fermentation so we have plenty of head
space. Last night, not being at my sharpest, I sanitized two of the
5-gallon ones instead of 6-gallon. (We did two batches.) I realized
this just before we were going to pour into them, and I should have
taken the time last night to just sanitize the 6-gallon carboys, but
being tired, I decided to see if there was enough head space in the
5-gallon carboys.
No, there's not. So this morning I racked the two batches into
(sanitized) 6-gallon carboys.
My question -- and it's rather academic, since there's nothing I can do
about it anyway -- do you think that this little exercise had any effect
on the fermentation? I don't think so, as it had only been 14 hours
since the yeast was pitched, so even if I did introduce some extra
oxygen, I doubt that it will make any difference.

I do my primary fermentation in an open pail with a sheet of plastic
loosely placed over top to keep the dust out. As long as I transfer
to the carboy while there's still some visible action going on, the
beer has turned out well. It's only when I've been really lazy and
left the beer in the bucket for over a week that I've had problems
with oxidation. So, I wouldn't be too worried if I were you.

Thanks. As near as I can tell, everything has gone normally.