Secondary headspace

[Rodbrew70]

Gday fellas, I've got myself set up with a secondary vessel, I'm trialling some hops pellets ( hallertau) and they have made this brew quite cloudy I'm hoping that the secondary will help to clarify it a bit, but my question is, do I need to purge the oxygen out of the vessel or will there still be enough yeast activity to provide the co2?? I will have about 2l of headspace and I'm a bit concerned about spoilage.

 

[jeffpn]

I never worry about secondary headspace. I do not purge the air. Maybe that's why my extract kit instructions say to rack before fermentation is complete! (I never sweated that either.)

I would file this thread under RDWHAHB

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I don't use a secondary but at times I ferment a 6 gallon batch in a 13 gallon fermenter and its always been good beer, "but" I never open my vessels until ready to keg, thats just my process

 

[Nosybear]

Purging the headspace is definitely a RDWHAHB situation. Beer is not that delicate. There is lots of CO2 in solution in your fermented beer, it'll blanket itself.

 

[artbreu]

Gday fellas, I've got myself set up with a secondary vessel, I'm trialling some hops pellets ( hallertau) and they have made this brew quite cloudy I'm hoping that the secondary will help to clarify it a bit, but my question is, do I need to purge the oxygen out of the vessel or will there still be enough yeast activity to provide the co2?? I will have about 2l of headspace and I'm a bit concerned about spoilage.

2l of headspace is not a lot. Also, if it's still cloudy I am guessing it's a relatively recent fermentation and you still have quite a bit of yeast activity. That will help prevent oxidation and that 2l of headspace will probably become CO2 rich inside of a few hours to a day, even if it doesn't produce enough pressure to bubble the airlock.

Personally, as an aside, I don't like the analogy of a "CO2 blanket." The CO2 in solution and the continued yeast activity are, IMO, the key factors that keep aging beer from oxidizing. Yes the CO2 in the headspace prevent surface contact with oxygen, but CO2 is almost constantly coming out of solution even well after fermentation appears to have stopped. Just my opinion.

 

[valsamik]

I don't use secondary fermentation often, but when I do it isn't as active as the primary. I haven't purged the vessel with CO2 to remove the oxygen. So far, I haven't run into any problems. My beer is a little clearer as it works on itself.

 

[Rodbrew70]

Thanks guys! The feedback is great! I've gone ahead with the secondary and so far so good!