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Moving carboys while fermenting

Yeast & Fermentation
#1

We are moving and have Emma’s ale in the primary, we are also brewing Friday so I will be racking to secondary to free up the primary.

My REAL question for the FORUM is do I move it first then rack or do I rack & then move it. It will surly slosh around in the fermenter during transit (about 5~6 miles) so that makes me think move it let it set a day then rack???

Looking for positive input as it will have to happen, we’re just not sure of the proper order so as not to have too many issues…any ideas???

#2

That is the beauty of fermenting in buckets as they are all the same size and they are all primaries or secondaries or what ever you want them to be, and I very rarely rack to a secondary.
With that being said, Move, then rack to your secondary. Probably want to let it sit for a day or two prior to racking as well to let all your trub settle out somewhat. Hope you have a good move and have plenty of home brew on hand for it.

#3

Somehow that just made sense… We are considering a couple more 6gal GLASS carboys, we will graduate to conical fermenters after the shop/brewery is built. Thanks for the reassurance that we are on the right track.

CHEERS!

#4

Either way is probably fine, but if it were me, I’d rack and then move. Why remix the yeast/trub back into solution and then make yourself have to wait for it to fall back out?
:cheers:

#5

Its down in the cellar now, will rack Friday morning regardless of condition as we will need the primary if it ferments more in 2ndary no big deal, its got 2 more weeks to sit anyway… Thanks for your input tho…

#6

I would avoid moving any beer that is past 12 hours of pitching the yeast. I don’t want to have O2 introduced in the beer.

If Emma’s ale is a medium gravity beer and it’s done fermenting, bottle it. Put off the next brew day until you have moved.

Do you really want to risk breaking 2 carboys full of beer in the move?

#7

if the beer is ready for a bulk age, secondary, or bottling then the CO2 will protect it from O2. the head space will be filled with CO2 & the move will probably knock more out and push out the air lock.

[quote=“Nighthawk”]If Emma’s ale is a medium gravity beer and it’s done fermenting, bottle it. Put off the next brew day until you have moved.

Do you really want to risk breaking 2 carboys full of beer in the move?[/quote]that is a good point, but it can be done if great care is used. I moved from Vegas to Rapid City, SD with beer in bulk age and from WY to MN with bulk aging beer with no problems.

#8

The airlock has not been pushed out, the risk of breaking carboys is very low when I’m the one handling them. Putting off the brew day is NOT an option when your beer is “Friday the 13th Wheat™”. I will be visiting the cellar in an hour or so & will report the condition of Emma’s 24 hrs after it was moved. We will basically follow the NB directions for Emma’s that is 2 wks Primary, 2 wks 2ndary, 2 wks bottle conditioning. Only those that have become lazy or lax in their sanitation habits are the ones who will have issues w/moving or racking. It is part of the process, I see no reason to worry…

A BIG THANKS to all members posts for their opinion

#9

We will rack on Friday, all is stable, Brewing also will take place…

#10

My choice would be to move in the primaries as they’re blanketed in CO2 as all of the O2 has been scrubbed out by fermentation. Then let it sit for a few days or a week before racking to let things settle out. You could skip secondary…

You’re not going to slosh it too much in a 5 mile drive to be a problem either way. I’d be more concerned about getting lightstruck and skunked, or big temperature swings. But a t-shirt would take care of that, and 5 gallons of beer is a lot of thermal mass so that risk is low also (don’t leave it in the hot car for an hour, but everything less than that should be fine.)

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