fulford665

Recipes 

Hey all,

I'm brewing my VERY first batch of beer (yay!). I have two 23L glass carboys. I'm wondering if it is a bad idea to use a glass carboy with an airlock as a primary fermenter. Is there a risk of a blowoff? What are the pros/cons. I do not have a "ale pail" and am too busy/lazy to run out and get one. Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom

cheers

CaptainSwiller

Recipes 

I don't think you run any more of a risk of blow off by using a carboy instead of an ale pail. If you are really worried about blow off you should rig up a blow off tube. Good luck!

Nurmey

Recipes 

I used glass carboys as primaries for several years without issue. Sometimes you need a blow off and sometimes you don't.

Pros: It's nice to see what's going on in there.
Cons: It's scary to see what's going on in there.

Welcome to HBT!

__________________
Batch 1 Brewing
The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

fulford665

Recipes 

this place is amazing!
thanks for the info. I think I'll set up a blowoff tube.

944play

Recipes 

Foam control drops can help make the most of fermenter (and kettle!) headspace:
Foam Control (FermCapS)(1 oz) | MoreBeer
Defoamer 105 - Austin Homebrew Supply

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OD: ?
Pri:-
Keg: Simple AIPA (2-row, Chinook, Cascade, WLP090)

khiddy

Recipes 

Just make some slightly smaller batches, like 4.75 gallons instead of the full 5 gallons. No problem!

__________________
Beeritas Vos Liberabit Brewing
Primaries: BEER Beer (4/8/12); Fisher-Price My First Mead (12/20/10)
Kegged: Hairy Patersbier (1/28/12); Dick Beer (2/15/12); Get Yer Goat Maibock (2/22/12)
Bottled: Ye Olde Tyme Holiday Ale (9/26/10); Dick Beer (2/15/12); Candy's Dad's Homebrew (2/27/12)
Apfelweins: Crapfelwein (4/4/12); Apfelweinlager 34/70 (2/26/12)
Kit Wines: Fisher-Price My First Amarone (4/1/12); Rosso Magnifico (4/17/12)
On Deck: Albertus Magnus DIPA

ruffdeezy

Recipes 

The standard in Canada is 23L or 6 gallons for some reason so using a carboy for the primary isn't always the best option. I use a bucket then carboy, I miss seeing what happens during the initial stage but thats ok.

woollybugger2

Recipes 

I was looking forward to seeing a fermentation in my 6 gallon carboy, it's been tied up with Apfelwein for 2 months! I was cleaning it out after bottling yesterday and noticed a crack on the bottom. Back to the buckets and Better Bottles ordered....!!!!





I'm just relieved that the wein is in the bottle and not all over the floor! Not to mention the possibility of injury...

I'll just have to wait a while before I get to see a primary fermentation in action!

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Woolly Bugger Brewery

Consumed:#2 Hefeweizen, #3 SoHo Brown Ale, #7 Belgian Wit, #9 Belgian Amber
Bottled: #1 Trout Belgian Trippel, #4 Smoked Porter, #5 Apfelwein, #10 Bell's Brown Ale Clone, #11 Belgian Wit, #8 Wee Heavy
Secondary:#6 Trout Belgian Trippel
Secondary:
Primary 1:
Primary 2:
Primary 3: Empty
On deck: ???

lurker18

Recipes 

Just finishing my first brew and wanted to use the 23L glass. but in the process of pouring the wort into the carboy, the foam created was overflowing to the point that I could only get about half to 3/4 of it in there. How do you guys manage to get the whole 5 gal (i would have been happy with 4.5) into there without running into this problem. I used a funnel and poured through that to get the aeration, it was from a Brewhouse kit, so there was not much choice.

samiley216

Recipes 

Did you pour from pot to carboy? or Pot to Pale to pitch then carboy?

Hopefully you used the second method questioned. If not - next time pour to pale, cool wort, pitch yeast, areate and then auto sipon to carboy.

__________________
primary: Oberon King
secondary: empty
drinking:
Fully enjoyed:The Squirrel's Nuts" English Brown Ale, ESB, Steam Ale