carboy . . .

I posted this question on another forum and haven't yet got much response. Does anybody regualarly use a 6.5 gal carboy as a secondary fermenter? Anything positive or negative to say about? My concern is possible oxidation caused by excess space in carboy above the 5 gallons of beer. I've read on other posts, however, that the CO2 produced by the beer will displace the oxygen and push it out through the airlock.

The reason I ask is I need another carboy and if using it for a secondary isn't an issue I thought that a 6.5 gal could be used as sort of a dual-purpose carboy. A primary when I need another primary (with blow off hose) and a secondary when I need another secondary. What do you think?

AHU

I don't see any issues with a 6.5g carboy as a secondary. I've used 6.5g plastic buckets when I needed to add large ingredients in a hop bag to the secondary and the airlock will usually rise eventually. It would seem to me that as long as you're not disturbing the fermenter it really only needs a bit of CO2 above it to insulate it from oxygen.

or you could just scale up your recipe's Canadian style.

I used to use 6.5 gallon (US) carboys to make 5 gallon (Canadian) of beer, till the dang thing went missing when I moved.

i have never had a problem with using a 6.5 gallon carboy for primary or secondary. i have a 5 and a 6.5 as well as two 6.5 plastic fermentors

Never had a problem. The air is displaced by/with CO2.

Agree with other posts. I usually use a 6.5G for primary because I am too lazy to clean up the blow off and also hate to see all the foam go to waste. ! I typically use a 5G for secondary. Have and do use 6.5's for secondary...no issues.

I use both 5 and 6.5, and here lately I been using my 8 gallon plastic conical as secondary, cause its easier to bottle or keg from.

6.5 or 5 gallon, either way, no problem to use!

Only a pain in the arse to clean....until now...UPS just delivered my new Battery or electric drill operated Turbo Scrubber. WOOHOO......Suggests 1700 RPM to clean inside dried krausen.

I use three 6.5 glass carboys as primaries. I love them because I never have a blow-off. I use a blow-off hose anyway, but it never gets that high.
I do use smaller ones for secondaries, but mainly because they're cheaper.

I think it's good to have multi-taskers in the brewery wherever possible. Having carboys that can be used as primaries or secondaries makes a lot of sense, which is why the only carboys I have are the 6.8 gallon type. Use them as secondaries with no worries at all. Take care when racking to avoid splashing and such and you should be fine.

Prosit!

Simple choice here all 5 Uk gallon / 6.5 us gallon. We can't get any other size.

Some people say the extra air space in a 6.5 as a secondary is detrimental because of oxidation issues, but I don't believe it. I've used 6.5's as secondaries before, with no issues.

BREW ON!

no problems, agree w/ all the others. some use 15 gallon demi-johns as fermenters and secondaries. co2 wins in that scenerio.

AllHoppedUp vbmenu_register("postmenu_37428", true); No sure why I just thought of this but after reading through the new replies...Do you have a CO2 set up?...Purge your secondary prior to transfer and you'll ease even those minor fears you might have left. I typically do this...if I don't forget... !

I have used a 6.5 Gallon carboy since I have started. No issues yet....... .

The big positive for me in using 6.5 Gal glass carboy is that I'm too noisy. Curiosity always had the upper hand with me. When I used the bucket I wanted to see what was going on inside (just how active is the fermentation now?). Crack it open you know... and well thats not the best thing to do a lot. With the 6.5 Gal you see everything... dont have to open anything... and you have enough space as everyone else had mentioned for blow off.

Only issue I have with my 6.5 gallon carboys is my thief is a bit short so taking samples is a royal pita . . . .other then that I love them