Fermenting in Carboy?

I have one beer fermenting already in an AlePail. I would like to start another, but I don't want to buy another pail. Is it OK to ferment in my carboy? It's a five gallon carboy and I'd be doing a five gallon brew. I know I would have to add a blow hose. Will this produce a good product, or am I better off buying a second bucket (or just waiting)?

many (including me) don't even secondary. thousands of us ferment in carboys all the time

It will definitely produce a good product. One concern I have, is the 5 gallon size of the carboy. A blow-off tube would DEFINITELY be needed, but honestly, I would maybe cut it down to a 4 gallon batch if you want to primary ferment in it. Or just buy another bucket, and make apfelwein in the 5 gallon carboy. Buckets are pretty cheap, and apfelwein doesn't need headspace to ferment.

beninan said:

It will definitely produce a good product. One concern I have, is the 5 gallon size of the carboy. A blow-off tube would DEFINITELY be needed, but honestly, I would maybe cut it down to a 4 gallon batch if you want to primary ferment in it. Or just buy another bucket, and make apfelwein in the 5 gallon carboy. Buckets are pretty cheap, and apfelwein doesn't need headspace to ferment.

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wisdom and good advice there ^

i ferment all my beers with no blowoff in several 5g containers (including apfelwein). i've had a blowoff 1 time ever under 1.060. what's the concern, ben?

lumpher- I'm not sure what I'm doing differently from you, but I always have around 1 gallon-or-so (well, the volume of 1 gallon-or-so) of krausen build-up in my fermenters. Are you saying, that in a 5 gallon carboy, fermenting a 5 gallon batch of beer, you have very little krausen?

i have a decent krausen, but it never blows out. probably because i use dry yeast, which has a more level yeast buildup, instead of going drastic, then dying out like liquid yeast

I would definitely be using a liquid yeast (likely wyeast 3787) so I would be expecting a lot of activity. Is a one foot blowoff hose all that's needed? I have a five foot hose on hand: would this actually be detrimental?

I use four or five feet and run it into a bucket of water. I find the more grains or yeast or hops that gets through the strainer the more blowoff I get

hmm, I have used a combination of dry, liquid, and re-harvested yeast of both types, and all of them have the same results. I don't mean to be going off topic rinhaak, but lumpher has my drunken mind all confused .

So lumpher, uhhh, are your carboys filled all the way up? like an inch or two from the top of the carboy? Are you sure you are fermenting a whole 5 gallons? How much headspace do you have when you ferment? Are you sure your carboys are 5 gallons? Is any krausen reaching your airlock/blowoff tube? I'm not sure how the condition of the yeast really makes a difference in what you will get for krausen. I'm not trying to say that you are wrong, and I know how reading something on the internet, without the "tone of voice", can be misleading, but I'm confused.

I recently had to switch to a blow off tube with my Edwort apfelwein (my first) when it bubbled up into the air lock. I had filled it fairly full (couple inches from the top) with the understanding that the activity was rather light. It has settled down but the day after I pitched it was quite active.

I have no idea what lumpher is talking about. There is no way you're going to fit 5 gallons of actively fermenting beer in a 5 gallon carboy without blowoff. You can try some fermcap-s in your carboy to control krausen but there will still be some overflow. You can lose a lot of good yeast that way. It might work but it will be messy.

But seriously, why not just get another bucket. Even if you have to pay full retail, they are $10-$15 for an official brew bucket and half that for generic food grade. If you're resourceful, you might be able to find a source for free buckets from the local bakery/deli. What's the big deal?

I have a 5 gallon batch of corona clone in a 5 gallon carboy and it did fine...it is nice to be able to look at it doing it's thing, but I found cleaning the carboy a biznatch, I spent like half an hour trying to get all the starsan foam out, and then adding the wort to the carboy sucked too because you have to aerate in your boiler and then pour it into the carboy. Buckets are easier I think, but the carboys are more elegant. They work fine though.

9am53 said:

I have a 5 gallon batch of corona clone in a 5 gallon carboy and it did fine...it is nice to be able to look at it doing it's thing, but I found cleaning the carboy a biznatch, I spent like half an hour trying to get all the starsan foam out, and then adding the wort to the carboy sucked too because you have to aerate in your boiler and then pour it into the carboy. Buckets are easier I think, but the carboys are more elegant. They work fine though.

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Carboys are very easy to clean. Rinse as best you can, soak in oxyclean and hot water, and all the gunk will bubble away. You can use a bent brush to scrub krausen debris if needed but the soak usually works fine.

And you do realize StarSan is no-rinse sanitizer. Do not fear the foam! Rack right into the foam and it will be fine. Seriously, no-rinse. Same for the bottles.

And lastly, you don't have to aerate in the pot if you have an appropriately sized carboy.

+1 on getting another bucket. I never primary in a 5 gallon carboy anyway, since I usually ferment about 5.75 gallons to finish with 5 gallons beer in the keg. Bigger fermenter = no mess, no blowoff tube, less cleanup. You'll need it in the long run anyway.

just fill your carboy with 5 gallons of water and see where the water level is. some carboys are different than others. mine could really hold 6 gallons (5 gallons at start of curve) when filled to the absolute top, so a 5 gallon batch is no problem. others have less head room.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/where-5-gallon-mark-carboy-134964/

It is, of course, personal preference. There are 6.5 gal carboys. You can also just blowoff a 5 gal. It works wonderfully. The bucket with a plastic "burping" bag works just fine as well. The key is two-fold, making beer and not worrying.

-Home Brewing in Key West

beninan said:

hmm, I have used a combination of dry, liquid, and re-harvested yeast of both types, and all of them have the same results. I don't mean to be going off topic rinhaak, but lumpher has my drunken mind all confused .

So lumpher, uhhh, are your carboys filled all the way up? like an inch or two from the top of the carboy? Are you sure you are fermenting a whole 5 gallons? How much headspace do you have when you ferment? Are you sure your carboys are 5 gallons? Is any krausen reaching your airlock/blowoff tube? I'm not sure how the condition of the yeast really makes a difference in what you will get for krausen. I'm not trying to say that you are wrong, and I know how reading something on the internet, without the "tone of voice", can be misleading, but I'm confused.

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no misunderstanding or anything, my friend. no, they aren't filled up all the way. i leave about 15% headspace. yes, i do 5-5.25 gallons, as evidenced by my kegs being full and 50-55 bottles on the rare occasions i bottle. fermenting at the lower end of the yeast makes it start slower, and ferment slower, so it never goes radical. by the time it goes killer full-blown, it doesn't have enough sugar to ferment to have enough blow off