6.5 gal bucket question

I ferment in a 6.5 gal bucket and up until now I have always guessed the amount when I have more than 5 gal of wort in the bucket as the bucket is only marked up to 5 gal.

My question is, do the rims on the out side of the bucket above the 5 gal mark indicate any specific levels? IE... 5.5 gal for the first rim, 6 gal for the second rim and so on.

thanks

Blindguardian said:

I ferment in a 6.5 gal bucket and up until now I have always guessed the amount when I have more than 5 gal of wort in the bucket as the bucket is only marked up to 5 gal.

My question is, do the rims on the out side of the bucket above the 5 gal mark indicate any specific levels? IE... 5.5 gal for the first rim, 6 gal for the second rim and so on.

thanks

Click to expand...

No, but it does happen that on mine (I have a 7.5 gallon pail) the first ridge is 5.5 gallons.

You could use water and add a gallon at a time and mark it yourself. I used pink nail polish, which is still there quite a few years later.

But just becasue your bucket is larger than 5 gallons (they need to be) doesn't mean you should put more than 5.5 gallons of beer into it...it is that size, not by accident, and not so people can try to get more beer for their buck...they are that way to leave plenty of headspace in the top of the fermenter for the krauzen to form and more importantly for there to be a large enough space for the co2 to form and blanket the beer without blowing the lid off it and painting your ceiling with beer.

That's why there are two sizes of carboys used...a 6 or 5.5 gallon as a primary...with enough headspace (though sometime a blowoff tube is needed-even for a bucket with headspace) for the krauzen and co2...

Then those who choose to secondary, rack it to a 5 gallon....where there is almost no headspace....so the beer can clear....

Hope this make sense to you..seriously, don't try to cram more beer into your bucket...

You will be sorry....

Yooper,

What if I don't have any PINK nail polish? I do have some duck tape.

zac said:

Yooper,

What if I don't have any PINK nail polish? I do have some duck tape.

Click to expand...

Sorry. It must be nail polish. Red, if you can't find pink.

My HLT is also marked with the same shade that has lasted for several years.

I don't worry too much about headspace in my 7.5 gallon bucket. Six gallons easily ferments with that much headspace. I've used a blow off tube exactly once in the last several years.

For a smaller bucket, it may be a bit more of a concern, but 5.5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon bucket really is fine. You get more headspace (width) than you do with a 6.5 gallon carboy and many people ferment 5.25 and 5.5 gallons in a carboy.

You can fill them and measure. I put in half a galon at a time and marked it with a sharpie so i knew the exact volume (4 of the 5 marks preprinted marks were wrong)

in a 6.5g alepail i get blowoff on a 5g batch....

i measured out water by weight, a gallon at a time and poured it in, then marked the outside with a black sharpie. if the light is just right, i can see the shadow of the marks from inside as the level rises.