fermenter question

well, I'm working on getting a "pipeline" going, and was looking at getting another primary fermenter. I have a 5 gal better bottle, but I'm not sure what I can do with that, other than a "bright tank/secondary" I suppose I could just start using a secondary, although based on what I've been reading, I'm iffy on it. I was considering picking up a 6 gallong BB, but wasn't sure if that was larg enough to use as a primary. if not, was going to just get another 6.5 bucket...

For most beers, a 6 gallon better bottle would be fine. High OG beers, on the other hand, sometimes need something larger. You could go with a 6 gallon and just make sure you always use a big blow off tube....then you'd be fine. I use buckets for primary...mainly because they're cheap and I don't mind the few downsides compared to glass. I've always used 6.5gal's and only twice have I had the krausen reach the top of the bucket. Both times it blew the airlock off and made a mess and both times it was Wyeast 1056.

what you said about wyeast 1056 doesn't make me feel so happy, that's what I used in my autumn amber I just brewed.... I'll look into getting the 6gal better bottle, and just make sure I stick to the 6.5 bucket for larger grav beers. I would love to be able to see what's going on inside...

Yeah, It would be nice if Better Bottle made a 6-1/2 or 7 gallon fermentor for those heavier beers. There is a market there that they are missing....

For the most part the 6 gallons work, although I do occaisionally lose some brew to blow off. Seems like much above 1.055 ish I get some blow off.

Personally, I love my big bucket primary. 7.9 gallon plastic bucket for wine/beer. Works perfectly. Just brewed up a nice Wit with absolutely no blowoff problems. If you think that you may have a blowoff problem, simply add some foam control to your primary and you'll be set. I habitually add 5 drops of foam control and have never had a boilover or a blowoff.

And I don't worry about headspace either... after a few hours of fermentation all that oxygen is expelled anyways...

rsmith179 said:

Personally, I love my big bucket primary. 7.9 gallon plastic bucket for wine/beer. Works perfectly. Just brewed up a nice Wit with absolutely no blowoff problems. If you think that you may have a blowoff problem, simply add some foam control to your primary and you'll be set. I habitually add 5 drops of foam control and have never had a boilover or a blowoff.

And I don't worry about headspace either... after a few hours of fermentation all that oxygen is expelled anyways...

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+1 I just ordered a 7.9 gallon bucket for use as a primary. I have been using my 6.5 gal ale pail (bottling bucket) as a primary, but now that the pipeline is full I am seeing big holes in that method.

There is nothing wrong, IMHO, with using a secondary, especially if you already have the equipment. I use a 5 gallon secondary regularly.

Pappers said:

There is nothing wrong, IMHO, with using a secondary, especially if you already have the equipment. I use a 5 gallon secondary regularly.

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I agree there's nothing wrong with doing it. But, for most beers, it's not going to improve the taste enough to bother with it. That's just my opinion though. I just leave my beer in primary for around 3-4 weeks and then keg.

Dave6187 said:

what you said about wyeast 1056 doesn't make me feel so happy, that's what I used in my autumn amber I just brewed.... I'll look into getting the 6gal better bottle, and just make sure I stick to the 6.5 bucket for larger grav beers. I would love to be able to see what's going on inside...

Click to expand...

Wyeast 1056 is a great yeast, that's why I use it. It's just a very aggressive yeast that gets the job done by whatever means neccissary. I used it on my last IPA and it blew off the airlock...but I also wound up with 93% attenuation, so I'm happy.

+1 on a big bucket. I have had blowoff in a 6.9gal AlePail with 1056 (Always use a blowofftube for the first week in Primary)

I use a secondary for improved clarity rather than anything that i expect to improve taste... clearer beer scores more points...