Which vessel to use as primary?

I just finished bottling my first brew and am going to brew my second today. (AHS Bavarian hefe extract kit) I have both a 6.5 gal ale pail and a 5 gal glass carboy and was wondering which to use for my primary fermenter. For my first brew i used to carboy because I wanted to see fermentation. It wasn't too bad because I only had 4 gallons of wort because of various mistakes like not compensating for evaporation during the boil and a small spill when racking to primary. This batch I'm gong to make sure I've got the full 5 gallons and the carboy seems a like too small of a head space. I'll be using a 1" blowoff tube if I'm using the carboy. Also If I was to use the ale pail there is only that small hole in the lid for an airlock. Would a blowoff tube be necessary because of the 1.5 gal of headspace? Also is a secondary necessary for a hefe since cloudiness is desirable in this style. Thanks for all the help.

You probably don't need to do a secondary, unless you want to clear the beer. I personally drink my Hefeweizens fairly early, basically 2-3 days after fermentation is complete. Not everyone does this though.

As far as fermentation vessel goes, I'd suggest using the bucket. I would normally say use a carboy and a 1" blowoff tube, but I would be assuming a 6.5 gallon carboy. I don't know what yeast you use, but most hefe yeasts are going to overwhelm the 5 gallon carboy fairly quickly. As long as the blowoff tube is connected, you are just losing kreusen, but you could be losing a lot of good yeast with it. I'd go with the bucket and a blowoff tube that fits inside the gromit. I also try to keep the temperature around 64F-66F for my hefe. That seems pretty low, but the flavor comes out great and it reduces the violence of the fermentation.

Definitely use the the bucket if you will have a full 5 gallons.

uwjester said:

I don't know what yeast you use, but most hefe yeasts are going to overwhelm the 5 gallon carboy fairly quickly.

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I'm using safbrew WB-06 dry yeast. Couple more batches and i think I'll move to liquid.

I always primary in the largest vessel possible regardless of what I brew.

Definitely the bucket. And with a hefe I would recommend a blow-off tube. Those beers can get quite vigorous.
I find you need atleast a 20% head room and 30% is better for the fermentation. Once the primary is done, if you want to do a secondary (I don't usually) then you want a fermenter that is sized to your batch. Hence the 5gal carboy. This minimizes head room and oxygen exposure on the finished beer.

Craig

+1 on the 5 gallon secondary.