Ferment in Carboy?

Hello this maybe a stupid question but I have never fermented in my glass carboy and was wondering would there be enough head room in my 5 gallon one to do a 5 gallon batch or is there not enough space? Also if I were to want to do a 3 gallon batch and ferment in my 5 gallon carboy would the extra 2 gallons plus space on top be harmful for the beer? It seems that if you use a 6 1/2 gallon plastic bucket to throw 5 1/4 gallons of wort you would need a 6 1/2 gallon glass carboy for 5 1/2 gallons of wort.

Sent from my iPad2 using HB Talk

Definitely not enough headspace for a 5-gallon batch, but I do 3-gals in my 5-gallon fermenter all the time. The headspace quickly fills with CO2 and all is well.

Fermenting five gallons in a five gallon carboy can be done. Just requires a blow off tube until fermentation slows. I used to do it before I got more buckets and a sanke.

Thanks sounds like a good excuse to do some really over the top small batch then got any ideas my carboy will be empty in two weeks which with scheduling that would make the 3 gallon batch ready to serve the 2nd week of February.

Sent from my iPad2 using HB Talk

You can also make a Burton Union. It basically works like a blow off except the beer blown off during fermentation is collected in a sanitized receptacle and returned by gravity through a second tube. It's easy to make and people use them to prevent loss when using 5 gallon carboys or to collect yeast.

scoundrel said:

You can also make a Burton Union. It basically works like a blow off except the beer blown off during fermentation is collected in a sanitized receptacle and returned by gravity through a second tube. It's easy to make and people use them to prevent loss when using 5 gallon carboys or to collect yeast.

Click to expand...

Hmm, I had to google this, I'd never heard of one. Very interesting. Here's an article from BYO for anyone else that had never heard of one: Burton Union

http://***********/images/stories/inside/burton_figure10.jpg

MonkeyWrench said:

Hmm, I had to google this, I'd never heard of one. Very interesting. Here's an article from BYO for anyone else that had never heard of one: Burton Union

http://***********/images/stories/inside/burton_figure10.jpg

Click to expand...

I understand you would probably have sanitizer in that but i still don't like the idea of a return tube. I would prefer to keep blowout... out, even if i had a small mess from an overflow to clean up.

H-ost said:

I understand you would probably have sanitizer in that but i still don't like the idea of a return tube. I would prefer to keep blowout... out, even if i had a small mess from an overflow to clean up.

Click to expand...

There wouldn't be any sanitizer in that upper unit, it would just be air space for krausen to collect and drain back. The airlock up top would function as a normal airlock to let out CO2.

Sanitizing all parts would be a big deal though. There are lots of connections and places for junk to hide. I'd probably want to take apart all connections make sure everything was very clean and individually sanitized if using a system like this.

I made one and use it often. I mainly use it for yeast collection on back to back brews, since IMO it seems to be the easiest way to top crop. When the Krausen drops, I pitch the yeast in the next batch and move it to the next carboy. Once the Krausen drops on the second batch, I remove it and clean it. The next time I use it I stick it in a bucket with everything else I need to sanitize on brew day. I've never had a problem and that second batch takes off like a rocket!

It does work great for vigorous fermentation's in 5 gallon (or sometimes 6 gallon) carboys. The key is to clean its right after use and let it sit in sanitizer for the entire brew day.

H-ost said:

I understand you would probably have sanitizer in that but i still don't like the idea of a return tube. I would prefer to keep blowout... out, even if i had a small mess from an overflow to clean up.

Click to expand...

The problem here is you can lose beer and hop aroma. There's nothing more frustrating than pitching an active starter and blowing off 1/2 gallon of beer. Burton Union's have been used in the U.K. for years and risk of infection is low (if not non-existent). When the yeast are at the height of activity, there's not much in the ways of bacteria that the yeast can't overtake.

MonkeyWrench said:

Sanitizing all parts would be a big deal though. There are lots of connections and places for junk to hide. I'd probably want to take apart all connections make sure everything was very clean and individually sanitized if using a system like this.

Click to expand...

It's really not as bad as you think. I use a nalgene bottle which is essentially a small better bottle. I do loosen the posts during cleaning and sanitizing. The Grolsch style gaskets are cheap and I replace them after 5-10 uses. People tend to over-sanitize anyway (I know I do), so I don't stress too much. Plus the most dangerous time for infection is before the yeast take off, so as long as its sitting in sanitizer before pitching all is well. BTW, here's an instance where StarSan has a leg up on Iodaphor. No staining.

I might have to build me one of these just to have in my arsenal. Thanks for the heads up.