Newcomer with question on Carboy

Hey everyone, I'm new to this home brewing scene. I'm still in college, but am very interested in brewing my own beer. I was able to get ahold of three 5 gallon glass carboys that I intend to use. However, everyone reccomends using a 6.5 gallon for primary fermentation. Is there any way to get around this so I can just use a 5 gallon? Thanks for any info on this.

-Matt Abs

You could just scale down recipes to 4 gallon batches, that would be the easiest way. Or you could use a blow-off tube. I've never used one so I don't know if 5gs of brew in a 5g carboy can take that much blow!

You could certainly do four gallon batches without buying any more equipment, then when you realize how worthwhile this hobby is, you could buy a 6.5g carboy and use your current carboys as secondaries.

-a.

How much is a 6.5 gallon bucket? Ten bucks at most? Buy a bucket (you may also want a bottling bucket), then you have three perfectly sized secondary fermenters. Most recipes are for five gallons, and it's not as easy as simply reducing them proportionately to do four gallons (hops utilization is different, for example). Plus, if you buy kits (a good way to get started), they are geared towards 5 gallons.

That'll be perfect, you brew Saturday afternoon, give it a week in the primary, two or three in sedcondary, and you'll have five gallons of beer to drink each week.