I thought I would post this for all of the other NOOBs, like myself
I recently racked my Bourbon Old Ale to a secondary, a 5-gal carboy, and was a bit upset over all the space left at the top. My other secondary has had 5 gallons of Apfelwein which came all the way up to the neck of the carboy.
I read that these plastic buckets can be off, so now that my primary Ale Pail was free, thought I would test it. I used a 1-gallon milk jug and marked the side with the actual volume as I added a gallon at a time to get to five.
This picture shows the result, I was really surprised it was this far off. I then siphoned off the water to the measuring cup to see just how much it was off. 700 ml or 24 oz; nearly a quart or even worse, TWO BEERS!
Suggest you do the same with your new equipment; measure and mark the actual and don't believe what is printed on the outside.
I recently racked my Bourbon Old Ale to a secondary, a 5-gal carboy, and was a bit upset over all the space left at the top. My other secondary has had 5 gallons of Apfelwein which came all the way up to the neck of the carboy.
I read that these plastic buckets can be off, so now that my primary Ale Pail was free, thought I would test it. I used a 1-gallon milk jug and marked the side with the actual volume as I added a gallon at a time to get to five.
This picture shows the result, I was really surprised it was this far off. I then siphoned off the water to the measuring cup to see just how much it was off. 700 ml or 24 oz; nearly a quart or even worse, TWO BEERS!
Suggest you do the same with your new equipment; measure and mark the actual and don't believe what is printed on the outside.