Is a 6 gal better bottle enough for 5 gal primary?

Is a 6 gal better bottle enough for 5 gal primary? i'd like another primary, but dont know if the 6 gal one i'm looking at on northerbrewer.com is large enough.

Yes, with a small caveat: keep a large-diameter blowoff tube handy.

Oh, and you might should change your handle, too, to avoid confusion 'round here.

Evan said:

Is a 6 gal better bottle enough for 5 gal primary? i'd like another primary, but dont know if the 6 gal one i'm looking at on northerbrewer.com is large enough.

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With a blow-off tube.
Craig

Indeed, confusion already documented.

Well for one thing, the 6-gallon better bottles do hold a bit more than just 6 gallons, though I don't have an exact number.

Evan! said:

Yes, with a small caveat: keep a large-diameter blowoff tube handy.

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Either that, or use foam control. I've fermented about 5.75 gallons in my 6-gallon better bottle with no blowoff using Fermcap-S. I really don't understand why more people don't try foam control, but to each his own I guess.

Prior to trying foam control, I did several 5g batches in the 6g better bottles without significant issues. Sometimes a blowoff tube was needed, but quite often it wasn't... though without foam control it's never a bad idea.

cheezydemon said:

Indeed, confusion already documented.

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FYI, I'm an Evan also, maybe I should change my username to add to the mess. What would be the most confusing? 'Evan.', 'Evan?', '-Evan-', 'Evän'... The possibilities are endless

I've got a kriek kit from Northern in a 6 gal better bottle and it is doing fine. The only downside to the better bottles is no marked gallon gradations. Have a #10 stopper with some tubing ready, 5/16" seems to fit the best.

Out of about 63 batches, I've had maybe 2 blowoffs. That's why I don't worry about foam control.

WTF is this "foam control" of which you speak?

I have a 5.5 gallon batch fermenting in a 6 gallon BB with a blow off tube right now. It sounds like a war zone inside my fermentation freezer.

LOL

Evan the Younger

Evan! the Elder

Evan! said:

Out of about 63 batches, I've had maybe 2 blowoffs. That's why I don't worry about foam control.

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Well, then I guess you're not exactly the target audience of foam control I suppose my comment should have been restricted to those who DO get blowoff during fermentation on a regular basis, or are paranoid about it. If you've got blowoff under control by using large enough fermenters and/or fermenting at cooler temps or whatever other means, then it's certainly not a necessary item.

sonetlumiere85 said:

The only downside to the better bottles is no marked gallon gradations.

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I guess, but in 15 minutes with a sharpie, some water, and a container suitable for measuring out by the quart or half-gallon, you can very easily get all the gallon markings you want on your better bottle, and you really only need to do it once, as you can either copy the marks on additional bottles, or just eyeball it using the marked one as a reference. The fact that the better bottle has the existing textured rings around it makes it pretty easy to do relatively well by eyeballing it, especially since the range of 5 to 5.75 gallons falls within the range in the top ring and the curvy region above it, giving you lots of 'landmarks' to guesstimate from.

Beerthoven said:

WTF is this "foam control" of which you speak?

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There are several products out there, the one I use is Fermcap-S: http://pivo.northernbrewer.com/nbstore/action/search-do?searchTerm=fermcap-s&x=0&y=0
Completely eliminates boilovers during the boil, and will generally keep krausen to less than an inch during fermentation. There have been a fair number of threads with people's personal experiences with it lately, all positive so far IIRC.

thanks everyone, and i did do a search and didnt come up with crap.

oh and Evan!, I'LL NEVER CHANGE MY NAME!!! haha. with as many questions i seem to have, if i were to change it, it'd be Evan?

Funkenjaeger said:

Well, then I guess you're not exactly the target audience of foam control I suppose my comment should have been restricted to those who DO get blowoff during fermentation on a regular basis, or are paranoid about it. If you've got blowoff under control by using large enough fermenters and/or fermenting at cooler temps or whatever other means, then it's certainly not a necessary item.

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See, I thought I had blowoff under control, but I'm fermenting 5G of wheat beer in a 6G better bottle, with a Kölsch yeast, at 55˚ (I think I met your requirements, Evan). And it's blowing off. Don't have any blowoff rig for the b'bottle, either, so I just shoved my racking cane down the stopper hole, submerged the end of that, and hoped for the best.